Sphere of Innovation An Example of Curricular Innovation

Dr. Jaime Bonilla R. School of Engineering and Information Technologies

Tecnologico de Monterrey

MONTERREY, MEXICO AGO 20, 2012

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some Curricula Innovations at

Tec de Monterrey

Incubation Cells

Experience before

graduation

Professional Experience Track

SPIN

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The beginnings

proposes Interdisciplinary Industrial Projects

Academic Directors

to

and, they said Yes..

compromise Electives can be used by students willing to take the Innovation

Sphere program

Entrepreneurial Professor

but… Where is the syllabus?

What are the students learning? No, if that means taking out

engineering courses

“Teaches “ a capstone course for ChemEng but

feels how artificial the learning is: “this is not

the way things happen in industry”

Dean mediates

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SPIN is born

Oct/21/2011 4

Overcoming the living barriers

Oct/21/2011 5

Overcoming the living barriers

Oct/21/2011 6

Administrative Processes

Academic requirements

DIsenters

Dean mediates

Dean leads

• Improve our lives sustainably, using mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology…

• But this demands: – Updated technical competence, – Capacity to detect obsolescence – Passion, – Soft skills, – Comfort with change, – and… non-engineers!!!

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We all kow that Enginering can…

Characteristics of the program

• Engineering, Business, and Industrial

Design undergraduates working together to address an innovation brief provided by a Sponsoring Company (SC)

• Equivalent to half-time work through two semesters and equivalent to 4 elective courses.

• Student teams organize themselves, develop and validate the proposal that responds to the brief

• Multi-disciplinary instructors guide the efforts, without limiting freedom to discover what and how; to try, to fail, to choose.

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Some sponsoring companies

Oct/21/2011 9

Student Apprentices

Real Challenges from Industry

Multi-disciplinary,

self-managed teams

Sponsor Involvement

Multi-Disciplinary “coaches”

Real Risk of Failure

Elements

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Why we consider is innovative

- The project briefs themselves are open and rather fuzzy to allow many possible solutions.

- Students are allowed to fail, to discover, to self-organize. They fall in love with their project, rather than simply respond to instructor expectations, or seek a grade.

- The student's discipline does not define his/her role – each team decides what, who, how to.

- What matters is the end-result and the client satisfaction – which students learn from first-hand through direct interactions with the client

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Team´s objectives

• Sell their work and development plans

• Secure budget approval for the minor, or major expenses involved

• Share progress, learning, and resulting program adjustments

• Prepare reviews for the SC upper management, etc.

• Wrap-up the project so that its development can be continued in-house by the SC.

Stakeholders benefits

• For the Sponsoring Company – Path to explore at low cost ill-defined initiatives near and dear to the heart of the managers involved.

• For the Participating Instructors - learning on approaches to Innovation with leading Companies.

• For the School of Engineering –additionally, opens path to research engagements with the SCs, building on the achievements of the SPIN teams.

• For the students- A life long learning and rich real world professional experience. From “learning to learn” to “learning to create”

Dean´s role…

• Champion multi-disciplinary efforts versus the appeal of “classical” learning more in the specific major of the participating students.

• Integrate these efforts into the overall assessment of the participating Faculty – multi-disciplinary efforts are seldom recognized by the Academic community of the specific major.

• Re-assure students and faculty that it is OK to: a) risk failure – unavoidable part of Innovation b) to facilitate rather than lead student efforts

• Support the corporate relations of the professors to attain sponsorships 14

Innovation sphere – some results (1)

• Initiated in 2007, two Innovation Studios – since, expanded to four, about 100 engineering, business, and industrial design students participating today.

• Additional chemical and service companies have joined the program in August 2011.

• Project outcomes have been shared up to the CEO level of some of the Fortune Global Top 50 Companies.

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Innovation sphere – some results (2)

• The 2009-2010 generation have led to two worldwide patents filed (one more about to be filed), and got job offers from the companies.

• The 2010-2011 generation provided new conceptual framework for commercialization.

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got job offers from the companies.

Innovation sphere – some results (3)

• SC teams from Brasil (leading Global Chemical), US (leading Global Beverage), and central Mexico (Automotive supplier) have briefed their respective 2011-12 generation teams.

• It is impossible to capture the faces, the smiles of students who, after just one month of work, are warmly complimented on their attitude, and self-directed experimentation.

Entrepreneurs and SPIN Graduates May 2011

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Professors & students at a innovation workshop (January 2011)

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