ENG 599 – CleanTech Entrepreneurship
In 2006, CleanTech became the third-largest sector for venture investment ($2.9 Bn), indicating the potential for economic growth in this technology innovation space. The growth in this area is primarily driven by investments in Energy, with lesser investment in Water, Transportation, Advanced Materials, Manufacturing and Agriculture. Clean technologies have the opportunity to deliver dramatic improvements in resource efficiency and productivity, creating more economic value with less energy and materials, or less waste and toxicity.
The economic impact potential is huge: 1,500 CleanTech start-ups operate worldwide; 4,093 U.S. patents focused on CleanTech were issued; IPO value was up 156% in 2006, driven by solar and biofuels. CleanTech Entrepreneurship will focus on value creation in this space, with emphasis on how strategic business drivers (e.g. regulation, subsidy, and market valuation) influence innovation and investment, and how this may impact research hypotheses and needs.
CleanTech Entrepreneurship is a 3-credit, semester-long, graduate-level elective. The class format is highly interactive and will vary from session to session. You should expect to encounter:
- Content-specific presentations by a variety of instructors, including those from the Ross School of Business, and entrepreneurs/VCs in the CleanTech space
- Full-class application discussions based on case-studies: both written cases and guestspeaker provided presentations/experiences.
- A semester-long project focused on applying and integrating tools to assess entrepreneurial business opportunities from CleanTech inventions
The perspective provided in this course will be valuable for students that are both looking to form or join startup companies as well as for those that are looking to create corporate value via industrial research.
ELIGIBILITY AND SCHEDULE
This course will be offered Fall ’07 and Winter ’08. In Fall, the course will capped to 20 students; in Winter, the cap will be increased based on interest. Both graduate students from the College of Engineering, and seniors will be considered. This course is part of a broader curriculum in the COE on entrepreneurship, and will prepare you for many other entrepreneurial studies courses offered at the Ross School of Business. Interested students should contact the instructor (adriaens@umich.edu).
PRIMARY INSTRUCTOR
Peter Adriaens, Ph.D., P.E.
Dr. Adriaens is a professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering – Program of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. He currently is appointed in educational and research program development at the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies in the Ross School of Business. His research on ‘flask-to-field’ multidisciplinary technology development projects and consulting experienceemphasizes industrial sustainability issues, including site remediation, emissions management, and corporate value creation along the water-energy nexus. He was one of the original participants in the first Kauffmann-sponsored Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy in 2007.
