Course Gives Students 'A Wild Ride' Through Transportation Industry

By Mark Werwath

NUvention is a model of instruction that is grad student focused and multi-disciplinary in nature. By focusing on a particular vertical like transportation, we can bring in experts in the field and past entrepreneurs in the field to advise students, give guest lectures and act as judges for the final pitch presentations in class.

The course focuses on the development of creative and innovative business models that get constantly refined and enhanced through the duration of the course by collecting constant feedback from the advisory board, the instructors and fellow students in the course.

The NUvention Transportation course is about three years old. It was conceived and funded by a grant from Boeing corporation to help promote transportation as a viable vertical for startups in the university. It has led to startups such as Kitty Hawk and others in the transportation space, but more importantly, it has educated dozens of students over the years in both the field of transportation and the process of entrepreneurship while making vital industry connections for students interested in the vertical.

This type of course is essential for MEM students to understand the business model design process and the link to management of technology and capturing the early stage business processes that most mature companies often don’t share with their engineering talent. It opens a world of possibility for creating value in a marketplace outside of the traditional well-established firms. The course also establishes some amazing industry specific network connections that may well serve students for the rest of their careers.

While MEM students rarely make up more than 20% of the course, there are examples of NUvention teams, such as NUMiX from NUvention energy, that have a majority of members from the MEM program. Thus, it is a great way to network with other students from other schools in the university that are interested in the same vertical.

The most enjoyable aspects of the course for me is the ability to plug my students into real world problems and industries and to see how they respond to these challenges and how the market reacts to the students. In many cases, the market reaction is neutral or even negative, which is a learning opportunity in itself. In other cases, like NUMiX, the market reaction is so strongly positive that the student team is literally pulled into the market vacuum and propelled to a phenomenal velocity while attracting capital in various forms and from various sources.

This market “push” versus “pull” phenomenon is fascinating to observe. Students react in a variety of ways that adds to the educational value of the process. Whether it is their intention to start a business or simply to learn about the process, NUvention can be a “drink from the fire hose” and can be both immersive and sometimes overwhelming. Students should buckle up for what could be a wild ride.

Mark Werwath is the Director of the MEM Program and Co-Director of the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.