US Southwest 

The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UT Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas

The Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at UTD was established in April 2006 as a collaborative initiative of the schools of Arts and Humanities; Behavioral and Brain Sciences; Economic, Political and Policy Sciences; Engineering and Computer Science; Management; and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The Institute’s role is that of a facilitator, catalyst and program sponsor – leveraging the power of ideas and technology to create new ventures and add economic, social and cultural value to our community.

The Institute plays a major role in promoting cross-disciplinary academic and outreach programs across the university, including cross-listed courses, joint degree programs and broad-based community outreach initiatives involving each of the seven schools of the university. The Institute’s initiatives include:  

§ Academic and Student Programs: academic curricula for graduate and undergraduate students and student programs, including the Entrepreneurship Club@ UT Dallas, the annual UT Dallas Business Idea Competition, and the annual Computer Gaming Entrepreneurship Competition designed to raise awareness and foster and encourage an entrepreneurial mindset among students.

§ Faculty/Staff Development Programs: including the Commercialization & Entrepreneurship Boot Camp, targeted at faculty, staff and graduate students and designed to stimulate interest in entrepreneurship and support the commercialization of UT Dallas technologies. 

§ Venture Development Program: an “incubator without walls,” supporting the commercialization of technologies developed within or in partnership with the university. Venture Development’s faculty and MBA student interns provide resources, counseling, connections and opportunities, facilitating the transition from idea to market and enhancing the likelihood of new venture success.

§ Community Outreach:  a variety of programs targeted at entrepreneurs and the general public, including the Entrepreneurial Development Series, the Research and New Venture Showcase events, and the UTD Innovation Opportunity Camp for high school students.

§ Research: world class research that extends our understanding of the theory and practice of innovation, commercial entrepreneurship and the processes of creative thinking. 

2008 Tech Titans Award

The Institute was recently honored as the winner of the 2008 Tech Titan award in the technology advocate category. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in the D/FW technology community through assisting, enabling or accelerating the performance of technology companies or organizations.

Accomplishments

We are pleased with the Institute’s progress and accomplishments during its first two and one half years of operations.

Academic Programs. By almost any measure, UT Dallas has built one of the finest academic programs in innovation and entrepreneurship in the region. Over the past six years, our academic program has grown to more than 700 students enrolled in eleven graduate and three undergraduate courses in the School of Management, supported by seven full-time faculty.  Concentrations are offered in the BA, MS and MBA programs, and a minor in the field is available to all undergraduates.

Undergraduate enrollments in 2007-2008 grew to more than 700 students, an increase of 55% over the prior year. Fall 2008 enrollments are 29% higher than in the prior year, with full-year enrollments for 2008-2009 projected to increase by 22% to 845 students. Despite the growth, we have maintained a program of the highest quality, with student course evaluations consistently well above the university average.    

Student Programs. The Institute sponsors an active Entrepreneurship Club, with over 150 members and a full calendar of events. Annually, the club provides student mentors and counselors for the Dallas Rotary Club’s Camp Enterprise for high school students.

In November 2008, we will hold the second annual UTD Business Idea Competition. In last year’s competition, 37 student teams competed for $39,000 in cash prizes, with 24 semifinalists presenting their business ideas to teams of outside judges November 9^th. The winners in both the undergraduate and graduate divisions went on to compete successfully in national business plan competitions in Spring 2008, winning three major competitions and placing in the top four in two others. Both of the winning teams have formed their companies, received third party funding and are actively pursuing their business concepts.

Faculty/Staff Development initiatives have been well received and our visibility is increasing. The eight Commercialization & Entrepreneurship Boot Camps presented to date have averaged more than 90 UTD, UTSW and UTA faculty and graduate students in attendance at each.  UT San Antonio has adopted our model and successfully presented its first Boot Camp in March 2007. Our May 2007 Boot Camp was professionally-produced in a DVD format for the Institute and for statewide use by the Texas ETF.

Venture Development. Currently, we have six companies enrolled in our venture development program, with plans to open an incubation facility in 2009. We are actively mentoring these companies and have assisted them in securing more than $3.5 million in funding for their programs.

Community Outreach programs are continuing to grow and expand. Our Research and New Venture Showcases highlight UTD’s cutting edge research and technology programs, including programs on Nanotechnology; Virtual Worlds, Simulation and Game Technologies; Cyber Security; Geospatial Sciences; and Brain Science. A program in Human Communications Technology is scheduled for January 2009. Attendance at these events, aimed at a general audience, has averaged more than 100 per session.  

The Entrepreneurial Development Series, aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs and technology managers in established organizations, began its second season of nine monthly programs in September, 2008.

New Initiatives for 2008-2009

UTD Innovation Opportunity Camp. We are developing a two-week summer program focused on innovation and entrepreneurship for high school students for presentation in June 2009. Partially underwritten by the TI Foundation, this team-based program will feature the entrepreneurship faculty, with significant contributions by entrepreneurial CEOs and service providers.

Texas University Network for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.  In May 2008, the Institute teamed with the Rice Alliance to co-sponsor an organizing meeting for a proposed state-wide organization of university entrepreneurship centers. Dr. Picken, of UT Dallas will serve an initial two-year term as the Executive Director of this organization. Our goal is to encourage collaborative initiatives, deliver a consistent message about our contributions to economic development and provide a forum for the exchange of program ideas and best practices among entrepreneurship programs across Texas.

For further information, contact Dr. Joseph C. Picken, Executive Director

http://innovation.utdallas.edu

Joseph C. Picken, Ph.D. – Executive Director

jpicken@utdallas.edu

972-883-4986

Nancy J. Hong – Assistant Director

Nancy.hong@utdallas.edu

972-883-5990

The Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas

800 West Campbell Road, SM43

Richardson, Texas 75083-3021

http://innovation.utdallas.edu