From idea to prototype: Introducing students to entrepreneurship

We describe results from a semester-long class taught by seven faculty at George Mason University, aimed at providing resources to engage students in idea generation, design cycle development, and finally elaboration of a business plan. This is intended to alleviate a perceived lack of access for students to commercialize their ideas. Undergraduate and graduate students are often left with unfinished class projects that do not turn into prototypes or products. Here we aim to avoid this outcome (often referred to as the “Valley of Death”). We recruited students with ideas for products as well as students with varied expertise. We have then formalized their engagement by offering a seminar class that met once every other week over a 15 week semester. After the class each team underwent a one-week intensive boot camp for a final demonstration and presentation of their product and business plan. Throughout the semester the teams solicited and received micro-grants, then used the financial support to acquire materials to prototype several iterations of their ideas. In this paper we present data from our preliminary analysis of two successful teams. Out of five teams who took the class, three completed, and two continued with their products beyond the class. We also discuss strategies to engage students, to form viable teams, to provide technical support, and to deliver content in a non-traditional environment, with students from different backgrounds (e.g., sociology, civil engineering, computer science) enrolled both in undergraduate and graduate programs.