Page 28 - Technology and Innovation Journal - 19-1

366 DOMSCHKE & BLAHO

In the Stage-Gate process, each stage is followed by To address student needs, sector experts were
a decision gate, at which point activities and informa- recruited as lecturers and guest lecturers to provide
tion available at the time of the previous stage (such as effective introductions to and answer questions
the project progress, business case, risk analysis, etc.) about these topics of high interest within the first
are presented by the multidisciplinary team. The care- semesters. A set of special lectures and individual
fully compiled information (deliverable) is reviewed student mentor sessions were created to build on the
by the stakeholders and executive committee of the broad expertise of Domschke in bringing a product
company (the gatekeepers) in specifically assigned to market in different sized company environments.
board meetings (gate meetings). The gatekeepers may Preceding the Engineering Entrepreneurship course,
arrive at the decision to move the project forward and Blaho created an introductory lecture with the pur-
invest in the next defined stage (go decision). Alter- pose of familiarizing students with the terms of the
natively, if the results of the previous stage are not business canvas model that would be the central
favorable, the gatekeepers may decide to redo parts aspect of their later course work. Finally, prior to
of the previous stage or stop the program completely the actual MTM program initiation, a kick-off event
(kill or no go decision). was held to introduce this new CCNY program and
its unique product-driven approach to students and
Curriculum Adaptation of Stage-Gate university faculty. The following brief summaries
The Stage-Gate tool for the CCNY MTM pro- describe examples of the lecture topics and content
gram was designed to closely resemble the Stage-Gate covered in the first semesters of the curriculum
process of a biomedical company, as it applies in the schedule to introduce the Stage-Gate process.
early product development stages of a medical device. • Integrating Industry Tools and Expertise: Part
It was implemented into the curriculum according of the kickoff program included an introduc-
to the following strategies: i) introduction to Stage- tory lecture from Domschke on her role as acting
Gate, ii) integration of the Stage-Gate process into director and industry consultant. This lecture
the curriculum schedule, and iii) alignment and sup- gave an overview of the program concept along
plementation of the course material. with an introduction to Stage-Gate and its inte-
i) Introduction to Stage-Gate: In preparation gration into the curriculum schedule. Finally,
for the launch of the MTM program, student input an overview of program curriculum was given.
sessions were held with the intention to round out • Building the Stage-Gate Tool for MTM: This
the lecture content with topics that are of particular second lecture by Domschke reviewed the typ-
interest for the trainees. The feedback indicated a high ical stage activities and gates deliverables in the
interest in several topics related to industrial aspects. development of a medical product, including an
Students were most interested in learning the most overview of the simulated stages and gates as they
up-to-date information about industry tools applied pertain to the MTM Program, a review of
in the process of moving an idea toward a success- required student assignments (i.e., deliverables)
ful product and which processes are most relevant for the first gate meeting, and an overview of
to start-ups and top companies alike. Students also the flow of the first gate meeting and its required
wanted to gain an understanding of specific com- presentations.
pany needs related to their product development
processes in the context of different sized company • Strategic Focus in Different Sized Company
environments (small, midsize, large) and company Environments: This lecture, taught by Domschke,
life-cycles. Finally, students wanted insight into the introduced prevalent company cultures, organi-
work environments of different sized companies zational life cycles, and the relationship between
(e.g., the responsibilities of a chief technology offi- company size and strategic focus. Large, mid-
cer (CTO) in a start-up company versus a top 500 size, and small company environments, as well
company, etc.) as particular dynamics of start-up environments,
were investigated in case studies. The process of