Anuradha Godavarty, PhD
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

Title of submission:  Novel Hand-held Optical Imager for Breast Cancer Diagnostics; Translational and Commercialization Efforts

In this proposal, the PI focuses on integrating research and academic activities with entrepreneurial aspects of her emerging novel hand-held optical imager for breast cancer diagnostics. The three-fold objective is to: (i) demonstrate the effectiveness of hand held optical imager in-vivo on human breast tissues for cancer diagnostics (research), (ii) develop a commercialization strategy from the preliminary market analysis (entrepreneurship); and (iii) integrate research and commercialization strategy in the curriculum to train next generation engineers in entrepreneurship (curriculum).  The long-term goal is to translate the technology to the clinic and parallely develop strategies to commercialize the product (two patents filed by PI). 

Chenzhong Li, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

Title of submission: Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Education of Nanotechnology in Biomedical Engineering

The proposed program will develop a new course to improve the entrepreneurship skills of the students in life science associated with nanotechnology. Through the course students will learn project managerial skills required to run nanotechnology. This course will also be aimed at introducing students studying life science and engineering to business plan development and intellectual property, so that they are equipped to address issues that lie at the interface of technological innovations and business development. 

Chunlei Wang, PhD
Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering

Title of submission: High Capacity High Power Density Micropower Source

The technical goal of this project is to develop Si based high capacity high power density Li-ion micro-batteries. Prioritized target market plan will also be developed. This project will support and promote the Motorola Nanofabrication Research Facility, foster entrepreneurial research culture, help students to develop entrepreneurial skills through training and practice.

David Wernick, Instructor
Department of Management and International Business, College of Business Administration

Title of submission: Winning Strategies of Minority Entrepreneurs: Interviews with South Florida’s Small Business Owners

This project will seek to illuminate the secrets of South Florida’s thriving minority small business sector while providing a unique resource for instructors teaching undergraduate courses in management, marketing, finance, and other disciplines. It will consist of a series of 60 Minutes-style multimedia interviews with minority entrepreneurs across a variety of sectors – from healthcare to aviation. The interviews, to be conducted by Professor Wernick and streamed over the Web, will examine the origins and evolution of the ventures, the managerial philosophies of the founders and key principals, the key strategic and tactical decisions made by senior executives, and the current and future competitive landscape in their respective industries.

Fatma Huffman, PhD
Professor and Chair Dietetics and Nutrient, Stempel School of Public Health 

Title of submission: Entrepreneurship Skills Development for Students in the Dietetics and Nutrition Programs at FIU

Objective of the proposed program is to design and implement a course to teach the students how to become entrepreneurs in the field of Dietetics and Nutrition and market their own products and services.  This program will demonstrate how they can start a business, fund and market their product and services, how to price their time and products and how to advertise. Billing for services and insurance reimbursements will also be discussed.  Success of the program will be measured by follow up with students and continuation of interest in the program.

George Philippidis, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Associate Director, Applied Research Center (ARC), College of Engineering and Computing (CEC)

Title of submission: Seeding Biofuel Entrepreneurship in South Florida

This proposal will initiate the development of a platform of algal Biofuel technologies, which will serve as the entrepreneurial basis for creating, incubating, and staffing spin-off Biofuel companies. Such spin-offs will subsequently seek venture capital to pursue commercialization of biodiesel for motor vehicles and marine vessels, jet fuel for aviation, and logistical fuel for the US military.

Karen Paul, PhD
Professor, Department of Management and International Business, College of Business Administration

Title of submission: Socially Responsible Investment Fund Entrepreneurs: An Application of the Web of Dialogue Model to Social Entrepreneurship

This interview study will apply the “web of dialogue” model to social venture entrepreneurs, taking as its sample the founders of socially responsible investment (SRI) funds, founders of organizations created to further SRI, and other SRI entrepreneurs such as the founders of key consulting firms that support SRI.  The main objectives are the following: to investigate in what respects SRI entrepreneurs resemble or differ from other entrepreneurs based on characteristics identified in the literature on entrepreneurs, to consider the networks that facilitated communication among SRI entrepreneurs, their participation in key organizations, and other relational ties, and to apply the “web of dialogue” model to SRI entrepreneurs and to the SRI movement.

Lidia Kos, PhD
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences

Title of submission:  Development of a alpha-MSH/Edn3 based topical composition for skin wound healing and re-pigmentation.

The objective of this proposal is to characterize and provide topically applicable dermatological / cosmetic / pharmaceutical compositions comprising a dose controlled melanin synthesis agent as well as a melanocyte migration enhancing factor. We will characterize the in vitro pigmentary properties of small peptides compositions on melanocyte cell lines and their in vivo action on mouse dorsal skin scar healing and re-pigmentation. Upon completion of the project, we hope to identify an effective composition suitable for patent submission.

Nathan Katz, PhD
Professor/Chairperson, Religious Studies, College of Arts and Sciences

Title of submission: Spirituality and Entrepreneurship

This project is to design a new undergraduate course, "Contemporary Global Spirituality," which will explore the application of spirituality to the professions from multicultural perspectives. Each time it is offered, entrepreneurship will be one of three professions that will be explored. In the Fall 2009 semester, the Program will present three lectures on spirituality and entrepreneurship.

David Bray, PhD
Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, College of Arts and Sciences

Title of submission: Carbon Market Entrepreneurialism: Examining Models for Linking Global Carbon Markets and the Indigenous Forest Communities in Mexico.

Yong Cai, PhD
Department of Chemistry and SERC, College of Arts and Sciences

Title of submission: Development and Marketing of a Novel Analytical Service for Organomercury Species.

Evangelos Christidis, PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Informational Sciences, College of Engineering and Computing

Title of Submission: Effective Search on Patent Databases

This project will study ways to improve the quality of patent search systems in order to reduce the cost of searching for relevant patents. A commercialization plan will also be created which will study the current patent search market.

Gustavo Roig, PhD
Engineering/Electrical & Computers Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing

Shih-Ming Lee, PhD
Chairperson/Associate Dean, Department of Industrial and Systems

Title of submission: Pilot Study for “ Building Entrepreneurship and Leadership In Every Engineers (BELIEVE)” Project – A Proposal for NSF STEP Program

This project is a pilot study to find out if students will be interested in joining engineering and technology fields once they have been exposed to entrepreneurship content in their studies. In order to achieve results, three groups of students will be selected. One group will go through a regular summer curriculum; the second group will have an enhanced curriculum with some entrepreneurship content, while the third group will be immersed with entrepreneurship and leadership contents. Questionnaires and surveys will be distributed through out the summer, in order to record the progress. Ultimately, the information gathered in this study will be included in a proposal to the NSF STEP.

Maida Watson, PhD 
Professor, Department of Modern Languages, College of Arts and Sciences

Title of Submission: Languages and Entrepreneurship: Applying Concepts to Languages

This proposal involves creating a new course (FOL XX Entrepreneurship and Languages) which will present an overview of entrepreneurial activities related to languages, both Foreign languages and English. It will involve hands- on experience in developing special materials to teach beginning Spanish, Portuguese, French and English as a second language for business for those students who select this option. The course will also provide first-hand experience and practical application in successfully undertaking an entrepreneurial venture with a Foreign Language or English component.

Roberto Penepucci, PhD   
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

Title of Submission: Entrepreneurial Extension of High-Tech Research: Polymer-based Waveguide Microgripper

This project aims at the commercialization of novel device concepts generated by research in nanotechnology at FIU. In particular it will explore models for commercializing the “Polymer Waveguide Microgripper”, a device capable of simultaneously manipulating single cells while performing optical spectroscopy measurements.

Sumit Kundu, PhD
Professor, Department of Management and International Business, College of Business Administration

Title of Submission: International Entrepreneurship in Software Industry: Evidence from Asia-Pacific

The research will examine the internationalization drivers of SMEs in the software industry located in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines. There is mixed evidence on the extent and patterns if internationalization of software firms in the software industry. This study will shed light on the born global versus born regional versus born local firms in the software industry, and the factors that discriminate their strategic orientation.

Thomas G. Reio, Jr., PhD
 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, College of Education

Title of submission: Entrepreneurial Competencies: Boosting Entrepreneurship through Education

This project will gather the validated measures of entrepreneurial competencies and combine demographic and background questionnaires that will be administered via mail to business professors. The collected data will be used for interviewing entrepreneurs concerning the feasibility of teaching entrepreneurial skills to find out which educational means might be best to teach the new skills and subsequently develop them optimally.

Tonette S. Rocco, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, College of Education

Title of submission: Building a Recruitment Plan by using an Intergrated model for teaching and learning entrepreneurship.

The intergrated model will then be applied to a pilot study in summer 2008 with middle school students. From the pilot study, the Pls will prepare a Type 1B Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Talent Expansion Project (STEP) under the title of "Building Entreprenuership and Leadership In Every Engineer (BELIEVE)" to be submitted to National Science Foundation (NSF) . Project BELIEVE aims to increase enrollment, retention rates, and the number of graduates in the eningeering fields at FIU.

William D. Schneper, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Management and International Business, College of Business Administration

Title of Submission: Two Projects on Entrepreneurship, Corporate Governance and the Concept of the Firm

Dr. Schneper is examining how the human resource management and corporate social responsibility practices in large entrepreneur- and family-led firms differ from those of business organizations with different corporate governance practices. He plans to work with a group of FIU PhD students using a mix of archival, survey, and interview data sources.

William T. Anderson, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences/SERC, College of Arts and Sciences

Title of Submission: Development and marketing of novel biogeochemical isotopic methods for the Stable Isotope Laboratory (University Recharge Center) as an environmental assessment tool for managers and consultants for the near shore marine and fresh water ecosystems

This project will expand the capabilities of the SERC Stable Isotope Laboratory Recharge Center in two fields:  1) nitrogen fixation and denitrification (labeled isotope technique) and 2) Sulfur isotopes analyses.  Both approaches are extremely important in helping environmental managers and consulting companies understand nitrogen and sulfur dynamics in a variety of critical ecological settings.  Our project includes site visits to existing laboratories and the bringing of expert consultants FIU to help with method design.  It is our main goal to establish two new techniques and to market these new capabilities of the SIL to the university community, environmental consulting firms, and local (state and county) and federal government agencies.

Irma Becerra-Fernandez, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Decision Sciences and Information Systems
College of Business Administration

Title of Submission: Information Technology Entrepreneurship
This grant proposal is incorporating the concepts of entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship into one graduate course. The courses name is “Management of the IS Function” and will be required for students in the Masters of Science in Management Information Systems. It will also be open to students in the graduate business programs or outside of the college, and will continue to be offered beyond the period of the Kauffman gift. In addition the principal investigator will develop a case study based on a successful entrepreneurial information technology firm headquartered in South Florida, which will be used as the basis for the discussion in the IS new course. The case will be published and available for other professors to use.

View syllabus for Management of the IS Function.

Chin-Sheng Chen, PhD
Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
College of Engineering & Computer Science

Title of Submission: Fostering Real-Life Engineering Entrepreneurship at FIU
This project is aimed at fostering real-life engineering entrepreneurship at FIU. Its primary objective is to create a basic business (entrepreneurship) model for review and reflection for the intended graduate courses closely related to industrial product/system design.  The secondary objective is the creation of an ad hoc entrepreneurship operation function (the Enterprise Systems Engineering Entrepreneur Internship Office) in the ISE Department.

Peggy Maisel
Professor, College of Law

Title of Submission: Multidisciplinary Enhancement of the Community Development Clinic: A Collaborative Project of the College of Law, College of Business and College of Arts & Sciences, Sociology/Anthropology Department
The goal of the project is to expand the services of the College of Law's community development clinical course to involve students and faculty from the College of Business and Sociology/Anthropology Departments.  The idea is to provide comprehensive assistance to disadvantaged entrepreneurs -- a "one-stop" center-- on campus that will also train students in the various dimensions of entrepreneurship development and implementation.  The project is expanding the Community Development Clinic's existing services beyond legal assistance by involving FIU Business and Sociology/Anthropology students and faculty whose skills sets include marketing, business plan development, finance, accounting and program evaluation and knowledge of Miami's diverse populations and neighborhood economies.

View web site for Community Development Clinic.

DeEtta K. Mills, PhD
National Science Foundation Fellow and Director, International Forensic Science Institute
College of Arts and Sciences

Title of Submission: The development and marketing of three non-human DNA profiling kits: Canine, cannabis and equine DNA typing
Future scholars are needed that can think ‘beyond the laboratory bench’ as well as
understanding the basic sciences.  Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit of ‘thinking
beyond the bench” will be epitomized by this Kauffman award. Specifically, DNA
profiling (i.e., DNA fingerprinting) is based on minute differences, or polymorphisms, found amongst the most conserved DNA regions of any genome. This Kauffman Professor’s award will help support three female graduate students in developing non-human DNA profiling kits using the following model systems: canine, equine and cannabis (marijuana). The goal is to develop standardized non-human DNA profiling kits that can either be marketed as a fee-based service for DNA profiling or as a commercial kit for sale to other research or crime laboratories.

Visit web site for the Forensic DNA Profiling Facility.

Kathleen Rein, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
College of Arts and Sciences
Title of Submission: Establishment of ChloroStore as a University Recharge Facility

The goal of this project is to establish a sustainable University unit-Recharge Facility, main activity of which will be production and marketing of commercially valuable products from algae and cyanobacteria that were developed in the pursuit of basic research. Our initial focus will be on the development of Microcystin-LR. These goals will be achieved through: the identification of the algal strain and culture conditions that result in the maximum yield of toxin; expand our culturing activities from laboratory scale for our own research purposes to commercial scale; and to gain experience in marketing and commercialization of these products.

Ibrahim N. Tansel, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
College of Engineering and Computer Science

Title of Submission: Introduction of Entrepreneurship Skills to Mechanical Engineering Students 
The proposed program will add one new course with dual enrollment and modify two current courses to improve the entrepreneurship skills of our students.  With the help of an advisory board Mechanical Engineering students will consider the financing, manufacturing, and marketing aspects in addition to designing new products.  They will try to commercialize several new and previously developed products at the Mechatronics Laboratory.  These products include a small energy scavenger, health monitoring systems for machines and small 1 person vehicles.

Yong X Tao, PhD
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
College of Engineering and Computer Science

Title of Submission: Development of an Engineering-Entrepreneurship Coursework for FIU Sustainable House Program
The new three-credit-hour course, which is tentatively entitled, EML 4XXX Sustainable Building Systems and Entrepreneurship, will focus on: engineering and technology contents, sustainability theory, entrepreneurship in sustainable building industries and projects and field/lab experience. The course will be offered once a year as an interdisciplinary course offered by the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and will be cross-linked by College of Business, Construction Management, and/or School of Architecture. It will also provide students under the FIU Sustainable Program, a student organization, with an educational and outreach opportunity.

M.O. Thirunarayanan , PhD
Associate Professor, Learning Technologies, College of Education Fellow, Honors College

Title of Submission: Researching the Lives of One Hundred Entrepreneurs, Including Immigrant Women and Minority Entrepreneurs: Proposal for Developing a Research-Based Entrepreneurship Kit for Use in Middle and High School Classrooms

Peter Thompson , PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Economics
College of Arts and Sciences

Title of Submission: Entrepreneurship & New Firm Foundation
Peter Thompson will spend much of the next year studying entrepreneurship from the perspective of formal economic modeling. He is particularly interested in the circumstances that lead people to abandon wage employment and become an entrepreneur, how these circumstances influence individuals' performance as an entrepreneur, and the broader consequences of entrepreneurship for the evolution of industrial structure. Although his research is technical in exposition, it is also exploratory. Thompson's research this year fits is part of a longer term strategy to conduct research that bridges the often separate worlds of entrepreneurship studies and traditional economics.

Link to draft of Entrepreneurs, Small Businesss Management and Organized Labor.

Link to draft of Sorting, Selection, and Industry Shakeouts.

Steven Heine, PhD
Director of the Institute for Asian Studies
Professor of Religion and History
College of Arts & Sciences

Title of Submission: Applying Cultural Values in Business
A dual project including the development of a new course "Applying Asian Cultural Values in Business" which will become a central component of the new Asian Studies Master's program along with the development of a student-designed entrepreneurial workshop that will culminate in an internship experience whereby students will deliver their presentations in a "real" setting .

Link to White Collar Zen web site.

Roberto Rovira
Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture Program, School of Arts & Architecture

Title of Submission: Miami Sunspars
The proposal for the Miami Monument called the "Miami Sunspars" consists of three solar-powered towers capable of transforming from dramatic vertical lookouts into horizontal pedestrian bridges. Through Kauffman seed money, essential site and precedent analysis and further design development will be possible.

Link to Miami Sunspars web site.

Berrin Tansel, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering and Computer Science

Title of Submission: Environmental Entrepreneurship Integration (E2I)
A new graduate course titled "Environmental Entrepreneurship" will be developed and integrated into the curriculum for the MS degree in Environmental Engineering. This effort will simultaneously allow for collaborative opportunities with local businesses and agencies for students to obtain hands-on training to enable them to become proficient in an environmental business enterprises.

Margo Berman, PhD
Associate Professor
School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Title of Submission:Creative Entrepreneurship
A new undergraduate entrepreneurial-based course listed as Integrated Communications Seminar: Experiential Entrepreneurship which would fufill a requirement for both advertising and PR students.

Link to Creative Technique Training.

Marc Resnick, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering
College of Engineering and Computer Science

Title of Submission: Assessing the Regulatory Environment - A Vital Skill for Entrepreneurs
This award will support the development of a regulatory analysis model to support regulatory assessment and forecasting for the appraisal of entrepreneurial opportunities. The award would provide the resources to overhaul EIN 5106 Regulatory Aspects of Engineering as an entrepreneurship course and to develop a research agenda to investigate the potential of regulatory analysis for entrepreneurial activities.