School:University of Dayton

Student innovation and entrepreneurship

At the University of Dayton students are able to develop and master their entrepreneurial/innovative mindset through courses, clubs, and competitions both on and off campus. Engineers foster their I&E mindset in courses starting in their first year with Engineering Innovations, and go on to further develop it in courses such as Project Management, New Tech Venture and their final Senior Design project. University of Dayton also offers a top 20 nationally rank degree in Entrepreneurship based out of the School of Business. There are student run clubs that gather like-minded individuals to focus on innovation and entrepreneurship such as the Maker’s Club, Flyer Innovations, the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization and much more. In competitions such as the Dayton Business Plan Competition (UDBPC), and Ethos Blitz students compete for scholarships, funds, and mentorship to further peruse their ideas.  

Encouraging faculty innovation and entrepreneurship

University of Dayton faculty members have a wide range of skills and assets that make them invaluable to the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem on campus.Faculty members have two primary avenues for innovation: inside the classroom and through their personal research projects. Innovation in the classroom requires student interaction in place of a purely lecture-based course. Many courses already embody this ideal, but there is still room to grow. Transitioning towards a curriculum that supports innovation and entrepreneurship in the classroom is a gradual process that the current Leadership Circle aims to continue. When it comes to faculty research, the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) is committed to providing innovative and practical solutions that can be serviced to the public through commercialization, collaboration, and entrepreneurship.

Actively supporting the university technology transfer function

The University of Dayton currently has a Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) which is part of the Office for Research. The main role of this office is managing university intellectual property (IP) through filing patents and licensing technology that is produced through the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI). The TPO also coordinates research agreements with industry and commercializing university inventions. While this office can provide limited advice to students who are pursing their own ventures, it mainly exists to support university owned IP. 

The college of Engineering has a strong Multidisciplinary Design program for senior Electrical and Mechanical engineering students. While most projects are industry sponsored, the Innovation Center will work with students who are interested in sponsoring their own projects. This two-part course provides students with mentoring through every step of the design process from ideation to prototyping and testing.

There are additional resources available to students pursing projects and ventures on their own time. The Connor Group Foundation Seed Investment Fund is a resource available through the school of Business that can provide seed funding to student ventures. Additionally, Flyer Consulting, which is another resource available through the school of Business, is a great resource to students seeking mentorship. 

Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration

University of Dayton collaborates with a variety of companies, and what makes them unique is the location of major companies located on campus including GE and Emerson Technologies.  These companies' location on campus serve as not only a physical representation of their connection to UD, but also as a method for students to get real world work experience much closer to campus.  Similarly, companies not located on campus also collaborate with the University of Dayton by hiring students for internships and co-ops through our cooperative education program.  In order to facilitate this process, UD hosts a career fair twice a year, in which hundreds of companies attend with the intention of hiring interns, co-ops, as well as full-time employees.  All of these companies have a great repor with the University and its students, which is why several companies return every year.  Also, companies that aren't able to attend these career fairs host workshops and meet-and-greets throughout the year which all students are welcome to go to.  As you can see, University of Dayton prides itself on preparing its students for post-graduation, and its collaboration with industry is a major reason why that's possible.

Engaging with regional and local economic development efforts

Currently, the only organization that supports local economic development of small companies and students is a for profit company called the Dayton Diode.  While we currently do not have any faculty associated with this effort, our makers club works very closely with the Dayton Diode to help students develop their ideas for products.  In addition, while it may not be very formal, our engineering faculty is extremely helpful and willing to point students in the right direction to where they can take their product design to the next level.

Landscape Canvas Spreadsheet - Spring 2015

Landscape Canvas Presentation - Spring 2015

Landscape Canvas Presentation

Related Links

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