This award supports movement of the Technology, Education, and Commercialization (TEC) program, which the proposers have been developing for some time, from pilot projects to broader implementation. This program provides intense, entrepreneurial education that results in broad product development skills and a market orientation to graduates seeking employment in industrial organizations or interested in starting new businesses. Six TEC teams, composed of a total of approximately 45 graduate and post-graduate engineers and scientists, are being assembled on a staggered schedule. Each team is pursuing an intensive 12-month course of study that includes technology evaluation, business plan development, and analysis of commercialization options. In addition, the proposers are developing and offering a new graduate course serving approximately 50 students dealing with high technology transfer; conducting fmur research projects to study various aspects of the program; conducting evaluation projects; and transferring components of the program to other educational sites. The proposers are seeking additional support from the private sector to enable them to move a select few of the TEC teams technology projects forward for transfer, spin-off, licensing, or whatever is most appropriate. While some technology transfer is likely to occur, this outcome is clearly of second order importance.
