A Decade Of Technological Innovation:  A Retrospective View Of The First Decade Of The Nciia

Phil Weilerstein; Angela Shartrand

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Conference: 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Publication Date: June 22, 2008
Start Date: June 22, 2008
End Date: June 25, 2008
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Learning from Entrepreneurship Programs
Tagged Division: Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation
Page Count: 7
Page Numbers: 13.30.1 - 13.30.7
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--3390
Permanent URL: https://sftp.asee.org/3390
Download Count: 305

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Paper Authors

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Phil Weilerstein National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance

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Phil Weilerstein began his career as an entrepreneur while still a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts. He and his colleagues launched a start-up biotech company which eventually went public. This experience, followed by several other entrepreneurial ventures, brought him a lifelong passion for entrepreneurship, which he has pursued through his work as Executive Director of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance or NCIIA. Phil’s tenure at the NCIIA is marked by his skill for network-building and expert leverage of resources. As an entrepreneur in a not-for-profit organization, he has grown the NCIIA from a grassroots group of enthusiastic faculty to a nationally known and in-demand knowledge base and resource center. He currently serves as the Chair of the ASEE Entrepreneurship Division.

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Angela Shartrand National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance

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Angela Shartrand, Assessment Specialist, is an educational psychologist who has experience evaluating programs in philanthropic, community-based, and higher education settings. Prior to joining NCIIA, she evaluated programs in the areas of teacher education, youth philanthropy and leadership, and community-based family support services, identifying and disseminating best practices and policies. A graduate of Williams College, she Holds an Ed.M from Harvard University and a PhD in in Educational Psychology from Boston College and has taught courses and workshops in applied research to faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates at Boston College and Wheelock College.

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Abstract
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A Decade of Technological Innovation: A Retrospective View of the First Decade of the NCIIA

Abstract

The role of entrepreneurship in engineering, science and technology education has undergone a transformation over the past ten years. Experiential exposure to commercially directed innovation and entrepreneurship is now a growing part of many engineering programs and is increasingly viewed as a way to prepare students for the realities of a working world in which they will need to take control of their careers and be prepared to contribute to the commercial success of any enterprise they join or create. The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance was created in 1996 to nurture the next generation of innovators and technology entrepreneurs by working with higher education institutions to build programs, build faculty knowledge and networks and support emerging technology entrepreneurs. NCIIA has provided funding, training and community building resources and programs to encourage the initiation of curricular programs, formal and informal networks and the launch of new products and businesses based on technological innovations by student teams known as E-Teams. This paper will review and discuss the progress and outcomes of the NCIIA programs over the past ten years looking at the impacts on participating institutions and programs, educational and entrepreneurial outcomes and the development of key networks that continue to drive progress in the field.

Introduction

The role of entrepreneurship in engineering, science and technology education has undergone a transformation over the past ten years.1,2,3 Experiential exposure to commercially directed innovation and entrepreneurship is now a growing part of many engineering programs and is increasingly viewed as a way to prepare students for the realities of a working world in which they will need to take control of their careers and be prepared to contribute to the commercial success of any enterprise they join or create. The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) was created in 1996 to nurture the next generation of innovators and technology entrepreneurs by working with higher education institutions to build programs, build faculty knowledge and networks, and support emerging technology entrepreneurs. NCIIA has provided funding, training and community building resources and programs to encourage the initiation of curricular programs, formal and informal networks and the launch of new products and businesses based on technological innovations by student teams known as E-Teams. This paper reviews and discusses program outcomes over the past ten years, examining institutional impacts, educational and entrepreneurial outcomes, and the development of key networks that continue to drive progress in the field.

History of the NCIIA

NCIIA was founded in 1995 with support from the Lemelson Foundation, a private philanthropy based in Portland, Oregon. Lemelson’s vision was to create an organization that fosters invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship in higher education, resulting in the creation of

Citation
Format

Weilerstein, P., & Shartrand, A. (2008, June), A Decade Of Technological Innovation: A Retrospective View Of The First Decade Of The Nciia Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--3390