Entrepreneurship in photonics and communications
Overall Course Objectives
This course is an introduction to technology entrepreneurship. The aim of the course is to bring together students from different backgrounds, in order to develop commercialization strategies for technologies developed at DTU.
The course will introduce students to concepts, models and tools that can be used in order to: identify and evaluate market opportunities for a university technology; to develop a business case; and to effectively communicate (pitch) the business case to create interest and attract resources. The course will draw upon the fields of entrepreneurship, strategy, management and marketing. It will also provide a sustainability angle to spark the students’ interest towards the creation of SDG-oriented technology startups.
This course is relevant not only to the students who want to become entrepreneurs, but also to the ones who aspire to become the “engineers of the future” and work as innovators in established companies.
See course description in Danish
Learning Objectives
- Identify and evaluate market opportunities for a university technology
- Develop a strong value proposition and design an appropriate business model
- Formulate an effective market development and customer acquisition strategy based on real feedback from potential users of the proposed product offering
- Determine financial requirements and funding sources for technology and market development
- Determine key development (technical and market/customer) goals to achieve commercial success
- Select an appropriate IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) protection
- Create and present (pitch) a cohesive business plan
- Apply techniques for efficient teamwork
Course Content
Identification and evaluation of market opportunities
Value proposition
Business models
Market development and customer validation
Competitor analysis
Financing technology ventures
Sources of funding
IPR (Intellectual Property Rights)
Business planning and pitching
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Teaching Method
The course comprises 13 sessions of 4 hours duration. Several teaching methods will be used such as lectures, guest lectures and guided group work. Working space will be provided at DTU during the project weeks and teachers will be available for meetings.
Faculty
Remarks
This course is only for students following the “Photonics Engineering”, “Engineering Light” and “Communication Technologies and systems design” programme (MSc Eng Programme).
Students from “Photonics Engineering” og “Communication Technologies and systems design” will follow a ‘Fotonik Business Challenge’ theme.
The deadline for leaving the course is end of week 1. All students, who do not wish to take the course, need to officially de-register.
Lectures are provided by:
Argyro (Iro) Nikiforou , Lyngby Campus, Building 371, Ph. (+45) 4525 6070, argnik@dtu.dk
Limited number of seats
Maximum: 20.
Please be aware that this course has a limited number of seats available. If there are too many applicants, a pool will be created for the remainder of the qualified applicants, and they will be selected at random. You will be informed 8 days before the start of the course, whether you have been allocated a spot.