Innovation@work

Powered By Creativity, Driven By Entrepreneurs

Innovation@work is an experiential program, where innovative UTD graduate student teams will work with executives of major organizations to solve a real business challenge. Students will be equipped with the necessary tools and framework to develop a practical and executable solution. Students will learn how to ask questions, be resourceful in getting data, analyze quantitative/qualitative data, and confidently present solutions to executives from project-sponsoring companies.

Each team will be mentored by an industry-experienced facilitator throughout the semester. There will be weekly sessions that include learning relevant tools and frameworks that would help student teams build an incredible and creative solution. Additionally, there would be guest talks from industry experts and successful startup founders to learn market trends and how they build innovative products and services effectively.

The program will be led by Gowrishankar Sundararajan of the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Concepts you will learn in this program:

• What is the right problem to solve to build an effective startup venture or corporate innovation?
• Why does a problem exist in the first place and why should you be different to succeed
• How to swim through piles of data and build key insights that act as a foundation for any venture
• Why a structured approach accelerates innovation and the need for the right team to make it happen
• How to communicate in a short and crisp way to make an immediate impact among business leaders 

Key Benefits for Students

• A resume-builder, project-based course
• Bridging gap between theory & practice
• Analyze qualitative/quantitative data to draw business insights
• Learn innovation tools & frameworks
• Better access to jobs & internships

Key Benefits for Corporations and Social Organizations

• Fresh perspectives without any preconceived notion of market boundaries
• Low-cost (employee time and search cost)
• Access to global talent pools
• Increased brand image

ELIGIBILITY

Participation in Innovation@work is open to all currently enrolled graduate students.

COURSE

ENTP 6v99.001 – Special Topics in Entrepreneurship – Innovation@work (3 Semester Credit Hours)

If you are interesting in enrolling, kindly send an email to innovation@utdallas.edu or click on this link to request a permission code.

Applications for the first cohort are closed.

1. What is Innovation@work?

Innovation@work is an 8-week experiential program that gives students an opportunity to work with a very select group of prominent organizations, to address significant business innovation challenges. Students apply market-proven tools and frameworks and develop recommendations to address a growth or innovation issue impacting the performance of one of the participating organizations.

2. What type of organizations participate in this program?

Several organizations have shown interest in participating in this program including large corporates, non-profit and government entities.

3. What kind of problems does Innovation@work solve?

Following are potential examples that Innovation@work would solve:

• New Product/Solutions: Developing new products/solutions using emerging technologies like Gen-AI to boost revenue and increase profitability. For. Ex. IKEA Place App uses AR technology to help customers visualize how furniture items would look and fit in their own homes using AR technology, expanding B2C business.
• New Customer: What is the best approach to expand an existing product to new market or new customer group? For ex. LEGO targeted products for adult enthusiasts more complex and sophisticated sets, resulting in new revenue stream but utilizing the same manufacturing operations.
• New Business Model: What are some new and emerging business models and can an organization adopt them to create higher growth and profits? For ex, Netflix created a new video streaming business model when movie rental was already an established business approach. The video streaming rapidly grew eventually replacing the rental business completely.
• Redesign product/solution: How an existing and underperforming product/solution can be reimagined to create higher revenues? For ex, Starbucks was failing during late 1990s and early 2000s. By focusing on customer experience and liming product options, they build their success formula.
• The above are few potential areas. The Innovation@work project office will finalize an appropriate scope in discussion with participating organization.

4. How many members are part of a team?

5 members

5. What is the selection criteria to be part of Innovation@work?

Selection criteria would typically include availability and commitment towards the program, skillset, work experience and what a person can offer to the team.

6. How are teams assigned?

The Innovation@work project office assigns students to projects ensuring each team has the necessary skills and experience to develop innovative solutions.

7. How much time do students have to spend in this program?

Students may be required to spend 10-12 hours a week including weekly knowledge sessions, group meetings, field research, customer engagement, and mentoring session.

8. Do students receive credit for Innovation@work program?

At present there is no credit awarded for attending this program. However, students get an opportunity to work on real world business challenge, interact with potential employers, include strong experience in resume and get referrals.

9. Can students do Innovation@work program concurrently with an internship?

No, it will not be possible to concurrently do internship and Innovation@work program.

10. Are there any funding available for Innovation@work?

Teams will be given small funding (up to $1,000) to cover for any expenses incurred during the project such as travel.

11. What is the benefit of joining Innovation@work?

Key benefits include:

• Bridging the gap between academic theory & real-world practice
• Critical thinking, observations and curiosity through right questions
• Improve soft skills (teamwork, pitching, leadership)
• Better access to job & internship

12. Who are the facilitators and what is their role?

Facilitators may include faculty, alumni and/or graduate students who have demonstrated real world experience in designing and implementing similar programs.

13. What do students present at the end of the 8-week process?

Each team will prepare a pitch deck and present to the management of the participating organization. The pitch deck would include problem statement, innovative solution, market validation and a go-to market strategy.

14. How many teams participate in this program?

There will be 2-3 teams working on same problem statements. Each team will be assigned a different facilitator. The teams compete to offers the best solution to the participating organization.

15. Who do I contact for further information or questions on this program?

Send eMail to Innovation@utdallas.edu and include Innovation@work in your subject line

If you are interested in or have any questions about Innovation@work, please contact: