Recently, a group of UCLA scientists and engineers presented
their business plans for commercializing technologies developed at the
university to colleagues and a panel of expert reviewers. The presentations
were the culmination of a partnership between UCLA’s California NanoSystems
Institute (CNSI) and UCLA Anderson’s Harold and Pauline Price Center for
Entrepreneurial Studies, created to educate participants about entrepreneurship
and to prepare them to enter the business world.
The joint effort between CNSI and the Price Center began more than six months ago, when the groups launched
an 8-week class focused on technological entrepreneurship. Faculty members,
postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students from engineering and the
physical and life sciences met once a week to learn about topics, such as opportunity
recognition, market analysis, entrepreneurial finance, operations, and human
resource issues. These courses came as part of the campus’ effort to enhance
its entrepreneurial ecosystem.
This entrepreneurship course prompted a second 7-week course
supporting the same cohort of students and focusing on business plan development.
Both were taught by George Abe, a lecturer in entrepreneurship at UCLA Anderson
School of Management.
“The success of the courses was due to the commitment that the
students brought to the classroom every day,” said Abe. “They came hungry with
questions and scenarios that they wanted to discuss. Plus, they came with great
ideas and new technology that deserves to be made available to the world.”
“There was a lot that we got out of the classes, but I think the
biggest thing is that they helped us to develop a business mindset, which is
fairly different from a science mindset,” said Garrett Mosley, a graduate
student in the department of bioengineering.
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| Jian Yang (left) and Garrett Mosley answer questions after their business plan presentations. |
He and fellow graduate student Ricky Chiu presented a business
plan for the commercialization of the “A-PEN,” a tool based on lateral flow
analysis that can quickly and easily identify the presence of allergens in
food.
Students who attended both courses had the opportunity to
present elevator pitches, written summaries, and business plan presentations to
panels of faculty, entrepreneurs and representatives from the UCLA Office of
Intellectual Property & Industry Sponsored Research (OIP-ISR), whose
mission is to support UCLA’s efforts to commercialize intellectual property
rights and advance entrepreneurship, for critical feedback.
Ideas and applications evolved, sometimes dramatically, over the
two courses. After their second presentation, one of the judges asked Mosley,
“Where do I send my check?”
“We knew we had a good technology, and for the first
presentation we went with one of the first applications that we brainstormed,”
said Mosley. “We kept focusing on how/why everything would be successful, but
not thinking about how/why it wouldn't be successful. We took the constructive
criticism from the first quarter and rethought our angle. We needed to look at
our product and make sure that it was going to work at every step along the
process and for everyone involved in the process, which I think we did a better
job at the second time around.”
“The opportunity for our research scientists and engineers to learn
directly from someone like George at this early stage in their careers is
wonderful,” said Jia Ming Chen, Education Director at CNSI. “The courses filled
an important gap in our traditional training programs, and we look forward to
developing more programs to support our community.”
Other innovations advanced during the courses included novel infrared
camera systems, reagents to help crystalize cellular membrane proteins, biologics
to fight acne, and microcentrifuge tube racks that enhance the brand recognition
of distributors. Many of the ideas are patented, and some groups are already
working with companies that are trying out their products.
This year’s courses were underwritten by generous donors to the
Price Center as part of its curriculum development efforts and Technology and
Innovation Partners Program. The donors included Jean and Ed Wedbush, the
Heshmatpour Family Foundation, the Knapp Foundation, the Louis and Harold Price
Foundation and members of the Price Center Board of Advisors. Both CNSI and the
Price Center are currently exploring ways to fund future courses.
“We will offer these courses again,” says Elaine Hagan, executive
director of the Price Center. “The partnership between the Price Center and
CNSI holds great potential for students and other researchers at UCLA, and for
the university in general.”
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| (Top and bottom panels) Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers attend a reception after the final presentations. |
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| Lecturer George Abe (right) chats with Dr. Farhad Parhami, one of the business plan judges. |
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| Director of Development Fred Wells (left) and business plan judge Winn Hong. |
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| Price Center Executive Director Elaine Hagan (right) and graduate student Helena Chia. |
About the California
NanoSystems Institute
The California
NanoSystems Institute is an integrated research facility located at
UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. Its mission is to foster interdisciplinary
collaborations in nanoscience and nanotechnology, to generate partnerships with
industry, and to contribute to the economic development and the social
well-being of California, the United States and the world.
About
the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
Celebrating its 25th
year, the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at UCLA
Anderson School of Management is an internationally recognized leader in
entrepreneurial education and research. With a distinguished faculty as its
cornerstone, the Center works closely with UCLA Anderson’s outstanding MBA
students, alumni and the entrepreneurial community, overseeing activities that
advance the theory and practice of entrepreneurship as well as the related
fields of technology and innovation, venture capital and private equity, and
social enterprise. Well known for the impact of its outreach programs, the
Price Center fosters a spirit of innovation in individuals, enhances the
managerial capacity of organizations, and prepares entrepreneurial leaders who
will provide significant, sustainable and economic value to society.
This beautiful image is not an artsy photo of a pink flower.
It’s a picture of an electrically conductive molecule captured with a scanning
electron microscope.
