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President Michael M. Crow has positioned ASU as the model for a New American University. A model that measures success not by who it excludes, but by who it includes; a model that pursues research and discovery that benefit the public good and assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality as well as the health and well-being of the community.
'''The Office of University Initiatives''' (UI) is a cultural catalyst at ASU. UI helps ASU meet its innovation needs by connecting ideas with people and resources to make an impact. Through collaboration with other offices and departments across the university, in addition to state, national and international leaders, UI helps to shape and realize ASU’s innovation goals. Much of UI’s work falls into five overlapping categories: advancing ASU’s New American University agenda, entrepreneurship, social embeddedness, university innovation, and education[[#_edn1|[i]]]. UI is the chief advocate for entrepreneurial thinking and activity across the university.
The Edson Student Entrepreneurship Initiative is ASU’s premier student start-up competition. This year, students can win up to $20,000 in funding, as well as mentoring and office space to advance their venture ideas. Non-profit and for-profit initiatives are both encouraged. And students have responded with a number of innovative ventures. The G3Box project focuses on converting steel shipping containers into medical grade clinics by outfitting them with the basic components of power, ventilation, potable water, and insulation to create sustainable medical clinics that address critical health needs in poor countries.
Below is an enumeration of ASU’s programs and initiatives that support the five buckets in the NACIE sponsored university commitment letter.
At ASU, entrepreneurship is about bringing innovative ideas out into the world. These ideas might be socially, economically, artistically or intellectually motivated, or some combination thereof.
At ASU, entrepreneurship is not concentrated in just the field of business, nor is it housed in an entrepreneurial institute or school. Instead, entrepreneurship opportunities are offered in and out of the classroom, and in a wide variety of programs departments and schools. These include:
'''The Edson Student Entrepreneurship Initiative[[#_edn2|'''[ii]''']]''' that harnesses the entrepreneurial energy, excitement and creativity of ASU’s student body. It provides funding, office space and training for teams of students across the university to explore their innovative ideas for business products and services. These teams typically work in partnership with faculty, researchers and successful entrepreneurs from both the academic and private sectors. The Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative has been made possible by an investment of $5.4 million from Orin Edson to the Arizona State University Foundation.
*'''Funding:''' The endowment provides a total of $200,000 annually in seed funding.
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>Each year, 10 to 15 teams will be granted $5,000 to $20,000 to subsidize expenses for developing their new venture. Money granted could be used for such things as market research, building a prototype, and legal fees</li>
</ul>
*'''Office Space:''' Winning teams are awarded office space at '''''SkySong''''', located in South Scottsdale, through their award year.
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>The '''''SkySong''''' facility provides a professional setting for early stage entrepreneurs to develop their ventures and also to interact and learn from peer entrepreneurs, local, and international businesses</li>
</ul>
*'''Training and Coaching:''' Throughout the award year teams participate in a series of workshops with guest speakers that include successful entrepreneurs and professionals with relevant expertise
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>Team members are offered entrepreneurial training courses at '''''SkySong''''' and/or nonprofit training courses by ASU’s '''''Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management'''''. Teams are also provided ongoing entrepreneurial coaching by Edson staff.</li>
</ul>
*Students are provided opportunities to practice their skills in teamwork, leadership, project development, business plan creation, public speaking, and network creation
'''The Performing Arts Venture Experience (P.A.V.E)[[#_edn4|'''[iv]''']]''' paves the way to the future of the arts by investing in student innovation and creativity, supporting arts entrepreneurship education and undertaking entrepreneurial activities. Funded by a generous grant by the '''''Kauffman Foundation''''', there are four major components of P.A.V.E:
*Arts entrepreneurship classes such as Foundations of Arts Entrepreneurship, Arts Entrepreneurship Seminar, Theatre Organization and Management and Independent Film
*Public programming on arts entrepreneurship including speakers, workshops and symposia
'''Funding:''' The program is funded by '''''Kauffman Campuses Initiative''''' which supports innovation and entrepreneurship at ASU and beyond. The program provides up to $10,000 to fund good ideas from students, staff, faculty and community members.
'''The Cronkite School '''students (and faculty) are encouraged to submit ideas for '''''Knight News Challenge''''' (and won) and for '''''J-Lab Women Entrepreneurs''''' grants. Those winners are heralded as much as winners of journalism contests
ASU also strives to deliver research breakthroughs and achieve discovery in a broad range of strategic research areas including[[#_edn6|[vi]]]:
*'''The New Media Innovation Lab''', Operated by '''''the Cronkite School''''', is a research and development program designed to help media companies create new and exciting multimedia products. The lab brings together students from across campus – journalism, business, computer engineering and design, to develop a variety of products, including an iPhone app and widgets and Facebook applications.
*'''The Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation''' (AzCATI), located at ASU, has been a pioneer in algae research as a source of low-cost, sustainable biofuel. The Laboratory was contracted by the Department of Energy to research and develop algae conversion.
ASU’s '''The Pathways to Entrepreneurship Grant''' (PEG)[[#_edn7|[vii]]] program provides funding to faculty/staff who wish to implement or enhance entrepreneurship curricular or co-curricular programs. The following programs all have some roots grounded in the in the Pathways to Entrepreneurship Grant.
'''Innovation Advancement Program''' at the '''''Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law'': '''This program provides legal and consulting services to start-up enterprises and entrepreneurs.
*Team Leader: Eric Menkus, Innovation Advancement Program Director'''. '''Amount Awarded: $90,000'''. '''Number of Grants Awarded: 2.
'''InnovationSpace''' at the '''''Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts''''': Team Leader: Prasad Boradkar, InnovationSpace Program Director. Amount Awarded: $115,000. Number of Grants Awarded: 4
*'''''First Innovations''''': Team Leader: Pat Mariella, American Indian Policy Institute Director. Amount Awarded: $68,000. Number of Grants Awarded: 1
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>Grant funding provided for a two-day workshop, which was subsequently developed into three ASU courses and a summer program for high school students</li>
</ul>
*'''''Phoenix Innovation Study''''': Team Leader: Sander van der Leeuw, School of Human Evolution and Social Change Director. Amount Awarded: $33,000. Number of Grants Awarded: 1
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>Funded research on ethnographic study of SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center</li>
</ul>
*'''''Social Innovation and Social Enterprise''''': Team Leader: Vanna Gonzales, School of Social Transformation Assistant Professor. Amount Awarded: $30,000. Number of Grants Awarded: 1
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>Grant funding enables students to work with local social entrepreneurs to advance their organization’s goals through innovation</li>
</ul>
The following programs are run out of '''''the College of Technology and Innovation''''':
*'''''Global Resolve''''': Team Leader: Mark Henderson, Global Resolve Director. Amount Awarded: $59,000. Number of Grants Awarded: 2
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>Funds development of capstone courses that engage students in creating ventures in developing countries using technologies that solve local challenges. These courses are now part of the core courses for the social entrepreneurship focus in the '''''technological entrepreneurship and management degree program'''''.</li>
</ul>
*'''''Startup Weekend ASU''''': Team Leader: Kevin Gary, College of Technology and Innovation Associate Professor. Amount Awarded: $39,000. Number of Grants Awarded: 1
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>Funding supports the development of courses in software entrepreneurship and launched the inaugural Startup Weekend at ASU.</li>
</ul>
The '''''Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College''''' runs the '''''Advancing P-20 Education Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship''''' ($5k), and the '''''Innovation in Social Educational Entrepreneurship (I-SEE)''''' ($30k).
'''Arizona Technology Enterprises '''(AzTE)[[#_edn8|[viii]]] is the technology venture arm of Arizona State University. In addition to ASU technologies, AzTE also manages technologies developed by ASU's partner universities, Dublin City University in Ireland (through its technology commercialization organization, Invent DCU Limited) and Tec de Monterrey in Mexico. AzTE is located at SkySong and works in collaboration with ASU's '''''Innovation and Entrepreneurship''''' to bolster these relationships. AzTE collaborates with each university to protect and commercialize their intellectual property in the United States.
ASU also has a number of activities focused on student entrepreneurship, global company attraction, and investor network development. The addition of technology transfer to international collaborations increases the likelihood that global discoveries will be commercialized utilizing Arizona networks. Over time, ASU's development of vibrant global networks is expected to positively impact economic development in the State.
T'''he Sensor, Signal and Information Processing Center and Consortium''' (SenSIP) at ASU has been designated a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Collaborative Research Center. The consortium researchers have provided the mathematical and algorithmic groundwork for technology used in security systems, consumer electronics, medicine health care, nanotechnology, and other technologies including global positioning systems.
*This research initiative is expected to boost Arizona’s economy, as well as attract other big corporations to the state
'''ASU's Biodesign Institute[[#_edn9|'''[ix]''']]''' in collaboration with industry is engaged in a $5 million, four-year project to identify protein biomarkers that could predict cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes. The collaboration is sponsored by the '''''National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases''''' (NIDDK--part of the National Institutes of Health). Other collaborators in the project include '''''Pfizer''''' and '''''the Phoenix VA Healthcare System'''''. The money comes from a fund that is designed to support scientists from different disciplines to work together on a common problem.
Other ASU industry collaborations include: Adaptive Intelligent Materials and Systems Center (AIMS); Advanced Technology Innovation Center; Arizona Institute for Nano-Electronics (AINE), and the Arizona State University Research Park.
ASU’s unique assets – including intellectual capital, advanced facilities and student talent – are invaluable in developing a regional economic ecosystem where innovation-based firms can thrive. As a regional economic engine, ASU injects revenue back into the community through student, visitor, and staff spending, and by providing a stable source of employment for thousands of Arizonans.
More specifically, ASU provides the following economic impact in the regional and local economic development[[#_edn10|[x]]]:
*'''ASU directly employs''' over 20,000 Arizonans, generating $961 million in wages
*'''Arizona taxpayers invest''' $386 million a year in ASU, and realize a $3.4 billion economic yield on their investment
*Is innovation an integral part of ASU’s institutional culture?
*How does your institution leverage (or intend to leverage) geographic endowment?
*Are your innovation, entrepreneurship, and tech transfer programs integrated?
<ul style="list-style-type:circle;">
<li>Why, or why not?</li>
</ul>
*Are there any unique successes (and or challenges) you may wish to highlight?
Mr. James O'Brien's comments have been instructive in better understanding ASU’s leadership role in promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, and the commercialization of research in the nation’s universities, in addition to the impact of the NACIE commitment letter in framing ASU’s strategic plans and institutional culture.
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<br/>Source: "The Innovative and Entrepreneurial University: Higher Education, Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Focus", Department of Commerce, October 2013.
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[[Category: Deep Dives]]