BME Department

Biomedical Engineering Department

University of MichiganMatt O’Donnell

Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Biomedical Engineering Education

BME Department

BME 550: Ethics & Enterprise

• 1-credit course taught by BME faculty introducing students to entrepreneurship issues

• Presentations from local venture community

• Primary purpose is exposure for all students

BME Department

IOE 422: Entrepreneurship & Innovation

• 4-credit course taught by Operations Engineering faculty

• Student teams develop business plan with an emphasis on e-commerce

• Final presentations to local venture capital forum

• More of a “traditional” intro to entrepreneurship and innovation

BME Department

ES 515 & 517: New Venture Creation I & Research & Writing the Business Plan

• Coupled half-term modules presented by the Zell/Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies in B-School

• ES 515 – Intro to new venture creation – teams formed between MBA students and others (e.g., BME students)

• ES 517 – Teams formulate business plan delivered to venture capital forum

• Top teams get venture funds to launch business

BME Department

Effective Entrepreneurship Education

• Expose all students – you never know who can become an entrepreneur

• Identify venture firm to work closely with department and B-School (Arboretum Venture – Jan Garfinkle)

• Internships in venture firms

BME Department

How do we measure outcomes?

• Simplest measure is the number of new businesses launched from BME Dept.

• Entrepreneurship preparation is part of alumni survey

• Feedback for local and national venture community (especially from ES 517)

BME Department

Example: Dental CT System

• Team formed among BME graduate students• Team takes ES 515/517 and links with MBA

group in B-School• Team wins venture competition and

company is formed

• Company receives two major SBIR awards in first year to supplement venture funds