Objective
The primary objective of the Fourth Credit Option is to provide Bentley students with a unique opportunity to engage in a novel approach to entrepreneurship: exploring new applications for research-based inventions. This initiative, led by the E-Hub, strategically combines cutting-edge research inventions with entrepreneurial ambition. Through this program, the E-Hub connects Bentley community members with groundbreaking inventions from federal research laboratories and other universities, enabling participants to develop practical applications and entrepreneurial ventures.
For example, a federal research team might create an electronic nose designed to detect explosives. Bentley students could then reimagine its potential uses in industries such as fragrances or wine, exploring new applications and commercialization possibilities.
Purpose
The Fourth Credit Option is grounded in the Flex Program partnership at the federal level, referred to as the Invention to Innovation (I2I) initiative. The transition from invention to innovation is complex, requiring students to understand the research invention, enhance its functionality, improve usability, identify customer needs, explore market segments, and much more. This program equips students with the skills and resources necessary to navigate this challenging but rewarding process.
Infrastructure
The structure of the Fourth Credit Option for Entrepreneurship mirrors similar programs on campus, such as the Service-Learning Institute. Detailed information about the initiative is outlined below.
Program Structure
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Curated Inventions
Drawing on the partnership with the Federal Labs as part of the Invention to Innovation initiative, the E-Hub will make available a set of research inventions that may be amenable to commercial applications. Each invention will have a short, one-page write-up; most will have an explainer video associated with them; all will have pointers to research papers and/or patents and the possibility of access to the research team (scientists at a federal research lab) that has performed the research and developed the invention. A summary of curated research-based inventions can be accessed below. The E-Hub will share a password with faculty who need to access to the complete portfolio.
Fourth Credit Option
Faculty members can bring the curated inventions to their students with the Fourth Credit Option, a mechanism that is familiar to the Bentley community because of its pioneering use by the Service Learning Center. The E-Hub model emulates the practices from the Service Learning Center, enhancing the policies and procedures to make it more easily accessible to both faculty and students. Any interested faculty member can bring this opportunity to their students. To accomplish this, the faculty member will include an addendum to their syllabus as a fourth credit option. Faculty interested in offering the fourth credit option can coordinate with the E-Hub to include this addendum along with their syllabus. The E-Hub will facilitate collaboration with the Registrar's office for adding the fourth credit option.
The Opportunity
With this Fourth Credit Option, Bentley students have the opportunity to access an entirely new pathway to Entrepreneurship that has not been easily accessible so far: Commercialization of Inventions. The E-Hub, therefore, strongly encourages the students to consider this as a significant opportunity. Following the mechanisms established by the E-Hub, they can build a connection with a research team in a federal research lab with the potential for commercializing a research invention (that itself may represent millions of dollars and multi-year investment). Students can directly register for the Fourth Credit Option (if the faculty member has activated this option) has when they register for the course. Students interested in the Fourth Credit Option are encouraged to discuss the syllabus, the timeline, the deliverables template and the curated research inventions with the faculty member.
Governance
The Fourth Credit Option for entrepreneurship will undergo review and approval by the appropriate governance mechanisms to ensure Bentley standards. A sub-committee of the E-Hub Faculty Council will continue to provide oversight of the program to ensure effective implementation.
Semester Cadence
During the semester, the students are encouraged to stay engaged with the professor as well as the team of scientists (that produced the invention) to learn about the invention, develop new applications and use cases, discuss the potential for adoption and refinement of the invention towards these new applications, and develop a rapport with the team of scientists who will eventually become partners with the students if they choose to pursue commercialization. The importance of developing this connection cannot be over-emphasized.
Planning and Conduct
The time from the team of scientists and the professor is valuable. Therefore, the E-Hub encourages the students to plan for each meeting well, share the agenda with the meeting participants ahead of time, and follow-up quickly to capture notes and summaries as well as develop the outcomes. The Meeting Templates provide email drafts, meeting outlines, and a suggested sequencing for topics to be discussed with the team of scientists and the professor. The students may refine these as needed.
Preparing the Deliverables
Developing new applications and use cases for an invention, and planning for commercialization can involve several tasks. The report template, therefore, contains the components that address these tasks. A student may not possess the skills necessary for all components. More importantly, faculty members in different disciplines (e.g. Management, Marketing, Finance, CIS and others) may wish to emphasize different skills that map to the original course. The faculty member may, therefore, customize the report template by deleting some sections and emphasizing others. The Customizable Report Template below provides this customization possibility. The students can, then, rely on the template (as customized by the faculty member for their class) to prepare the deliverable.
Accessing E-Hub Resources
The E-Hub encourages the students to use several resources that are readily available to them on the E-Hub site, such as: attending Coaching Sessions and Speaker Series, accessing the Knowledge Base and the Orbit Platform, and many more.
End-of Semester Presentation
As the semester draws to a close, the students will be responsible for presenting to the team of scientists and make the case for commercialization. The E-Hub will plan for these meetings (generally the week before the exam week) and coordinate with the team of scientists, the faculty members involved and the students. This will allow the students to prepare the presentation. By this time, we anticipate that the details of teh presentation will be based on the work that the students have been doing throughout the semester.
Preparing to Participate in the Incubator
The E-Hub strongly encourages the students to extend their work for the fourth credit option, build a team and participate in the next cycle of the E-Hub Incubator.
Feedback to the E-Hub and External Partners
Although it is not mandatory, we hope that the faculty members who pursue the Fourth Credit Option will provide feedback to the E-Hub. The E-Hub will be responsible for compiling this and sharing it with the external partners to ensure continued refinement of the Fourth Credit Option along with the I2I initiative.