The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UT 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
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. Ten companies are currently being "incubated" in Venture Development's new facility.
Community Outreach
A variety of programs targeted at entrepreneurs and the general public, including the Entrepreneurial Development Series, the Research and New Venture Showcase Series 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.
Accomplishments
Academic Programs
By almost any measure, UT Dallas has built a first class academic program in innovation and entrepreneurship, supported by eight full-time and four adjunct faculty.
Since 2002, the program has grown to serve nearly 1,000 students enrolled in 15 graduate and 3 undergraduate courses in the School of Management; more than 1,100 participated in our outreach programs.
Our flagship program is the new Master of Science in Innovation and Entrepreneurship with its dual focus on new ventures and on innovation within the corporation.
We also offer concentrations in the BA, MS and MBA programs, and an undergraduate minor. New courses in Social Entrepreneurship, Industry and Technology Forecasting, Business Model Innovation and Professional Selling have recently been added to our graduate offerings. Our online offerings have been expanded to include a full concentration of six courses in the Online MBA program.
In 2009-2010, four new faculty were added to accommodate the increased enrollments. We have maintained a program of the highest quality, with student course evaluations consistently above the university average.
Student Programs
The Institute sponsors an active Entrepreneurship Club, with a full calendar of events and an
active speaker series. Each fall, the club provides student mentors and counselors for the Dallas Rotary Club’s Camp Enterprise for high school students. The UT Dallas Business Idea Competition is entering its fifth year. In 2011, 55 teams competed for $20,000 in cash and scholarship awards. Past winners have competed successfully in intercollegiate competitions across the nation. More than a dozen teams compete each year for $50,000 in prizes in the UTD Computer Gaming and Entrepreneurship Competition. Nine startups run by student entrepreneurs have emerged from these two competitions over the past two years.
Faculty/Staff Development
The Commercialization & Entrepreneurship Boot Camp is targeted at faculty, staff and graduate students. This annual event addresses the basics of innovation and opportunity evaluation, IP protection, UTD commercialization policies, and university and community resources available to assist aspiring entrepreneurs. We have assisted two other UT System institutions in launching similar programs.
Venture Development
Thirteen companies based on UTD technologies have been launched over the past three
years, with more than $25 million in outside funding. Ten of these are resident in our new full-service incubation facility, which opened in September 2011. An additional half dozen potential startups are currently in the pipeline.
Community Outreach
Programs continue to grow and expand, including co-hosting of meetings of the national Angel Capital Association in November 2009, annual meetings of the Texas Venture Capital Association and ongoing partnerships with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), Dallas Social Venture Partners, and several other organizations focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development.
The Research and New Venture Showcase Series highlights UTD’s cutting edge research and technology programs, including programs on Nanotechnology; Virtual Worlds, Simulation and Game Technologies; Cyber Security; Geospatial Sciences; the Human Brain; Technologies for Understanding Human Language; Advances in NanoMedicine; and Wireless LTE Technologies and Advanced Educational Gaming. For 2011-2012, the schedule includes programs focused on UTD research in energy generation, storage, and management.
The Entrepreneurial Development Series, a certificate program aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs and technology managers in established organizations, enters its fifth season of nine monthly programs, averaging more than 40 students per session. Participants have consistently rated the programs as outstanding.
The UTD Innovation Opportunity Camp, a two week summer program for high school students enters its fourth season in 2011-2012. Supported by Texas Instruments, Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson, this innovative team-based program utilizes graduate student mentors, faculty, entrepreneurs, service providers and community supporters.
Texas University Network for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
In May 2009, the Institute teamed with twenty-four other Texas universities to launch a state-wide organization of university entrepreneurship centers. Dr. Joseph Picken of UT Dallas served as the Founding Executive Director of this organization which seeks to encourage collaborative initiatives, highlight contributions to economic development and provide a forum for the exchange of program ideas and best practices among entrepreneurship programs across Texas.
