A Good Idea is Not Enough: Understanding the Challenges of Entrepreneurship Communication

This paper addresses a less-investigated issue of innovations: entrepreneurship communication. Business and marketing studies demonstrate that new product development processes do not succeed on good technical invention alone. To succeed, the invention must be appropriately communicated to a market and iterated through dialogue with potential stakeholders. We explore this issue by examining communication-related challenges, abilities and barriers from the perspectives of innovators trying to enter an unfamiliar, foreign market. Specifically, we summarize results of a set of studies conducted in the Gyeonggi Innovation Program (GIP), an entrepreneurship program formed by a partnership between the University of Texas at Austin and Gyeonggi-Do Province in South Korea. Through the GIP, Korean entrepreneurs attempt to expand domestically successful product ideas to the American market. The study results demonstrate that these innovators must deal with a broad range of challenges, particularly (1) developing deeper understanding of market needs, values, and cultural expectations, and (2) producing pitches with the structure, claims and evidence, and engagement strategies expected by American stakeholders. These studies confirm that a deeper understanding of successful new product development (NPD) projects requires not only a culturally authentic NPD process model, but also communication-oriented research. The GIP approach offers insights into good programmatic concept and effective methods for training engineers to become entrepreneurs. Yet we also identify potential improvements for such programs. Finally, we draw implications for studying entrepreneurship communication.IC2 Institut

Articulating Problems and Markets: A Translation Analysis of Entrepreneurs’ Emergent Value Propositions

In this qualitative study, the authors apply Callon’s sociology of translation to examine how new technology entrepreneurs enact material arguments that involve the first two moments of translation—problematization (defining a market problem) and interessement (defining a market and the firm’s relationship to it) - which in turn are represented in a claim, the value proposition. That emergent claim can then be represented and further changed during pitches. If accepted, it can then lead to the second two moments of translation: enrollment and mobilization. Drawing on written materials, observations, and interviews, we trace how these value propositions were iterated along three paths to better problematize and interesse, articulating a problem and market on which a business could plausibly be built. We conclude by discussing implications for understanding value propositions in entrepreneurship and, more broadly, using the sociology of translation to analyze emergent, material, consequential arguments. The study is based on data collected at the Austin Technology Incubator’s Student Entrepreneur Acceleration and Launch program (ATI SEAL) at The University of Texas at Austin.IC2 Institut

Extravehicular activity at geosynchronous earth orbit

The basic contract to define the system requirements to support the Advanced Extravehicular Activity (EVA) has three phases: EVA in geosynchronous Earth orbit; EVA in lunar base operations; and EVA in manned Mars surface exploration. The three key areas to be addressed in each phase are: environmental/biomedical requirements; crew and mission requirements; and hardware requirements. The structure of the technical tasks closely follows the structure of the Advanced EVA studies for the Space Station completed in 1986

Novel Liquid Crystal Monomers for Stereolithography: Reaction Rates and Photopolymerization Conversion

Liquid crystal (LC) monomers are a novel type ofresin for stereolithography that result in polymers having unique physical and mechanical properties. These monomers consist ofrigid central cores connected to acrylate functional groups by short aliphatic chains. Because ofthe rigid-rod structure ofthe monomer the cross-linked polymer networks formed have high glass transition temperatures (Tg). The high TglS result in particularly high upper-use temperatures for stereolithography parts. This paper reports on photopolymerization reaction rates and monomer conversion for two acrylate monomers measured using reflectance real-time infra-red spectroscopy (RRTIR). The RRTIR method measures the disappearance ofreactive acrylate groups in the monomer as a function oftime while the monomers are being exposed to UV light. For the two new resins, UV irradiation using an argon ion laser gives rapid photopolymerization with acrylate conversion as high as 95 %. Conversion and polymerization rates in these monomers are dependent upon photo-initiator selection and concentration. In addition, the results indicate that conversion increases with increased laser intensity and elevated temperatures.Mechanical Engineerin

Understanding the Value Proposition as a Co-Created Claim

In this paper, the authors examine five cases of technology commercialization in terms of how entrepreneurs advance a specific kind of claim: the value proposition. The value proposition can describe the characteristics of the innovation itself (Goods-Dominant Logic) or propose how the innovation will cocreate value with stakeholders (Service-Dominant Logic); in the examined cases, the value proposition transitions between these two "logics," addressing different needs in the ongoing argument. We conclude by discussing the needs that each "logic" serves and the implications for better understanding entrepreneurship communication.IC2 Institut

Advanced extravehicular activity systems requirements definition study. Phase 2: Extravehicular activity at a lunar base

The focus is on Extravehicular Activity (EVA) systems requirements definition for an advanced space mission: remote-from-main base EVA on the Moon. The lunar environment, biomedical considerations, appropriate hardware design criteria, hardware and interface requirements, and key technical issues for advanced lunar EVA were examined. Six remote EVA scenarios (three nominal operations and three contingency situations) were developed in considerable detail

Diagnosing communities with the 5Ds: Applying a framework for understanding barriers to communication and collaboration in three small Texas communities

The 5Ds framework—Distance, Diversity, Dilution, Demand, and Disengagement—has been used to better understand barriers to communication and collaboration in regional entrepreneurial ecosystems, including the multi-community regions of Northwest Arkansas and the Aichi Prefecture of Japan, and the country of Panama. Can this framework also be applied to provide insight and guidance to individual communities? In this paper, we attempt to do so. Examining three small towns in Texas, each facing unique social and economic threats, we use the 5Ds to better understand their underlying challenges and how each translates into systemic communication and collaboration issues obstructing community members from working together to solve community problems. After using the framework to diagnose collaboration barriers for each town, we compare these results with each other and with previous community and regional findings. Finally, we explore implications for scaling this approach, especially in professional communication research into communities and improve intra-community communication and planning activities.IC2 InstituteWritin

SPAD based imaging of Cherenkov light in radiation therapy

During radiotherapy, X-ray beams induce Cherenkov light emission in tissue as part of the dose delivery. This light can be used for dosimetry, in order to track and image the dose as it happens. The Cherenkov light levels are in the range of 10−6 to 10−9 W∕cm2, which makes it challenging to detect in a clinical environment. However, because the radiation is pulsed in 4 microsecond bursts, time-gated acquisition of the signal allows for robust detection, even in the presence of ambient room lighting. Thus, imaging sensors for this application must be highly sensitive and must be able to time gate faster than a microsecond. In this study, the use of a solid-state detector composed of 64x32 single photon avalanche diodes (SPAD) was examined. The advantages of this technology were intra-chip amplification, superior X-ray noise rejection, and fast temporal gating of the acquisition. The results show that the SPAD camera was sensitive enough to detect Cherenkov radiation despite the 3% fill factor. 2D oversampling (x25) was also used to increase final image resolution to 320x160. In this work we demonstrate the SPAD camera performance in imaging Cherenkov emission from a tissue optical phantom and one patient undergoing radiotherapy. The SPAD camera sensors could be a viable alternative for Cherenkov imaging, as compared to current imaging methods that are mostly focused around image intensifier-based cameras and so have a range of non-linearities and instabilities which could be solved by an all solid-state camera sensor. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Uvalde Community Asset Mapping and Economic Recommendation Report

In collaboration with the team from The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Monica Muñoz Martínez, Dr. Noёl Busch-Armendariz, Dr. Gloria González-López, and Caitlin Sulley, the IC2 Institute applied a mixed-method research approach to assess community assets, values, and fitted economic opportunities in Uvalde, TX. Researchers believe Uvalde has the opportunity and capacity to author its own economic story – from the inside outward. The proposed strategies will require all residents to be involved and constructively contribute to new economic initiatives that can spill over into improved community life, educational quality, and individual family success. Central to the report findings is the need for Uvalde leadership and residents to: • Rebuild public trust. • Engage youth proactively in community life. • Overcome physical distance to Frio/Concan/Sabinal and other Hill County sites to revitalize tourism in order to enhance local business growth. • Pursue innovative economic opportunities involving all residents. • Build a future for all residents of Uvalde – not just those who are visible, voting, or viewed as vital.IC2 Institut