Priorities:North Dakota State University Student Priorities

Overview

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem at North Dakota State University could best be described as being in an incubation state. A workable amount of resources are present, with a number of key resources, tools, and programs at various stages of planning and implementation that will allow the campus environment to flourish.

There are a number of positive aspects to the campus that students can make use of. NDSU maintains the following services that one would generally expect to find as ‘standard’ at a research/innovation university:

• Tech Transfer Office; formal Intellectual Property management
• Business Incubator; space, place, and people for startups to make their mark
• Student-industry collaboration as part of the standard educational experience (senior design, engineering)

These services work together to allow an innovation culture to exist on campus.

Upon deep analysis of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem on NDSU’s campus using the landscape canvas, select gaps in the ecosystem were identified. While a number of concerns, big and small, were noted, two gaps in particular have been chosen as critical areas of work to be focused on.

[MORE TO COME]

Link to Prezi overview of campus ecosystem:

http://prezi.com/8xzmdf4l2mf-/the-journey/ (until I figure out how to embed it)

Calling all students

Informational Session (come hear plans, offer feedback and help expand opportunities for all students)

• Where: Presented to NDSU Bison Microventure research group
• When: 10-24-13
• RSVP: N/A

Second Informational Session (come hear plans, offer feedback and help expand opportunities for all students)

• Where: NDSU Student Union
• When: TBD
• RSVP: TBD, andrew.dalman@ndsu.edu

Strategy #1: Realization

The first area of focus, or ‘strategy,’ is based off of the Realized section of the landscape canvas. This section deals with the ability of students to commit to an opportunity, eg; licensing a technology, forming a venture, and/or attaining legal status. A review of this section reveals that while there exist a few spaces for venture startup/incubation and a TTO for protecting intellectual property, a stark lack of funding, grant, or investment assistance presents itself.

Following are an array of strategies that will fully address Gap #1 over a 2-3 year period:

Tactic #1: Acquire an innovation space

• Description:

Andy's research has shown that no small number of innovation cultures have started with a simple place for like minds to gather and discuss ideas in an informal setting- even something as simple as an old closet filled with whiteboards has done the trick! NDSU does not currently have anywhere that students can identify as such a space. Finding a random empty classroom is not an uncommon practice for students looking to work on a project, typically with a few group members, but this comes with its own complications... a class could come in and take the space, students aren't surrounded by any other fresh minds, and the work done in such a space is almost guaranteed to be gone in the morning.

Providing students with a place 'with a sign on the door' designating it as purely a space for students to meet and hang out with innovative and entreprenurial interests in mind will encourage and nourish the formation of ideas and student innovation teams/entrepreneurs, in no particular order. As rules can have a tendency to stifle innovation, the objective is to keep this space as free and open as possible, accessible to all majors and during as much of the day as is feasible.

• Team Leader:: Andrew Dalman - championoning the idea of a student innovation space & currently in discussion for a few potential locations. So exciting!

• Milestones:

               -Scouting of open (or offered) spaces to determine size, condition, and work required to make it usable. Schedule: Early-Mid November 2013

               -Creation of a shopping/salvage/'stealing'/donation list for required items such as whiteboards, tables, at least one pc, etc. Schedule: Mid-late November 2013. Prerequisite: Scouting

               -Movement of first equipment into room. Putting a formal sign on the room to give it purpose! Schedule: Early December 2013, but heavily dependant on date we'll be able to move in. This part isn't too much up to us.  Prerequisite: acquisition of         required materials.

               -Hold first meeting! Campuswide announcement about grand opening of NDSU's first student innovation space. Bring in a few speakers, makerspace veterans, etc to get things started. Schedule: previous milestone completion + 1-2 weeks; Est mid Dec 2013-early Jan 2014.

               -Designate student leader to organize regular events promoting and encouraging I&E, to be held at this location. UI fellow may take a backstage role at this point, if desired. Schedule: mid Jan 2014-mid Feb 2014. Author note: this time flows quite nicely with the tail end NDSU's Innovation Challenge. The facility will ideally be up and running for the stressful last few weeks, and will additionally provide the only innovation events on campus during off-year of Innovation Challenge.

Tactic #2: [Name of tactic]

• Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]
• Team Leader:: [Either your name, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]

Tactic #3: [Name of tactic]

• Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]
• Team Leader:: [Either your name, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]

Strategy #2: ________

Following are an array of strategies that will fully address Gap #2 over a 2-3 year period:

Tactic #1: [Name of tactic]

• Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]
• Team Leader:: [Either your name, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]

Tactic #2: [Name of tactic]

• Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]
• Team Leader:: [Either your name, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]

Tactic #3: [Name of tactic]

• Description [250 words on why this strategy will solve this gap on your campus]
• Team Leader: [Either your name, TBD or create a title assigned to the person who volunteers]
• Milestones: [A set of bullets that characterize the work that would likely need to be executed, along with mm/yy]