Transcript Increasing Entrepreneurship Among Graduate Physics Students

Increasing
Entrepreneurship Among
Graduate Physics Students
Prof. T. Venkatesan
National University of Singapore
and
Neocera, Inc.
APS Workshop on Physics Graduate Education, College Park
Jan. 30-Feb.1, 2008
Early Stage Career Planning for
Students
Helping students identify their
– Strengths
– Weaknesses
– Areas to which they are inherently attracted to
– Eliminating areas that do not match with their
interest or skills
– Eventually narrowing their target zone so that
they can develop a focused strategy
– In this process identify candidates who have
potential for entrepreneurship
Reasons why having
Entrepreneurial Faculty is Key
“For a young person to become an entrepreneur a change in their mind
set is needed, and this can be provided by their immediate
environment”
Case study: Prof. Venkatesan Group
Total Number of PhDs: 24
Career choices after PhD
– Academia: 8
– Industrial and National Labs Research:8
– Entrepreneurs:8
Close to one thirds became entrepreneurs!
The Professor as a role model is the most effective catalyst
Other recent examples: Amnon Yariv (Caltech), John Woolam (Nebraska),
Steve Forrest (Princeton/ Michigan)…….
Entrepreneurs from Venkatesan
Group
Entrepreneurs:
• Xindi Wu-CEO, C-Nanofibers, Inc. ( Also VP Biz Dev Sicive, Cable-wireless,
Exodus Comm)
• Chris Doughty-CEO, Varionix, Inc.
• RD Vispute, CEO, Blue Wave Semiconductors
• Vitaly Talyanski-CTO, Stardust Technologies
• Arun Inam-Partner-Signal Lake Ventures (Also VP Biz Dev Motorola)
• Barun Deb Datta-CTO, Alta-Berkeley Ventures
• Zoran Trajanovic-Mckenzie Consultants, headed different high tech startups
• Zhiyun Chen-Pixelligent Technologies
• Andreas Walkenhorst- Own Patent Law Firm in Germany
Industry Leaders:
•
•
Sining Mao, VP for Research, Western Digital
Santanu Bhattacharya, Director of AOL’s India Research
Physics Dept: Key Steps to Take
• Need Entrepreneurial Faculty members
• A Department must have at least two
members who have
– a) Experience in starting companies
– b) Sustaining the company over some period
of time
– c) Raising capital
– d) Have outstanding University Research
programs
In the absence of such Faculty
members
• Have as adjunct faculty the following:
– a) Successful entrepreneurial Physicists with
good research track record
– b) Research managers in corporations who
oversee intrapreneurial activities within the
corporation
– c) Part time faculty from other schools who
have been successful entrepreneurs
– d) They must be able to setup an exciting
research program in the department
Changes to Departmental Courses
• Seminars by entrepreneurs-personal experience
• Business 101 course taught by an entrepreneurial faculty
Capital formation
Structuring a venture
Business model
Intellectual property
Understanding P&L, Balance sheet
Understanding SBIRS, BAA and other govt. funding sources….
• Engineering course on design and basic manufacturing
• Globalization and its economic implications
It is important that these course content be reviewed
by an entrepreneur
Managing Conflict of Interest
• Have a COI team consisting of:
– Department Chairs,
– Dean,
– Asst to President
• Create a transparent interaction with the
entrepreneurial faculty
• Each case must be carefully recorded and
the actions documented for future
reference
SUMMARY
• Get on board entrepreneurial faculty
• Establish early career counseling
• Establish a few Business and engineering
based courses
• Expose students to entrepreneurs-real
world
• Effectively manage COI, actively and not
reactively
• Highlight success stories