FacultyNews continued


FromEngineers to Entrepreneurs Michalek Prepares Students toTakeTechnologies to Market


Jeremy J.Michalek


Assistant Professor Jeremy J.Michalek is helpingMechE students develop emerg- ing technologies—as well as identify long-term career opportunities—through his innovative course called“Decision Tools for Engineering Design and Entre- preneurship.” Developed in partnership with Assistant Professor Erica Fuchs of the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, this class made its debut in Winter 2008 as one of the first courses to teach detailed modeling of the costs and revenue potential of new technologies. “By bringing together business and


Erica Fuchs


engineering concepts, this class addresses an important gap between the disciplines,” saysMichalek.“The business plan for commercializing a nontechnical product can often be developed without much engineering knowledge.But,with engi- neered products that have significant tech- nical content,design choices have critical


consequences for production cost and market performance.For these products, studying engineering and business aspects together enables improved decisions and provides a competitive edge.” In this innovative course, student teams begin with an emerging


technology—such as the gecko-inspired adhesives developed by Associate Professor Metin Sitti or the nanofiber air filters designed by post-doctoral student Dr.Amrinder Nain—and pose such ques- tions as “What are the likely applications?What costs would be asso- ciated with commercialization?Who are the competitors?”Working in partnership with CarnegieMellon’s Center forTechnologyTrans- fer and Enterprise Creation, students create computational tools that assess the economic viability and likely success of emerging product ideas from CarnegieMellon researchers and industry sponsors. At the conclusion of the semester,CarnegieMellon hosts a


symposium where student teams showcase their proposed technol- ogy-business plans. InMay 2009,nearly 40 students presented their ideas for commercializing a wide range of technologies—from bio scaffolding for dialysis to solar panel frames and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle batteries. “DecisionTools for Engineering Design and Entrepreneurship”


is proving enormously successful in not only assessing the promise of these technologies,but also in generating post-graduation employment opportunities for student participants.Last year,one of the five student teams was sponsored by an international company


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commercializing new technologies from the ChineseAcademy of Sciences.The company offered full-time jobs to all three of the stu- dents on the team at the end of the term. In 2009, as the course completed its second year, two students received job offers as a direct consequence of their project work. In addition, four Carnegie Mellon-based start-up ventures are now using the students’models and technology assessments in their future business plans. “Innovation involves not only the creation of new ideas in the


lab—but also delivering the benefits of these ideas to society in the form of products and services,” saysMichalek.“With this course,our goal is to help students bridge the gap from technical capabilities to market success.”•


At the May 2009 symposium, nearly 40 of Michalek’s students presented their plans for technology-based businesses.


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