Technical Paper Session I-A - Time to Rethink Space Access?

Construction of space vehicles on the surface of the Earth is inhibiting the development of spacecraft and therefore the overall exploration of space. No one in their right mind would dream of constructing an Aircraft Carrier in the middle of Oklahoma or Kansas and then transporting it to the ocean. The whole idea is illogical and preposterous. Why then do we construct spacecraft on the surface and transport them to orbit before their mission can begin? This paper will explore the reasons behind the current philosophy and examine the limitations placed on spacecraft design and operation as a result. Finally, a new regime will be posited, along with an examination of the implications of these proposed changes

Establishing A Technology Based Business Incubator At A Regional University: A Conceptual Framework And Case Study

University managed technology-based business incubators evolved at major research institutions as a mechanism for university professors to pursue commercial applications of their research without having to resign their university positions. These incubators assisted the universities in retention of valuable faculty and also provided for the development of university intellectual property (IP) to a level where commercialization was probable. In addition to faculty retention and the potential for revenue from commercialization of IP, these incubators further developed the universities’ reputations in producing cutting edge research. The physical proximity of the incubators to the universities is crucial because this allows easy access to university intellectual capital, equipment and skilled technical labor that enable fledgling businesses to survive and flourish. Many regional universities are adding an emphasis on research and community economic development to their primary mission of teaching. As a result they are establishing business incubators. The goals for these incubators include creation of an environment and culture for the establishment of student driven companies, improvement of commercialization of university intellectual property, enhancement of the ability to attract technology-based businesses and provision of a living laboratory for student to work within the entrepreneurial environment. Just as is the case for the traditional research universities, business incubators at regional universities provide the supporting infrastructure that permits the university faculty to take advantage of SBIR and STTR programs to launch businesses and move university IP toward commercialization. In addition, the formation of a university-managed business incubator provides an excellent environment for non-university established technology businesses to benefit from the advantages of university faculty, personnel, students and graduates in both consulting and employee positions. Establishing a university managed technology-based business incubator at a regional university requires a strategic vision that integrates the universities core competencies, academic and research missions, senior administration concerns, capital and building campaigns and economic development concerns of the surrounding communities. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for building the strategic vision, developing the necessary infrastructure and mitigating risks when establishing the incubator. In addition, a discussion of lessons learned through the establishment of our university managed technology-based incubator at ETSU is presented through a mini-case study

Technology Based Business Incubators: Living Laboratories For Entrepreneurial Students

Those teaching entrepreneurship to engineering and technology students are faced with the challenge of converting theory into learning opportunities that provide real-world-practical experience. Although the literature stresses the need for experiential learning through group and field projects and case studies, the potential of capitalizing on technology-based business incubators as living laboratories has not been fully utilized. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a conceptual framework for closing this gap. This framework is based upon our experience working with graduate student teams on projects with the Oak Ridge National Laboratories Center for Entrepreneurial Growth and East Tennessee State University’s (ETSU’s) Innovation Laboratory. Both are high-technology business incubators striving to commercialize technology developed in university or government laboratories. High-technology business incubators present an excellent experiential learning opportunity for engineering and technology students faced with the challenge of translating theory to practice. Our experience, gained through personal observation and via a benchmarking study conducted in 2002, indicates that incubators routinely utilize MBA students as at-large business counselors for the fledgling technology based businesses. In addition, businesses founded by university professors tend to attract recently matriculated technology graduate students, many of which served as advisees of the founding professor, as new hires in these startup ventures. However, the use of technology business incubators as training ground for engineering and technology students seeking entrepreneurial business opportunities has not been fully exploited. New technology business ventures generally have strong research experience and intellectual property but little marketing and management experience. These businesses, many of which are cutting-edge technology, present the entrepreneurial student with “real world vision” in seeing hurdles these new technology ventures must face and overcome. We have found that diverse student teams comprised of graduate students majoring in technology, business, digital media and medicine offer unique solutions to problems and insight into opportunities for technology businesses. This paper presents a practical step-by-step conceptual framework for using technology-based business incubators as living laboratories for students studying entrepreneurial leadership. Lessons learned are underscored to suggest mitigation practices to avoid potential problems such as patenting issues, disclosure of confidential information, and liability

Paper Session III-A - Exploring and Using the Space Environment - A Different Approach

This paper describes some of the concerns that Space Frontier Operations, Inc. (SFO), has about space exploration and describes some of the initial results of studies being undertaken at SFO to further the exploration of space. These studies are preliminary and they are continuing. Exploration and use of the space environment has been stymied for many reasons. Chief among these reasons are governments, large corporations and lack of political willpower. This state of affairs, coupled with a genuine lack of knowledge by most people, politicians included, has led to the idea that space exploration is complicated, expensive, very risky and therefore best left to governments. Space exploration can be complicated, it is expensive and sometimes risky, but it is not best left to governments

Paper Session I-A - Generation of a Launch Infrastructure that Supports the Commercial Use of the Space Environment

This paper explores the establishment of a Launch Base and its associated infrastructure to support a major space exploration and use program. The need for such a facility is driven by the perception that current Launch Facilities and Ranges are inadequate to support the volume of traffic that the long term occupancy of space demands. In this paper the author investigates the requirements that apply to a launch site that is purely commercial in nature. This launch site is optimized for high volume, high rate commercial space operations including co-located vehicle manufacturing; launch operations of both manned and unmanned vehicles and personnel support on orbit. A conceptual design for such a base and its associated Range and facilities are presented. This design is contrasted with the facilities that are currently available to support space launch operations. Lastly, several geographical locations are investigated in which it would be possible to build a range of this nature

Project Management Through Experiential Learning

Classroom-based projects are insufficient, in of themselves, when preparing students for positions in the digital media field today. David Kolb and Roger Fry argue that effective learning entails the possession of four different abilities: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation.2 Encouraging students to participate in community-based projects outside the classroom can help build the necessary skill sets in learning how to work in a real-world environment. Community-based learning teaches the student on three distinct levels: intellectually, socially, and emotionally including feelings, values, and meanings. Digital Media students should involve themselves in community projects to exercise their skills and broaden their experience. Working on community-based projects allows them to build their portfolio while affording the opportunity to start working under the constraints of actual projects with timelines and budgets. Students learn what an individual’s time is worth, what mistakes can cost, and how to deal with a client. Students also learn how to manage a real world project with deadlines. This paper describes our approach in having students come together to enhance their digital media skills by contributing in the development of a community-based animation festival. This paper also addresses how students learned to plan and manage a festival event while working with a community-based organization

Market Simulation Programming As A Culminating Experience For Students Interested In Entrepreneurship And Pursuing An M.S. In Engineering Technology

Many of our students enrolled in our Master of Science in Technology program have expressed an interest in learning about entrepreneurship and the development and management of a technology driven company. Students interested in entrepreneurship can pursue a 12 credit concentration that includes classes in developing a cohesive marketing and technology strategy, comparing and contrasting technology strategies for companies within the same market niche, developing an entrepreneurial business plan and coursework in either small business management or entrepreneurial finance. One critical component of this concentration is the utilization of the Marketplace™ Venture Capital simulation game to provide students with real world management experience in running a technology driven company. Teams of students playing roles as CEO, Marketing Manager, Manufacturing Manager, Financial Manager and R and D Manager develop the technology and marketing strategies for their companies as they compete against each other in a global environment. After four quarters of operation, students are required to prepare and deliver a 15 minute presentation to venture capitalists detailing their marketing and technology strategies, performance to date and expectations in the market for the remaining two quarters in the game simulation. They are competing against the other teams for the venture capitalist’s money and must not only have a good presentation but also demonstrate conceptual understanding of what the financial and market data means. The roles of the venture capitalists are played by retired professionals in the community that have run businesses with revenues exceeding $50 M/year, have started new technology based ventures or have managed researchers in a commercial environment. We instruct the venture capitalists to play the role as tough managers who require data and not fluff before they part with their precious venture capital financing. VC and Technology business managers must negotiate on the purchase price for shares of their company with lesser performing companies giving up a greater share of their company in the negotiation. Students utilize techniques presented in the first two classes in their curriculum (Investigations in Technology and Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation) to develop their marketing and technology strategies. The students appreciate the fact that they are able to take risks and make mistakes in a simulation environment where financial disasters are made with fake money. After utilizing this simulation program for three years, we have found that non- traditional students who have been working in an engineering field typically perform better than the traditional graduate students who are entering their graduate program immediately after receiving their bachelor’s degree. Our experience is that all engineering technology students (regardless of when they enter the program) are weak in their comfort and understanding of financial data and that this is a weakness that we need to correct in both the undergraduate and graduate programs

University Managed Technology Business Incubators: Asset or Liability?

University managed technology-based business incubators (UMTIs) have become increasingly popular. Some universities are forming private corporations and are encouraging professors/researchers to commercialize intellectual property (IP) based upon research conducted in their laboratories. The UMTI provides the infrastructure, access to high-tech laboratories, libraries, students and faculty, and a coalition of like-minded entrepreneurs. Universities face uncertainties when establishing UMTIs and need to minimize risk while maximizing benefits. This paper discusses results of a benchmarking study of eleven technology incubators and their risk mitigation policies. Experience with technology transfer and use of the UMTI as a living laboratory for students is presented

Diverse Cross Functional Student Teams: A Teaching Tool For Enhanced Learning

Traditional engineering and science teaching methodology has been to train like-minded students within the discipline of their respective majors. Curriculum time constraints, however, limit the number and nature of out of discipline elective courses. As a result, students are well trained within their respective fields of study but lack the breadth of experience in interacting with other diverse disciplines. Industry, particularly technology-based companies, has observed that solutions to problems have a greater probability of success when all interested parties (purchasing, innovation, marketing, sales, manufacturing, etc.) have input in developing a plan to achieve a desired corporate outcome. It is through this collective action of diverse disciplines that unique solutions are conceived. Many times breakthroughs in innovation and product development occur not through the actions of companies in direct competition but through new entrant companies by modifying technology currently residing in different markets and applications. The breakthrough occurs because the new entrants are not bound by the technology paradigms constraining innovation in their particular market arena. Our goal is to take the diversity lessons gleaned from industry and incorporate them into coursework that creates diverse cross-functional teams such that students learn the benefits of cross-discipline diversity. The College of Business and Technology at ETSU is itself a diverse blend of disciplines (Engineering Technology, Entrepreneurship, Human Nutrition, Marketing, Digital Media, etc) and several graduate and undergraduate courses residing in different departments within the college have intentional programs that encourage cross-discipline enrollment. This action is further facilitated through dual course listings between departments for the same course. Examples of diverse discipline teams will be discussed with attention to outcomes and challenges. Through this diverse cooperative program, students from the technology, business, applied human sciences and digital media disciplines gain a perspective for each other’s expertise and learn to develop teams with diverse skills to meet the increasing challenges for managing business and technology

Microbiome Diversity and Differential Abundances Associated with BMI, Immune Markers, and Fecal Short Chain Fatty Acids Before and After Synbiotic Supplementation

The gut microbiota and its metabolites – namely short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) – interact with the digestive, immune, and nervous systems. Microbiota with disrupted composition are highly associated with obesity, gastrointestinal symptoms, and chronic inflammation. Levels of SCFAs in the feces can represent dynamics of the microbiota, and they represent one mechanism by which the microbiota interacts with its host. This study aimed to further our understanding of associations between microbiota bacterial diversity and SCFAs, immune markers, BMI, and GI symptoms and to identify bacteria that are differentially abundant in different BMI groups and with synbiotic supplementation. Data (SCFAs, immunoglobulins, body mass index, fecal fiber, fecal protein, measures of GI symptoms, and 16s RNA sequences, n=11) was extracted from a randomized control trial investigating the effects of synbiotic supplementation in non-celiac gluten-sensitive participants. QIIME2 was used to process 16s RNA data, analyze quantitative, qualitative, phylogenetic quantitative, and phylogenetic qualitative measures of alpha and beta diversity and to perform an analysis of composition of microbiomes (ANCOM) for identification of differential abundances. Multiple metrics of alpha diversity were found to significantly correlate with IgG4, IgM, IL-2, acetate, propionate, isobutyrate, valerate, isovalerate, caproate, heartburn, urgent need to defecate, and feelings of incomplete evacuation. Multiple metrics of beta diversity were significantly different between normal and overweight, normal and obese, and overweight and obese BMI classification groups. Beta diversity was also found to significantly correlate with IgG1, IgG3, IgG4, IgA, IL-6, IL-8, fecal fiber, propionate, butyrate, heartburn, acid regurgitation, nausea and vomiting, bloating, abdominal distension, increased gas, and eructation. The synbiotic intervention did not significantly alter alpha or beta diversity. An ANCOM identified bacterial taxa differentially abundant with BMI shifts and synbiotic supplementation, though these taxa were not those included in the synbiotic. Findings demonstrate alpha and beta diversity associations with various SCFAs, GI symptoms, immune markers, and BMI, and the results of the placebo-controlled intervention suggest careful consideration of placebo contents moving forward. This research supports plans to apply analysis to larger sample sizes to elucidate changes microbial profiles that are associated with clinically relevant biomarkers and symptoms