TechRevolution to Showcase Jenkins MBA Program’s Approach to Teaching Technology Commercialization

Presenters at the March 31 event all have ties to the NC State Poole College’s Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) program. For more than a decade, this program has led the entrepreneurship and technology commercialization concentration, known as HiTEC, in the college’s Jenkins MBA program. The concentration attracts graduate students from across campus who are interested in learning how to commercialize technologies.

TechRevolution is scheduled for Thursday, March 31, 2011, 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at NC State’s Jane S. McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman Street in Raleigh, N.C. There is no charge to attend, but registration is required.

Roger Debo, TEC director and one of three featured speakers will represent the Jenkins MBA program’s academic concentration that teaches graduate students with science and technology backgrounds how to commercialize new technologies.

Also speaking are:

• Miles Wright, CEO of Xanofi, Inc., an NC State spinoff that evolved from the work done by a team of Jenkins MBA students in the TEC program last year. Wright also is a TEC executive in residence this year.

• Michael Zapata III, chairman of the board of Protochips, Inc., an early stage company and TEC-affiliated start-up. Zapata is an alumnus of the Jenkins MBA program and its TEC program, and a former TEC entrepreneur-in-residence.

Protochips was founded by three TEC alumni – David Nackasi, John Damiano, and Stephen Mick – who had completed the HiTEC concentration as part of their graduate studies in engineering at NC State. The company was not their class project, but they started it shortly after they finished the academic program.

LipoScience, an innovative diagnostic company that developed proprietary diagnostic testing based on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), was one of the first projects developed in TEC back in 199, Debo said.

Since its founding in 1995, TEC has graduated more than 350 students. Its efforts have helped to raise more than $200 million in funding for clients and new ventures created in the entrepreneurship and technology commercialization sequence of classes. That has translated into 250 jobs in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area.

Debo will discuss the TEC team members’ roles in educating and preparing future business leaders and entrepreneurs, and executives from TEC-related start-up companies will share their insight about the value of the program and the challenges entrepreneurs face.

For additional details or to register, click on this link to the go to the TechRevolution program.

About TEC

Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) teaches graduate students from business and technical disciplines the innovation and entrepreneurial processes
necessary to transform new technology platforms into successful businesses. A team-based approach, using real, new-to-the-world technologies and a proprietary commercialization methodology are used to provide the students with an unparalleled opportunity for hands-on commercialization experience. The Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science has been a key player in the development of the TEC program from its inception, providing financial support and mentorship for the student teams. The curriculum is taught through the NC State Jenkins MBA Program in the Poole College of Management. Read about the TEC program.

About NC State’s Office of Technology Transfer and Springboard

NC State’s Office of Technology Transfer is a service organization within the university created to protect and promote the discoveries of NC State researchers. It provides comprehensive services related to university intellectual property, the commercialization of new technologies, and other resources. The Springboard Partnership Portal, led by the university’s Office of Technology Transfer and Office of Research and Innovation, provides a single point of entry for internal and external innovative engagement and collaboration.

Related

Graduate Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) Certificate Program