TechStart Intern Project
The sign on the glass door reads "LaunchPad."
Step inside and you'll find a large, light-filled room where young business consultants are hard at work-coaxing information from computer screens, preparing reports, analyzing data, generating presentations, negotiating with vendors, scheduling meetings.
What makes this scene unusual is that these particular consultants are actually University of Michigan graduate students from the schools of business administration, law, engineering, information, and education. They're part of TechStart, a summer internship program sponsored by UM Tech Transfer. And their clients are faculty entrepreneurs and local start-up firms.
Now in its third year of operation, TechStart is funded in part by UM's Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The program continues to win accolades from both clients-who benefit from the students' wide-ranging, latest-theory expertise-and the interns themselves, who have a rare opportunity to apply their knowledge, hone their consulting skills, and get a firsthand, up-close look at the world of high-tech entrepreneurship.
According to Mark Maynard, who manages TechStart, "The program is special because we recruit from across the UM campus and look to build the most diverse group possible. In doing this, we create cross-functional, multi-disciplinary teams that can understand both the cutting-edge science and the business climate for that technology. It's a powerful combination."
Velcura Therapeutics:
Growing Bone Becomes a Growing Business
This past year, 10 student consultants-selected from an applicant pool of more than 100-worked on a wide range of projects. One of the three-person teams was assigned to Velcura Therapeutics, a year-old start-up company that won the 2001 Great Lakes Venture Quest Award and generated $3.3 million in first-round funding from the state of Michigan. Located in Ann Arbor, the enterprise was spun out of groundbreaking biotechnology-devised by Medical School faculty member Dr. Michael W. Long-for growing human bone outside the body (ex vivo). Unlike other osteoporosis therapies now on the market that inhibit further bone loss, Long's discovery will lead to therapies that actually stimulate bone growth.
According to MBA student and TechStart consultant Andrew Corr, Velcura relied on the student team "to move the company from a virtual to a physical operation." That included everything from locating and equipping an office to creating a business plan and venture capital proposals. TechStart consultants also devoted considerable time to various kinds of research: providing a detailed analysis of the osteoporosis market, evaluating vendors, and searching out prospective investors. They also assisted with patents and disclosure agreements. Michael Krol, a UM law student with a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology, even helped design and plan a bio-informatics structure for what will one day be Velcura's large-scale commercial labs. MBA student Jenny Kempenich researched potential strategic partnerships in Japan (where Velcura is currently negotiating an agreement), and Pacific Rim countries, and provided advice on Japanese business protocol.
"These are absolutely top-notch people," said Long. "Their work was an important component in launching the company this summer. We would have been hard-pressed to do it without them, and the quality of their efforts was excellent."
The PLAY Project:
Key Resources for a Serious Enterprise
Another group of TechStart consultants worked with Dr. Richard Soloman, associate professor of Pediatrics. Soloman is the creator of an innovative and effective therapy for autistic children known as The PLAY Project�. For the past several years, he and his team have been teaching parents throughout Michigan how to use the intensive play therapy at home. Tech Transfer is assisting with legal and potential licensing issues. Currently, the goal is to establish PLAY Project therapy training centers throughout the region.
As a first step, the graduate student consultants met with their "client," Dr. Solomon, to evaluate needs and create a work plan. "Our initial challenge," says MBA student Jenny Kempenich, "was to help determine their objectives and find ways to align our services with their changing needs."
After conducting extensive research on autism, the consulting team developed alternative cost/revenue models, devised a quality control strategy, and drafted terms and conditions for PLAY Project therapy centers. According to TechStart consultant Ali Schriberg, who will graduate next year with one of UM's first joint degrees in business and education, "One of our most important contributions was coming up with a quality control strategy that included annual inspections, parent surveys and other metrics for gauging quality and performance. As a next step, we'll try to replicate these same protocols for Michigan public school systems." A therapy center pilot program will be in place by the end of 2003.
"Smart, conscientious, persistent and professional," is how Dr. Soloman describes the TechStart team. "They discovered information on the prevalence of autism that indicated a need for our services and raised important epidemiologic questions about the cause of the enormous increases in the state of Michigan. The team moved our project forward immeasurably. An A+ job!"
Printed from: http://www.techtransfer.umich.edu/news_events/success_stories/story_10.php