04/10/23

The NCIIA Venture Capital at Rowan University

Anthony J. Marchese, John L. Schmalzel,

John C. Chen, T.R. Chandrupatla, Kevin Dahm, Shreekanth A. Mandayam, Ravi P. Ramachandran, and Paris von

Lockette

Rowan UniversityCollege of EngineeringHenry M. Rowan Hall201 Mullica Hill Rd.

Glassboro, NJ 08028

2000 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

St. Louis, MO, June 2000

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http://engineering.rowan.edu/~marchese

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OverviewThe NCIIA Venture Capital Fund at Rowan

History of Rowan University

The Engineering Clinic SequenceFour years (8-semesters) of design

R.A.P.I.D.

The NCIIA Venture Capital Fund

Example Projects

Summary and Discussion

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Rowan University

The comprehensive state university of Southern New Jersey.

Located in Glassboro, NJ. Founded in 1923.

University renamed in honor of Henry Rowan after $100 million gift in 1992 to create the College of Engineering.

Rowan University consists of six collegesBusinessCommunicationEducationEngineeringFine and Performing ArtsLiberal Arts and Sciences

Who we are...

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History and Background

The Gift

Four Departments: Civil and Environmental Engineering

Chemical Engineering

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Henry M. Rowan Hall

The Curriculum

The Hallmarks: Engineering Clinic

Rowan Engineering

A view from the atrium at Henry M. Rowan Hall. The $30 million, 90,000 sq. ft. facility was completed Nov.1997

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Program Hallmarks

Hands on (and minds on!)

Multidisciplinary

Integrated

Value teamwork

Emphasize communication writing and public speaking faculty have been given offices in Rowan Hall

EntrepreneurshipCreate jobs in Southern New Jersey

Rowan Engineering

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The Engineering Clinic

Freshman Clinic I: Engineering Measurements

Freshman Clinic II: NSF Competitive Assessment Lab

Sophomore Clinic I: Total Quality Management

Sophomore Clinic II: Entrepreneurship

Junior Clinic: Multidisciplinary Design Project (semester)

Senior Clinic: Multidisciplinary Design Project (year)

An 8-Semester Design Sequence

Hybrid Rocket Motor

NASA G Combustion

Guitar FX Pedals

Automated Crash Notification System

C o

m p

le x

I t y

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R.A.P.I.D.Rowan Alliance for Product Innovation and Development

R.A.P.I.D. builds upon the success of Rowan Engineering Clinic in creating multidisciplinary teams of

undergraduate students, graduate students, engineering faculty, and industry professionals,

to engage in original product development enterprises.

R.A.P.I.D. is a network of experts, facilities and services geared toward assisting regional businesses and individuals in developing new products.

The goal of R.A.P.I.D. is to quickly convert ideas into products!

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R.A.P.I.D.From Idea...to Prototype...to Profitable Enterprise

Ideas Local Companies

Funded Research

SimulationIntellectual Property

Rejects

Feasibility Studies/Prototypes

The Engineering Clinic

Rapid Prototyping

Business Development

Technology Enterprise

Licensing

E-commerce

Market Studies

Venture Capital

Business Planning

Master’s Thesis

Training

Modeling

J. Q. Public

Faculty

Students

R.A.P.I.D.

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R.A.P.I.D.Electromechanical product realization process

DesignCaptureSimulate

FPGA

DesignCaptureSimulate

TestPCBStuff

BreadBoard

RequirementsCapture

ConceptModel

(ACTUA)

ConceptualDesign

ParametricDesign

(Solid Works,FEA)

PDA

Unix

Target

SoftwareDevelopment

Prototype(SLA)

PC

Internet

controller

ConfigurationDesign

(Working Model)

Analog

Test

SystemPrototype

Mechanical

Software

Digital

PCBDesign

ASIC Foundry

DesignCaptureSimulate

MEMS

PSPICE/Mentor Graphics

Mentor

XilinxMentor

Tanner Tools

CASE Tools

QuickCircuit

Prototype(CNC)

EmbeddedPC

Test

PCB Manufacture

Shown: ACN Systemdeveloped at Rowan.

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R.A.P.I.D.Resources for Rapid Product Development

The following resources are available for Rowan student teams:

NSF Competitive Assessment Laboratory

3-D Systems SLA-250 Stereolithography Machine

Actua 2100 MJM rapid concept modeler

QuickCircuit rapid circuit prototyping machine

Student machine shop featuring CNC tools

Pro/ENGINEER, Solid Works, AutoCAD, FLUENT, PSPICE, Working Model 3D, Mentor Graphics, etc.

Competitive Assessment Lab

SLA Machine

Student Shop

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Project Sponsorship / Fundinglocal industry

faculty research grants

departmental budgets

Some Recent Projects Automated Crash Notification System

Guitar Effects Pedals

Human Powered Stair Climber

Stair Lift Rapid Product Development

Road Towable Trailer for Garden Rental Equip.

R.A.P.I.D. Product Development in the Engineering Clinic

Stair Lift Project

FX Pedals

ACN System

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Junior / Senior Clinic

What’s often missing?the spirit of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship.

How do we promote these ideals? provide students with the opportunity to propose their own original inventions

provide real funding for development of the invention.

What is the appropriate vehicle?The Venture Capital Fund for the Rowan Engineering Clinic

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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Junior /Senior Clinic

The Venture Capital Fund has been initiated by three successive NCIIA Grants.

Funding of up to $2500 per team is awarded to student teams based on a competitive proposal process.

To be funded, a team must:

be multidisciplinary

organize into a corporate structure and submit a business plan.

appoint a project director from Engineering and an industry advisor

describe an original product idea that can be successfully designed and prototyped in a single semester.

The Venture Capital Fund

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The Venture Capital Fund

The following rapid product development projects have been sponsored to date:

Portable MP3 Player,

3COM Palm® RS232 Protocol Analyzer,

Automated Synchronized Spinning Exercise Cycle,

Coating Thickness Monitor,

Linear Combination Guitar Effects Processor,

Hybrid Rocket Motor Demonstrator,

Dorm-Sized Air Conditioner, and

Articulated Leaf Spring for Enhanced Four-Wheel Drive Suspension.

Rapid Product Development Projects

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E-Team Product Development

Proposal: pressure relief system to prevent residential roof damage during high wind loading.

Funding: $2500 for Fall 1998

Team Background: Civil Engineering (3 Students)Chemical Engineering (1 Student)Mechanical Engineering (1 Student)

Research and Development:Intellectual property searchwind tunnel testing CFD modelingfull scale pressurized test bed

The Hurricane Roof Vent

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E-Team Product Development

Proposal: Develop a portable device to play CDs in multiple formats, including standard music CDs and CDs containing files in MP3 format.

Funding: $2500 for Fall 1999 (No-cost extension for Spring 2000).

Team Background:

Mechanical Engineering (1)

Electrical and Computer Engineering (3)

Research and Development:

Intellectual property search

3-D solid modeling and SLA

Computer interfacing with MP3 decoder chip

Alpha Prototype breadboard complete

Portable MP3/CD Player

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E-Team Product Development

Proposal: Develop an after-market lift kit for an SUV that eliminates torsional stress in the leaf springs.

Funding: $2500 for Fall 1999 (No-cost extension for Spring 2000).

Team Background:

Mechanical Engineering (4)

Electrical and Computer Engineering (1)

Research and Development:

Intellectual property search

3-D solid modeling and CNC

Strain gage instrumentation

Static and dynamic testing

Advanced 4WD System

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E-Team Product Development

Proposal: Develop a portable rocket test stand to market to undergraduate engineering educators.

Funding: $2500 for Fall 1999 (No-cost extension for Spring 2000).

Team Background:

Mechanical Engineering (1)

Electrical and Computer Engineering (1)

Research and Development:

Intellectual property search

3-D solid modeling and CNC

Alpha Prototype complete

Marketing - discussions are underway to license product.

Hybrid Rocket Motor Test Stand

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The Venture Capital Fund

All faculty must “sign on” and encourage students to respond to the Request for Proposals.

Misconception that all inventions are electromechanical widgets.

Some faculty members say, “I am not an inventor.”

This year: 8 of 28 faculty members supervised projects.

For students, funding does NOT appear to be a significant incentive!

This year: 8 projects were funded.

Completion of project in one semester is a challenge

No-cost extensions were granted in 5 of 8 projects.

Issues to Consider: Last Year

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The Venture Capital Fund

The patent process continues to be a challenge.

How do we complete the process of bringing a product to market?

Industrial partnerships?

Issues to Consider: This year

Ideas Local Companies

Funded Research

SimulationIntellectual Property

Rejects

Feasibility Studies/Prototypes

The Engineering Clinic

Rapid Prototyping

Business Development

Technology Enterprise

Licensing

E-commerce

Market Studies

Venture Capital

Business Planning

Master’s Thesis

Training

Modeling

J. Q. Public

Faculty

Students

R.A.P.I.D.

ROWANUNIVERSITY

Acknowledgments

The venture capital fund has been supported by three grants from the

NCIIA. Resources used in this project were supported in part by NSF

under the grants DUE-9751651 and DUE-9850563. Special thanks to

Rowan engineering studentsBrian Fitzpatrick, Mark Farwell, Jason

Childs, Jason Daniel, Sam Greenfeld, Doug Gabauer, Anthony

Docimo, Robert Jones, Harry Wiedman, Mike Ciocco, Dave Bowen,

Glen Roames, Mike Jensen, Brian Kuritz and Matt Johnson for

providing information on the individual projects.