(141c) Integrated Product and Process Design at the University of Florida

Through eleven years of experience the faculty and administrators in charge of teaching the Integrated Product and Process Design (IPPD) course sequence at the University of Florida have accumulated a wealth of knowledge regarding the effective delivery of a multidisciplinary course that involves nine engineering fields. Each year the IPPD program hosts approximately 26 industrially-sponsored design projects carried out by a group of over 150 students who are supervised by 23 faculty from different engineering disciplines. Over 1500 students from more than 17 academic disciplines have participated in 267 design and build projects to date. Projects include development of electronics, machines and components, software, manufacturing processes, and chemical processes. Industry praises the IPPD effort as an outstanding experiential education program, with benefits for students, faculty, and industry.

Recently an entrepreneurial variant of the IPPD program, Integrated Technology Ventures (ITV), was created. The ITV program builds upon successful UF industry interaction model programs such as IPPD, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), the Office of Technology Licensing (OTL), and two university supported technology start-up incubator facilities. The students learn the entrepreneurial process as members of a virtual company led by a serial entrepreneur who acts as a volunteer CEO. The company is composed of a CEO, a business development team of MBA students (coached by entrepreneurial faculty) a multidisciplinary technology development team of undergraduate engineers (coached by engineering faculty), and a legal team composed of students in the patent law program (coached by adjunct law school faculty). Funding for these projects has been secured through the Economic Development Administration, the Lemelson Foundation (via the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance), and the University of Florida. Several ITV technologies have been licensed and one start up business has spawned.