Development of an Educational Product for Accelerating Solutions for Commercialization and Entrepreneurial Development (ASCEND) in Western IDeA States

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Project Summary As a participant in the new IDeA Regional Entrepreneurship Development (I-RED) program, the goal of this proposal is to create an educational product to promote entrepreneurism and commercialization in the Mountain West region of IDeA states. The educational product and overall program are intended to address the needs of IDeA state academic institutions in developing and strengthening technology transfer programs to stimulate technological innovation and the needs of IDeA state investigators in translating scientific discoveries and technologies from research laboratories into commercial products that improve human health and promote economic growth in IDeA states. Many factors limit the goal of successfully commercializing basic and translational science in IDeA states. These include a lack of knowledge and understanding among innovators regarding how technologies are brought to market, a lack of exposure to entrepreneurial and commercialization education, training, and mentoring (in areas such as patents, startups, business plan development, venture capital and angel investing), a limited knowledge of technology transfer processes and SBIR/STTR programs, and limited resources in university Technology Transfer Offices. To address these deficits, we will develop an entrepreneurship educational product that can be utilized by academic institutions, especially those in IDeA states, to inspire, train, and support their students and faculty to explore entrepreneurial opportunities. The product will consist of didactic and interactive forms of courses, including manuals, case reports, and databases. These will develop and enhance academic scientists’ entrepreneurial knowledge and skills such as patent filing, business plan development, capital raising, bookkeeping, financial management, business operation, and marketing, ultimately enhancing skills to compete for SBIR/STTR grants and to pursue entrepreneurial interests in academic environments. The product will be developed through a rigorous research and development process (including needs assessment, testing, validation and evaluation) and marketed for commercialization. The goals of this application in Phase I are to: 1) Establish the Hub structure, governance, and leadership plan; 2) Complete needs analyses, set product development goals, complete product design, develop prototypes and effective plans for testing; 3) Develop pilot project funding opportunity announcements, solicit applications, and establish processes to evaluate and select projects for funding; and 4) Implement an evaluation plan to monitor Phase I progress. In Phase II, our goals are to: 1) Refine the educational product through implementation and testing at academic institutions; 2) Fund Pilot Projects and validate the educational product through Pilot Projects and SBIR/STTR application; 3) Develop and implement commercialization plans for the educational product; and 4) Implement an evaluation plan to monitor Phase II progress.