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Transforming Intellectual Property Into Investable Businesses A cross-disciplinary graduate level program being prepared for launch in the Fall of 2005. A team of faculty and CVIP staff has been developing an initiative to introduce a new interdisciplinary graduate level hands-on learning experience focused on designing commercially viable and sustainable new ventures. At the core of the program, faculty and students collaborate to “add value” to proposed new businesses based on campus technology while developing the technology, product and preliminary corporate positioning. Success is measured, in part, by the creation of new companies, worthy of outside investment, on the basis of the work accomplished. Students gain hands-on experience in multiple arenas as co-founders in the creation of new companies. A key measure of success of the Lab is the positive decision by the University and/or new venture investors to support the continuance of the business. The successful model will be rolled out to the rest of the UMass system. The Lab is open to graduate students from multiple disciplines who are expected to participate in a new business formation foundations course as well as hands-on applied lab courses, during which the students are assigned a business opportunity. They contribute their enthusiasm while learning valuable skills, as they add value to the opportunity. Students who successfully complete the sequence are given additional recognition, in the form of references for employment, while expanding their portfolio of achievements. The Lab engages in a broad variety of activities that contributes to the creation and development of sustainable businesses in the region. In addition to formal courses and hands-on practicum, the Lab hosts conferences for entrepreneurs, brings in thought leaders for seminars and workshops, sponsors business plan competitions, and supports faculty research in the area of sustainable business development. The Lab serves the needs of students, faculty, staff and regional companies to teach new concepts for product development, technology commercialization and business creation, with an emphasis on delivering tangible accomplishments in the form of sustainable new companies and divisions. The program is complimentary to UML’s existing graduate programs and was approved for launch in 2005, concurrent with seed funding from Provost Wooding. Dr. Valerie Kijewski of the School of Management and Paul Wormser of Commercial Venture Development launched this initiative with support from Dr. Lou Petrovic, Dean Verreault, Jackie Maloney, Ed March and Lou Frisina. Faculty from the various colleges and institutes serve as program and Lab advisors (akin to a corporate board of directors).
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