College of Management's approach to technology commercialization gaining global audience

November 9, 2005 -- With 10 years of research and development and a network of participating universities that spans three continents, the Technology, Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) program at NC State University’s College of Management is a global technology commercialization leader.

Close to $1 million dollars has been invested in the development of a process and methodology for building high technology new ventures from university and private R&D innovations.

While most of the world has focused on better ways to find and fund the obvious, low-hanging fruit coming out of research labs, the TEC program has built a portfolio and reputation based on the principle that successful new ventures are built on basic fundamentals, hard work, discipline and determination, the TEC researchers said.

“Without a comprehensive understanding of your technology, products and the markets they address, even the brightest inventor with the most obvious ‘home run’ technology is doomed to failure,” said Angus Kingon, a material scientist, professor and co-founder of TEC.

With support from NSF and the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science, Kingon teamed up with Stephen Markham, associate professor of business management at the college and a serial entrepreneur. Together, they developed a philosophy and tool for teaching the inexperienced would-be entrepreneur how to successfully bring new technologies to the world.

The result is the ‘TEC Algorithm,’ which is now the foundation for graduate level programs in Portugal, England, Ireland, the United States and soon in South Korea.

The Algorithm is the base of the HiTEC academic concentration in the MBA program at NC State’s College of Management. This fall, the students have been evaluating 24 technologies for their commercialization potential, and will continue working with those in the spring semester, developing a business plan for those that they determine have the greatest chance for success.

“We have been quietly building our expertise in teaching and program development, while helping to launch and support real startups,” Markham said.

“At NC State alone, the program has helped our partner companies raise more than $130 million, creating more than 300 new jobs, all the while graduating over 200 MBA, engineering and science master’s and doctoral students.

“Our success is starting to attract attention, but it’s our process, based on sound research, that is appealing to faculty and investors throughout the world,” Kingon said “We were honored to be approached by the Portuguese government to be a key component of their COTEC initiative to enhance competitiveness in the European Union and to promote economic development. Currently, a dozen universities are offering TEC-like programs,” he said. In addition to Kingon and Markham, members of the teaching team include Roger Debo, director of the HiTEC program; Michael Zapata, technology commercial analyst; and Russell Thomas, executive programs director. Mitzi Montoya Weiss, professor of marketing, has taught an associated product innovation management workshop in conjunction with the TEC program.

In early November, Kingon participated in the opening of the Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship at Ireland’s Dublin City University. The Ryan Academy is funded by the Ryan family; Ronald D. Ryan is owner and chairman of Ryan International Airlines. The TEC faculty will be delivering a short course on the Algorithm at the Academy in December.

With their academic success and expanding network of entrepreneurs, scientists and executives; the TEC leaders are focusing on solving the next identified barrier to new venture creation: the gap in funding and support between opportunity identification and revenue. To solve this problem, they have again begun with an in-depth investigation of the issues and models found in both successful and struggling entrepreneurial clusters in the United States.

Their solution is a combination of infrastructure and human network that is engaged with the investment community in a for-profit and not-for-profit structure that enables both the private and public sectors to support economic development through startup creation. In launching this new component of their initiative, they are setting their sights on providing the model vehicle for enabling universities and inventors everywhere to enrich lives, they said.