mgt-555: innovation & entrepreneurship in engineering · professionalism · presentation...

MGT-555: INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIPIN ENGINEERINGSustainable Technologies / Fall 2020

Prof. Thomas A. WeberProf. Véronique MichaudDr. Myrna Flores (Coordinator)

1. Course Introduction2. Students3. Industrial Partners4. Key Dates5. Projects

CONTENT

COURSE DESCRIPTIONInnovation and Entrepreneurship in Engineering 2020

This course is a joint initiative between:• EPFL College of Management (CDM)• EPFL School of Engineering (STI)

Teams of students from across disciplines work on identifying a challenge of societal impact and on formulating a strategy for a technological solution along with a management and economic viability plan for its development. Teams will work on early product specifications and design, prototyping and beginning commercialization together with an Industrial partner.

AIM

• Four modules integrating systems engineering, product design principles, business economics, and prototyping practice.

• A key component of the course consists of a team project, conducted in collaboration with an industry partner, addressing a significant commercial need and/or societal issue.

• Lectures will be given by domain experts.• All the sessions and project work will be in

English.• The first part of the course focuses on product

design.

CONTENT

SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIESThe target product should respond to at least one of the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) set forth by the United Nations (e.g., good health and well-being, affordable and clean energy, reducing inequality, responsible consumption and production; for more details, visit the UN SDGs website: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/

THE UN 2030 AGENGA17 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

• Design Criteria• Modularity• Project Planning • Lifecycle Assessment • Investment Criteria • Environmental Sustainability• Real Options • Green Production• Materials • Intellectual Property • Ergonomics• Prototyping • 3D Printing

KEY TOPICS TO BE COVERED

STUDENTS INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ENGINEERING 2020

First and third semester Master students are welcome to participate in the course. Their backgrounds will be in:• Mechanical engineering• Electrical engineering• Materials science• Management of technology and

entrepreneurship.

STUDENT PROFILES

STUDENT SKILLS TO BE DEVELOPED

Entrepreneurship Management Engineering Design

Hands-on Experience

Social and Ethical Awareness

• This is a 10-credit course• Students dedicate around 20 hours per week, for 14 weeks, in the fall of 2020

• Two hours of classroom session each week• The remaining time they will be working on their team project

(Prototyping / Business Planning / Meeting with Industry Partner & Academic Advisor)

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:• Translate specifications into product design • Evaluate the economic viability and

sustainability of a product• Manage the production of a prototype• Develop a plan for the commercialization of

the product• Adapt engineering requirements to business

reality• Communicate effectively across different

languages, disciplines, and cultures• Evaluate own performance in the team,

receive and respond appropriately to feedback

LEARNING GOALS FOR THE STUDENTS

INDUSTRIALPARTNERS

• No financial contribution is expected, therefore these projects will not be construed as contract research

• However, the course welcomes contributions in kind:• Supervision time (about 1.5 hours

per week)• materials needed for the

prototype• donations for prizes for the best

student projects at the end

INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS

• Participation in MGT-555 allows a technical proof-of-concept exploration for new ideas linked to an analysis of sustainability &economic viability – with a first plan for commercialization

• The course provides a unique opportunity for industries to access interdisciplinary team of EPFL talents to approach the challenge with fresh eyes and from different perspectives

BENEFITS FOR COMPANIES

INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS 2019

KEY DATES

TIMELINE

JUNE 30Company sends project

description and

OCTOBER 2ndProjects confirmed Agreements signed

SEPTEMBER 18

Course beginsTeam formation and project selection

DECEMBER 11Teams will present their prototypes and results to win a prize. Industrial partners

are invited to join.

OCTOBER to DECEMBER

Teams will be working on their projects having frequent interaction with the industrial

partners.

JANUARYStudents deliver their

final report

Interested companies are invited to send us their project proposal.The info required is:1) Company contact info2) Project Title3) Project Description4) Success factors5) Potential Users

PROJECT PROPOSALDeadline: June 30

SEMESTER STARTS

The course will start on Friday, September 18Companies will be informed if a team has selected their project by October 2

• Companies are requested to sign the agreement once their project is confirmed

PROJECT AGREEMENT

• Students work on their projects.• Industry partners should plan on

meeting with the students once per week, at the very least once every 3 weeks; on average at least 1.5 hours of guidance per week

• In addition, it would be desirable that students get some help with in-house product-specific tools.

• Meetings may also be carried out in zoom or other online communication tool

OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2020

On Friday December 11, all teams will present the semester work.

Project presentations 2019:Team 1: Portable ventilation system, in collaboration with Maxon MotorsTeam 2: Remote control for presentation training, in collaboration with LogitechTeam 3: Shortcut keyboard, in collaboration with LogitechTeam 4: Smart Bra, in collaboration with IcosaMedTeam 5: Next-generation watch box, in collaboration with Vacheron Constantin

PROJECT PRESENTATIONS

PROJECTSAbout twenty students from different disciplines were able to combine their engineering skills with those of management and entrepreneurship during the fall semester 2019-20

INTEGRATION OF THREE KEY ELEMENTS

SUSTAINABILITYIMPACT

BUSINESSFEASIBILITY

TECHNOLOGYPROTOTYPING This course

1. Business Case · Relevance and clarity of identified needs · Evaluation of the product costs (prototype & commercialization) · Economic and societal viability of the product idea 2. Prototype · Is it innovative? · Does it work? · Does it solve a sustainable development challenge? 3. Professionalism · Presentation quality (is it “beautiful”?) · Structure (does it all make sense?) · Completeness (are all key aspects discussed?)

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The jury will be composed by experts who will assess the predefined criteria aligned to the sustainable, business and technological integration for the proposed solutions.Last year the jury was composed of Prof. Thomas Weber, Prof. Véronique Michaud, Prof. Pierre Vandergheynst(1)

and Dr. Marc Laperrouza(2).

JURY

(1) EPFL Vice-President for Education(2) Head of the China Hardware Innovation Camp (CHIC) initiative at EPFL

Team 4: Smart Bra, in collaboration with IcosaMed• The jury was faced with the difficult task of rating

the different projects on the basis of three groups of criteria: the quality of the business case, the prototype, and the overall professionalism.

• The unanimous conclusion was that the Smart Bra project produced the most convincing result. The team overcame a number of challenges, such as detecting sensors, reconstructing images using machine-learning algorithms for classifying cancer tissue, or amplifying and transmitting signals.

• Their analysis of the marketing strategy for IcosaMedwas also very effective.

WINNING TEAM 2019

mgt-555: innovation & entrepreneurship in engineering · professionalism · presentation...

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