Entrepreneurship Program progressing

University of Detroit Mercy's Entrepreneurship Program is gaining momentum, with the planned Entrepreneurship minor anticipated to be in place by fall 2009.  The process is progressing with close collaboration between the College of Engineering & Science and the College of Business Administration, as well as the involvement of faculty from Architecture, Digital Media and Psychology. 

"This truly interdisciplinary collaboration is very helpful and embodies the entrepreneurial spirit," says Professor of Mechanical Engineering Nassif Rayess. 

"The entrepreneurial mindset has been developing rapidly amongst the faculty and the students," adds Professor of Mechanical Engineering Jonathan Weaver.

Weaver (standing) with students.

The success of the Entrepreneurship Program has helped in securing an invitation from the Kern Family Foundation to seek further funding for program expansion. 

"The Kern Family Foundation has supported the developments so far and the prospects of future collaboration with UDM are very exciting," says Rayess.  The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, Ford Motor Company and the Jesuit 100 Association also provided support.

To expose students to a broad spectrum of entrepreneurship, case studies are being developed to illustrate how entrepreneurs have capitalized on their knowledge of specific engineering topics.  These case studies are then presented in existing courses. Each case study illustrates how content typically covered in an undergraduate course has been applied in an entrepreneurial fashion.  

Three such case studies have been developed to date based on Jonathan Smith's work with Wave Dispersion Technologies, Ray Gunn's work with Somanetics and Clarity Voice Capture, and Matt Younkle's work with Laminar Technologies.    Several more cases are being considered. 

"We would like to acknowledge the Kern Foundation for supporting the development of these cases and the involved entrepreneurs for their enthusiastic participation," says Weaver.

The 2008 Ford Innovation Symposium at UDM in September featured a panel of Ford Motor Co. executives who discussed the topic "Driving American Innovation."  UDM alumnus Derrick Kuzak '73, '77, Ford's group vice president for Global Product Development and Jim Buczkowski, director of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering at Ford, were two of the panelists. See related article for more about the symposium.

This fall marks the third offering of one core course in the proposed minor. The Interdisciplinary Design, Entrepreneurship and Service (IDEAS) course involves students from three colleges at UDM working on energy conservation projects in collaboration with the WARM Training Center in Detroit.  WARM is a non-profit organization that advocates and trains people in energy conservation and "green" buildings.

Weaver, Rayess and Professor of Business Administration Oswald Mascarenhas, S.J., are leading the program development efforts with support from many other faculty members, and administrators.

Transportation Center seeks energy, traffic congestion solutions

The Michigan-Ohio (MIOH) University Transportation Center (UTC), of which University of Detroit Mercy is the lead academic institution, is focusing on key segments of the energy issue — alternative fuels and traffic congestion, including the need for rapid transit and freight movement. 

At UDM, projects have involved 13 faculty members and 36 students from Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Business Administration and Education. Projects include oxidative stability of biodiesel fuels, hydraulic hybrids, traffic congestion relief and improving supply-chain efficiency. As research projects are completed, reports are posted on the MIOH UTC web site at http://mioh-utc.udmercy.edu.

UDM's College of Engineering & Science Dean Leo Hanifin serves as director of the MIOH UTC, which involves four other regional universities exploring transportation issues in conjunction with government and industry. Other academic members are Bowling Green State, Grand Valley State, University of Toledo and Wayne State universities.

As MIOH director, Hanifin is participating in an initiative to improve intermodal freight transportation in Southeast Michigan, Ontario and Northwest Ohio. He also led a team that created a plan for a Detroit rapid transit system. The Woodward Transit Catalyst Plan, a MIOH project, is being used to fund and build a modern streetcar system in Detroit.

Educational Outreach Programs include:

• development of an alternative fuels curriculum for high school science classes nationwide, through the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies Program,
• Saturday classes in collaboration with the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program, and
• a summer camp for Detroit area students, particularly underrepresented minorities, focusing on transportation.

Summer camp group tests a small vehicle powered by alternative energy.

MIOH is part of a nationwide academic network of transportation centers funded in part by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The Michigan DOT, partner universities and corporations also have provided funding. External partners include Ford Motor Company, NEXT Energy, UPS, IBM and the Center for Automotive Research, among others.