2009-2011 Enitiative Projects in Technology

Enitiative funding has been awarded to the following projects that exemplify the vision of entrepreneurial Scholarship in Action for technology:

The Center for Clean Tech Entrepreneurship
Energy Innovation
Mindful Web Connection
Cultivating Professional Support for the Commercialization of New Technology
Micro-hydroelectric demonstration in Madison County
Business Development ESF/SU Green Energy Cooperative
Curiosity Creek© Themed Afterschool Computer Club
Creating an Entrepreneurial Synergy: Artists and Technologists Working Together to Develop Games
Entrepreneurship, Not-for-Profits and Climate Change
Kids as Environmental Entrepreneurs

The Center for Clean Tech Entrepreneurship

The Center for Clean Tech Entrepreneurship (Clean Tech Center) at the Syracuse Technology Garden will work with SUNY-ESF and Morrisville State College to design and implement a summer institute for training clean technology company leaders in Upstate New York.

Clean tech is an emerging sector of products, services and processes that harness renewable energy sources, reduce the carbon footprint, and advance sustainability. The summer institute will bring faculty expertise and research and development from SUNY-ESF and Morrisville State College together with Clean Tech Center entrepreneurial expertise. A curriculum will be developed that will include instructors from the three organizations, as well as angel and venture investors, financial institutions and other lenders, service providers, utilities, industry associations and government agencies providing technical and financial assistance to foster clean technology business development. The goal of this program is to create better alignment of technological and entrepreneurial resources.

Energy Innovation

Bernard Arogyaswamy, professor of business administration at LeMoyne College, will create a new course titled ""Innovation in 'old' and 'new' Energy.".

The new course will explore energy markets, technologies, and constraints, and explore innovations that will spur new economic development. After the first year, the course will be split into a two-semester sequence, the first part consisting of an overview of the institutions and systems critical to innovation in modern societies, and its role in transforming conventional energy applications. The second semester will discuss biofuel and solar power. Stearns and Wheler, a local engineering firm that is converting existing buildings to reduce energy consumption, has partnered with Arogyaswamy to provide expertise to students.

Mindful Web Connection

Mindful Web Connection brings arts and technology students together at Syracuse University to build an inclusive entrepreneurial community that exhibits creativity and collaboration. The project creates mindful connections by means of (1) contemplative video art workshops, (2) development and implementation of web 2.0 technologies to archive and exchange videos and ideas at an Everson museum screening , and (3) an "inter-generational" team including art and technology students and a top industry designer. SU students will connect with students from the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central High School and the Everson Museum of Art, which will host a public video screening and experiential gallery talks. Ultimately, the project will help students learn to cultivate rapport necessary for successful collaborations.

Cultivating Professional Support for the Commercialization of New Technology

The SU New Technology Law Center (SUNTEC) will develop a best practices handbook to improve the efficiency of technology commercialization throughout the New York State community.

SUNTEC has, for many years, worked to promote new technology commercialization and educate students in the graduate programs of law, business, science, and engineering on various methods of facilitating the successful commercialization of new technologies. Recently, the demand for the research services has outpaced SUNTEC's capacity to provide them.

SUNTEC will use the Enitiative grant to further promote the commercialization of new technology by publishing a handbook on Technology Commercialization Clinic Management Best Practices and by developing a marketing campaign geared towards enrolling science and engineering graduates in SUNTEC programs in order to increase the number of individuals experienced in commercialization of new technologies and expand the provision of research services.

Micro-hydroelectric demonstration in Madison County

Philip Hofmeyer, assistant professor in Morrisville State College's School of Agriculture & Natural Resources, and Morrisville State College's Renewable Energy Training Center have partnered with Kevin Jablonski, a local renewable energy consultant, to increase awareness and employment opportunities in the area of renewable energy.

This project will install two functioning micro-hydroelectric systems in Madison County both to bolster college curricula at Morrisville and develop community training sessions. These two demonstration sites will be integrated into several existing college courses. The goal of these courses will be to prepare students to design and install micro-hydroelectric systems, increase awareness of this technology, and provide an opportunity for workers to retool themselves for employment in the expanding renewable energy market.

Business Development ESF/SU Green Energy Cooperative

Michael Kelleher, adjunct associate professor at SUNY-ESF, Steve Lloyd, Chief Sustainability Officer at Syracuse University, and a team of faculty and leading community members will expand the ESF/SU Green Energy Cooperative with an Enitiative Sustainable Entrepreneurship grant.

The initial phase of this project gathered ESF and SU students to analyze the feasibility of developing a business to deliver biodiesel to ESF and SU made from waste oils from the campuses. The Enitiative grant will allow the project to engage engineering students to design and fabricate a production facility for the biodiesel business. By engaging students in the design phase of the enterprise, they will be exposed to the challenges of designing for a start-up business. Three ESF courses will engage students in the design of the biodiesel business and green entrepreneurship.

Curiosity Creek© Themed After School Computer Club: Themed Green & Entrepreneurial

Tiffany A. Koszalka, Associate Professor of Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation in SU’s School of Education and Marilyn P. Arnone Associate Research Professor in SU’s iSchool, will use an afterschool computer club to engage middle school and college students in entrepreneurship.

The Curiosity Creek© themed afterschool computer club uses an innovative storytelling approach to engage club members in educational and entrepreneurial activities. Club members form design teams to create story- and technology-based products for their younger audience. Club members learn how to assess their audience’s needs, design and develop unique technology–based products, test and revise their products based on data, and post for public use, all-the-while hopefully developing subject knowledge, technology skills, and a sense of entrepreneurship. Koszalka and Arnone will also create and test online modules in entrepreneurial skills, innovation, and creative educational product development to help SU students develop and model these competencies in their own work.

Creating an Entrepreneurial Synergy: Artists and Technologists Working Together to Develop Games

Richard Marcoux, assistant professor in the Computer & Information Technology Department at Morrisville State College, will increase entrepreneurial activity in electronic game development in Central New York.

Marcoux's project connects students from three Enitiative campuses (Morrisville State College, Cayuga Community College, and Onondaga Community College) with game developers in the community through Game Jam. The International Game Developers Association, a non-profit organization, sponsored a "Game Jam" in January 2009. Game Jam brought game developers together, without a team or a game idea, to produce a game within a 48 hour period. This first Game Jam had over 1600 participants and 360 finished games. Game Jam 2010 will bring artists and technologists together at Morrisville State College for a marathon weekend of game development. In addition, an entrepreneurship module will be added to three courses at Morrisville.

Entrepreneurship, Not-for-Profits and Climate Change

Chuck Spuches, Associate Dean, Richard Beal, associate director of ESF Outreach, Richard Smardon, professor of environmental studies, all at SUNY-ESF, have partnered with David Eichorn, meteorologist, to create a new course, "Entrepreneurship, Not-for-Profits and Climate Change."

The new course will integrate climate change science with opportunities for not-for-profits to both adapt to forthcoming regional climate change and implement pertinent program innovations. The fundamental purpose of the course is to show how climate change impacts can create entrepreneurial opportunities. The course will be open to area nonprofits.

Kids as Environmental Entrepreneurs

Chuck Spuches, associate dean at SUNY-ESF and associate adjunct professor at Syracuse University, and Ruth Small, professor in SU's iSchool, will pilot a national online innovation competition.

There will be at least 400 middle school youth from Central New York, including those traditionally underrepresented and financially disadvantaged, who will participate in the national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) entrepreneurship competition. This project also includes a research component that focuses on how and to what extent participation in a STEM entrepreneurship program increases middle school participant's (1) learning of STEM content, (2) interest in and motivation to continue learning STEM content, (3) ability and motivation to create scientific innovation, and (4) interest in pursuing current and emerging STEM careers.