ALS 452: Entrepreneurship Practicum

Course Number: ALS 452
Course Name: Entrepreneurship Practicum
Year: Second-year
Semester: Spring
No. Units: .5
Faculty/Instructor(s): David Margolese

Description

This course offers students the opportunity to assist in the process of technology transfer from KGI laboratory research to the commercial realm. The type of work ranges from performing translational research to actually implementing start-up business activities. Guided by a KGI faculty member, the students work in teams to perform important steps in the growth of a new venture. Translational research efforts would advance the state of the research to prepare it for commercialization by developing proof-of-concept cases or hardware or software prototypes. Projects focusing more on implementation of business plans could involve developing license arrangements, performing technical marketing efforts, developing websites, preparing incorporation documents, venture finance, etc.  The goal is for the students to apply some of lessons learned in complementary coursework (e.g.  the development of the business plan or the intellectual property issues that are addressed in Applied Entrepreneurship ALS 457, 458, and Biotechnology Intellectual Property and Licensing, ALS 451) but also to address other company-specific or technology-specific implementation issues that may not be addressed in those courses.

Format

Group meetings, team member meetings and individual work are performed on a schedule TBD that totals 9-10 hours of student effort each week.  Students are graded based on their application of principles learned throughout KGI’s MBS curriculum to the problem at hand as well as the ingenuity and proficiency of the student effort.

Prerequisites

It is anticipated that this course will be taken concurrently with ALS 458.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, students should:

  • Apply lessons learned at KGI to substantially contribute to some aspect of a new technology venture.
  • Synthesize the lessons and efforts into an understanding how the components fit together to make a successful venture possible.          
  • Be able to apply project management and other skills developed in team-based curricular components to an entrepreneurial venture.

Grading

Individual contributions, initiative, and participation in meetings and activities   50%    
Written work including reports, notebooks, filings, specifications, etc.   20%    
Final presentation   30%

Required Texts

Click here for required texts.

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