NEW COURSE - SPRING 2012
Entrepreneurship for Engineers
MECH 498/898, Sec. 006
1 credit hour: Tuesdays 8 – 9:15 a.m.
Have you ever wanted to build a company from a great idea?
Engineers don’t think of themselves as business people, but they should. Good engineering is about making the world better, and good business is about serving customers so they will exchange hard-earned dollars for a product or service. This course connects those concepts and helps you be better at both.
Class sessions will explore several subjects needed to develop your great idea into a real product or a viable company. Entrepreneurship in engineering puts innovative ideas into the world where they can “make a dent in the universe.” This vital process is sometimes avoided by engineers, but getting to know it can improve your engineering work. Transferring your ideas into use where they will be judged, copied and improved is an important responsibility of a good engineer. Good art (and engineering) does not stay on the drawing board or in the lab.
The course will cover topics such as:
1) The development of, and search for, a good business model
2) Business structure--including shares, officers, boards of directors
3) Prototypes, proof-of-concept and patents
4) The need for agility, passion and resilience
5) How to obtain funding to advance your idea
6) How to give an investor pitch
This course is designed to change the way you think about engineering. Classes will be co-taught by Professor Shane Farritor of Mechanical & Materials Engineering (founder of two startup companies) and David Conrad, executive director of NUtech Ventures. Gain the knowledge you need to start your own business, create a new product, and get your ideas into use so they can help people.
Find out how one course can change your life.
For more information, contact Dr. Shane Farritor, Mechanical & Materials Engineering, W358 Nebraska Hall:
402-472-5805 or sfarritor2@unl.edu.