An Integrated Approach to Educating Professionals for Careers in Innovation

There is an increasing realization of the difficulties professionals in innovation-related jobs face in bridging the interface of technology and business. Further, the use of technology for business innovation increasingly involves technologies transferred across businesses or from universities to industry, either through licensing or engagement of entrepreneurial enterprises, requiring coordination of efforts by inventors, business, and legal professionals. Recent studies in technology entrepreneurship recommend integrated approaches to educating students to operate in this space. We discuss the benefits and challenges of integrated approaches to graduate education in technology entrepreneurship in the context of an NSF-sponsored program that teams science and engineering PhD students with law and MBA students. The curriculum focuses on the technical, legal, and business issues involved with moving fundamental research to the marketplace. We draw on program assessment data, which includes preand postsurveys and a control group. We find significant and positive effects of the program on student perceptions of the multidisciplinary capabilities needed to operate in a technological business environment. ........................................................................................................................................................................