Text Box: Catch the Entrepreneurial Spirit at HCC Text Box: An open access, two-year institution, Howard Community College provides services to a culturally, socially, and economically diverse student body. For the past 3 years college offers the course ENTR-215: Taking Innovation to Market. It is a three credit course that provides students with inventions from sponsoring labs and teaches them to look for and use the business opportunity. During the course, students study patents, technology, marketing, licensing, research and business through a multimodal variety of activities designed to appeal to learners with different learning styles. Each team is given an innovation developed by a local United States Government (USG) research laboratory. Teams analyze the innovations, conduct feasibility investigations, and then design marketing plans for the inventions. These technology assessments are compiled and presented in an open event attended by students, researchers, faculty, prospective entrepreneurs, local businesses, venture capitalists, and technology transfer experts. Written reports are provided to attendees and USG laboratories. Technology Transfer is the process of moving Text Box: inventions and innovations out of peoples’ head and into practical use. The nice thing about technology transfer is that it also can be used to make money by placing technology where it has market value. This course teaches how to build doors to technology and walk through them to commercial success. ENTR-215 explains how to get technology out of laboratories and into practical applications. During the 2009 Spring semester students team will be working on three inventions: 1. Producing Sugars and Ethanol from Agricultural Biomass. 2. Polymer Bone Implants. 3. Vaccine for Dairy Cows. (More information and technology descriptions please see on the TAP site www.inventiontobusiness.com Creativity and the opportunity to experiment and experience frame entrepreneurship at Howard Community College.  We want students to

Funded by National Science Foundation

Grant No. 0538751

Howard Community College serves as the lead institution for Technology Transfer Institute (TTI), founded under a National Science Foundation Grant. The grant was awarded to establish the TTI to transition the Technology Assessment Program (TAP) and the course “Taking Innovation to Market” to other community colleges. Through the course, students learn about the various facets of innovation, while they work in teams assessing new innovations from US government laboratories. The students evaluate the innovations for new product and new business potential.

 

The Institute’s model involves linking Maryland community colleges, to their local US Government labs, their respective school systems, and local economic development entities. Two other Maryland community colleges are now participating in TTI - Harford Community College and Frederick Community College. Both institutions will be offering the new course during the fall 2009 semester.

Workshop for TTI instructors at HCC on January 2009

Technology Transfer Institute is launching at HCC