Engineering Entrepreneurship (EGN4641)

Entrepreneurship for Engineers (EGN6640)

Course Syllabus

Catalog Description:
Engineering Entrepreneurship (EGN4641) and Entrepreneurship for Engineers
(EGN6640) meet as a combined undergraduate / graduate level course that introduces
engineering students to the concepts and practices of technology entrepreneurial thinking
and entrepreneurship. Using lectures, case studies, business plans, and student
presentations, the course teaches life skills in entrepreneurial thought and action that
students can utilize in starting technology companies or executing R&D projects in large
companies.

Course Overview:
Entrepreneurs have started new ventures for generations. Success was more a function of
tenacity and a measure of the idea underpinning the business. Errors in the structure and
early conduct of the enterprise could be overcome with time through learning. In the new
paradigm, tolerance for such errors is acutely narrow. Competition has become intense,
technology-based, market-focused and highly competent. In such a competitive
environment the lack or misuse of the application of currently available technology to the
structure and conduct of a new business could quickly spell its demise. Similarly, the
inability to adapt the enterprise to the emergence of new technologies to make it market-
driven and structure-perfect could have the same effect. In summary, competition is just
too tough; the end could come quickly.

An entrepreneurial orientation is the common denominator among successful enterprises

in this new paradigm. The elements that are frequently key to successful competition
include a team approach to management focusing on enterprise value rather than
individual recognition, structuring an environment that promotes seeking and exploiting
opportunities rather than recognizing and solving problems, conceptualizing and
committing to new markets rather than being constrained by traditional boundaries, and
balancing intelligent risk and the opportunity for rapid advancement.

Organizational size neither offers a safe harbor nor increased risk. New ventures exist
either as a new, small business or as an element of a large organization. Large companies
have become competitive in this new paradigm by redefining their cultures. Decision-
making has been shifted downward in these companies to encourage quick reaction to
market opportunities.

Every student that plans a career, therefore, will face the need to negotiate these new
realities, whether through a big company, small company, new company or old. The goal
of this course is to provide the background necessary to understand the entrepreneurial
approach to business and the tools required to function effectively in that environment.

1
Credit Hours:
3

Graduate students will not receive graduate credit for taking the undergraduate version of
the class. They are allowed to enroll in the undergraduate section, but the credits will
then not count toward the degree.

Pre-requisite:
EGN4641 – Junior / Senior Standing
EGN6640 - None

Course Objectives:
Explore the entrepreneurial mindset and culture that has been developing in companies of
all sizes and industries; Examine the entrepreneurial process from the generation of
creative ideas to exploring feasibility to creation of an enterprise for implementation of
the ideas; Experience the dynamics of participating on a business team and the power
inherent in a team relative to individual effort; Create and present a business plan for a
technology idea; Provide the background, tools, and life skills to participate in the
entrepreneurial process within a large company, in a new venture, or as an investor.

Contribution of course to meeting the professional component:

Not applicable as course is not specific to a major

Relationship of course to program outcomes:

Provides students with: an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams; an
understanding of professional and ethical responsibility; an ability to communicate
effectively; a broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering
solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context; and knowledge of
contemporary issues

Instructor:
Erik Sander, Director
University of Florida Engineering Innovation Institute
Office location: 311 Weil Hall
Telephone: 352-392-7047
E-mail address: [email protected]
Office hours: By appointment to Tammy Hedman ([email protected]; 392-7047)
Teaching Assistant: None

On-campus Students Meeting Time and Location:

Thursday; Periods 3-5; NEB102
The course will typically be delivered weekly through a 3 hour weekly block consisting
of lectures, guest speakers, student presentations, and in-class exercises.

Material and Supply Fees:

None

2
Textbooks and Software Required:
None, but students should expect to have reading assignments that will be posted by the
instructor and other students on the Gator Innovators Facebook Group.

Recommended Reading:
The Art of the Start: The time-tested, battle-hardened guide for anyone starting anything,
Kawasaki, Guy; ISBN: 1591840562, Portfolio – a member of Penguin Group; 2004

Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise, Dorf, Richard, Byers, Thomas, and
Nelson, Andrew; ISBN 978-0073380186; 3rd Edition, 2009

Course Outline:
The course is firmly presented in a “real-world” format, including students taking the
roles of company founders and investors, creating a vision and execution plan for their
company, and raising funds – exactly as they would in a true entrepreneurial endeavor.
The course is delivered along the following outline of major course themes:
I. Introduction to Entrepreneurship – Introduction to Technology Entrepreneurship and
Technology Ventures, Attributes and Myths of Technology Entrepreneurs, Engineers
as Entrepreneurs, Mindset of the Entrepreneurial Leader, Creating and Selling the
Entrepreneurial Value Proposition.
II. Idea Generation and Feasibility Analysis – Entrepreneurial Idea Generation and
Feasibility Analysis, Technology Commercialization Potential, Paths and Barriers
from Idea to Market, Assessing and Presenting the Opportunity.
III. Business Planning and Execution – Business Structuring and Strategy, Business
planning and the Business Plan, Financial Analysis and Projections; Market and
Competitive Analysis, Presentation of the Opportunity, Intellectual Property
Strategies for Technology Companies; Marketing, Sales and Distribution Strategies,
Investment and Financial Strategies, Venture Growth and Value Harvesting.

Attendance and Expectations:

For on-campus students, attendance is mandatory at all sessions, and more than one
unexcused absence can result in loss of one final course letter grade per each unexcused
absence over one at the discretion of the instructor, subject to the UF attendance policies.
Attendance may be taken by the instructor during any class period. The instructor has the
right, at his sole discretion, to excuse an absence 1) if the student informs the instructor
by E-mail at least 24 hours in advance of the class to be missed and obtains the
instructor’s permission to miss the class, such permission to be given at the instructor’s
sole discretion, or 2) the student discusses the absence with the professor immediately
after the absence and provides reasonable justification for missing the class, the
acceptance of such justification to be at the instructor’s sole discretion.

It is the student’s responsibility to find out from their classmates, the class website, or the
instructor what material was covered, what additional assignments were made, and to
obtain any handouts he/she may have missed.

3
Grading:
The course will be organized around lectures, readings, class discussion and a team
project. EDGE students are not required to work in teams, but have the option to do so if
it can be accommodated by the instructor. On-campus students, and EDGE students who
choose to work in teams, will organize into teams for the purpose of developing a venture
idea into an early stage business plan and presenting that plan. The deliverables for each
team will be individual elements and a business plan and a team presentation of the plan
to the class.

This course is offered at the graduate level as EGN6640 and at the undergraduate level as
EGN4641, and will be delivered in the same class period. Graduate and undergraduate
students will learn together as the teaching methodology and structure of the
undergraduate and graduate courses are similar. However, graduate students are required
to submit additional assignments (e.g. case studies) per below. Grades will be
determined as follows:

Maximum Points for Assignments

Assignment Assignment Type Undergraduate Graduate
students students
Student Individual for all students 50 50
Biography
Individual Idea Individual for all students 50 50
Overview
Company Idea Team for on-campus students and EDGE students 100 100
Overview working in teams; Individual for EDGE students not
working in teams
Value Team for on-campus students and EDGE students 100 100
Proposition working in teams; Individual for EDGE students not
Presentation working in teams
Start-up.com Team for on-campus graduate students and EDGE Not required 100
Case Analysis students working in teams; Individual for EDGE
students not working in teams; No assignment for
undergraduate students
Financial Team for on-campus students and EDGE students 100 100
Projections working in teams; Individual for EDGE students not
working in teams
Business Plan Team for on-campus students and EDGE students 200 200
Presentation working in teams; Individual for EDGE students not
working in teams
Written Team for on-campus students and EDGE students 200 200
Business Plan working in teams; Individual for EDGE students not
working in teams
Final Exam Team for on-campus graduate students and EDGE Not required 100
Case Analysis students working in teams; Individual for EDGE
students not working in teams; No assignment for
undergraduate students

Total Points Possible 800 1,000

If, in the sole discretion of the instructor, a student is not contributing acceptably to
his/her team, the instructor reserves the right to lower an individual student’s grade for

4
 any and all team assignments to a degree that the instructor in his sole discretion feels
appropriate to reflect the lack of contribution of the student to team assignment(s).

For all students, final course grades will be determined by the following Grading Scale:
Final Grade Undergraduate Graduate Final Grade Undergraduate Graduate
Students Students Students Students
A 720 – 800 900 - 1,000 C 560 – 591 700 – 739
A- 696 – 719 870 – 899 C- 536 – 559 670 – 699
B+ 672 – 695 840 – 869 D+ 512 – 535 640 – 669
B 640 – 671 800 – 839 D 480 – 511 600 – 639
B- 616 – 639 770 – 799 D- 456 – 479 570 – 599
C+ 592 – 615 740 – 769 E 0 – 455 0 – 569

For undergraduate students: A C- will not be a qualifying grade for critical tracking
courses. In order to graduate, students must have an overall GPA and an upper-division
GPA of 2.0 or better (C or better). Note: a C- average is equivalent to a GPA of 1.67, and
therefore, it does not satisfy this graduation requirement. For more information on grades
and grading policies, please visit: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current.

For graduate students: In order to graduate, graduate students must have an overall GPA
and an upper-division GPA of 3.0 or better (B or better). Note: a B- average is equivalent
to a GPA of 2.67, and therefore, it does not satisfy this graduation requirement. For more
information on grades and grading policies, please visit:
http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/catalog/policies/regulationgrades.html.

Unless stated otherwise, assignments must be submitted via Sakai by the stated deadline.
Students are strongly encouraged to submit their assignments well before deadlines as
late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances and students, or student
teams, that do not submit assignments via Sakai by the stated deadline will receive no
points for that assignment, subject to the policies of the undergraduate catalogue
(https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current) or graduate catalogue (http://gradcatalog.ufl.edu/)
as appropriate.

Make-up Exam Policy:

Makeup exams will only be allowed under rare circumstances at the discretion of the
instructor, subject to the policies of the undergraduate
(https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current) or graduate (http://gradcatalog.ufl.edu/) catalogue
as appropriate.

Web Site and Facebook Group:

A specific course website will be available to students through the UF E-Learning
system. The website will contain the course schedule and assignments, instructor contact
information, and lecture / seminar notes and other presentation and reading materials.
Students are responsible for checking this often throughout the course as information may
be updated frequently. Additionally, the instructor utilizes the Gator Innovators
Facebook Group to post items of interest. Students are required to join the group and
review all postings by the instructor so that they can participate in the discussion.

5
Academic Integrity:
As a student at the University of Florida, you have committed yourself to uphold the
Honor Code, which includes the following pledge: “We, the members of the University
of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of
honesty and integrity.” You are expected to exhibit behavior consistent with this
commitment to the UF academic community, and on all work submitted for credit at the
University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I
have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.” It is assumed
that you will complete all work independently in each course unless the instructor
provides explicit permission for you to collaborate on course tasks (e.g. assignments,
papers, quizzes, exams). Furthermore, as part of your obligation to uphold the Honor
Code, you should report any condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate
personnel. It is your individual responsibility to know and comply with all university
policies and procedures regarding academic integrity and the Student Honor Code.
Violations of the Honor Code at the University of Florida will not be tolerated.
Violations will be reported to the Dean of Students Office for consideration of
disciplinary action. For more information regarding the Student Honor Code, please see:
http://www.dso.ufl.edu/SCCR/honorcodes/honorcode.php

Accommodation for Students with Disabilities:

Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of
Students Office. That office will provide the student with documentation that he/she
must provide to the course instructor when requesting accommodation.

UF Counseling Services:
Resources are available on-campus for students having personal problems or lacking
clear career and academic goals. The resources include:
 UF Counseling & Wellness Center, 3190 Radio Rd, 392-1575, psychological and
psychiatric services.
 Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career and job search services.

Software Use:
All faculty, staff and student of the University are required and expected to obey the laws
and legal agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary
damages and/or criminal penalties for the individual violator. Because such violations
are also against University policies and rules, disciplinary action will be taken as
appropriate. We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to uphold
ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity.