Entrepreneuership In Engineering: Bridging The Gap Between Academia And Industy

Every year thousands of college students work on projects coming up with great ideas and lots of new technology. The problem is that many of these projects are abandoned upon graduation and filed away in someone’s office, never making it to market where it could be profitable for both the students and universities. This paper looks at the things being done at the University of Colorado that help students develop their technology further so that it is able to make it into the business environment. Companies like eSpace and organizations affiliated with the university like RASEI as well as programs like the Engineering Management certificates, are crucial in helping students with their ideas. The focus will be on the HELIOS team and their idea and how they were able to develop it further. Starting as a senior design team in the Fall of 2009 students developed an innovative hybrid propulsion system for small aircraft. Using the previously mentioned resources they preformed market research and started a new company TIGON EnerTec, Inc. Tigon will move the idea from a project to a product.