PI: Schroeder, Mark; Glower, Jacob S.; Green, Roger A.; You, Chao Proposal Number: 0853847
This proposal involves the development of products to help people with disabilities while simultaneously exposing students to entrepreneurial activities. Eight design groups consisting of three electrical and computer engineering students and one business student will be formed each year. Mechanical engineering students will join teams for projects that necessitate mechanical design and fabrication. In addition to building a product, each design team will develop a business plan, submit an invention disclosure, and enter a design or business competition. Collaborations have been established with the College of Business at NDSU and the Strom Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Dickinson State University to facilitate the entrepreneurial activities. Engineering students will be required to attend functions to enhance their knowledge in the areas of business, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Additional plans include forming a group of students to solicit client feedback and provide technical support. Plans have also been established to evolve the program into a self-sustaining endeavor. This consists of judiciously selecting projects with overlapping themes and market potential and using the entrepreneurial activities to help nurture those projects into startup companies. The startup companies, client organizations, and external investors are all potential sources of revenue to help transition the program to self-sustainability.
Intellectual Merit The described plan has intellectual merit in that it proposes a novel method to achieve the key objectives of helping people with disabilities while simultaneously enhancing the engineering and entrepreneurial skills of students. Additionally, methods are in place to evolve the activities into a self-sustaining program.
Broader Impacts The broader impact of this project is in the contribution to society through the development of products to aid persons with disabilities. Additionally, entrepreneurial partnerships will be developed between colleges and universities that could ultimately result in the mass production of these products and the formation of new companies and jobs that would enhance the state's economy.
