University of Central Florida

University of Central Florida adopts
So what? who cares? why you?®:
The Inventor's Commercialization Toolkit


Project Initiators:

Mr. Joseph Giampapa - Associate Director, Technology Transfer Dr. Cameron Ford - Founding Director, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Project Goals:

  • Implement a standard methodology for commercial assessment that can be used across the university.
  • Equip the UCF entrepreneurial community with tools and approaches to educate and understand the essentials involved in venture creation.

Summary

The University of Central Florida is the nation's 7th largest university, with a student population of 46,519 and an active innovation and entrepreneurship community. It is home to the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CEI) founded in 2006 by Dr. Cameron Ford. The Center houses the UCF Venture Lab, and hosts advisors from UCF's Small Business Development Center, the Office of Technology Transfer, and the Orlando chapter of SCORE.

The University of Central Florida (UCF) has adopted So what? who cares? why you?® university-wide as its standard tool for commercialization assessment. Wendy's book and accompanying online knowledge portal, The ToolShed, are being used to help further the goal of positioning UCF as a national leader in entrepreneurship education, research commercialization, venture creation, and economic development partnerships. So what? who cares? why you? is being used by faculty, students, inventors, and entrepreneurs to address the need for commercialization assessment tools as well as a how-to guide for entrepreneurs to self-educate on the essentials involved in venture creation.

In addition to the book, Wendy is working closely with UCF to assist faculty, technology transfer professionals, researchers, students, and entrepreneurs to leverage the So what? who cares? why you? methodology and resources as part of the initiatives underway in UCF's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

A Model for Collaboration

A team of entrepreneurial administrators and faculty from the Office of Research and Commercialization and the College of Business Administration joined forces to create the UCF Entrepreneurship Network. This group aligns the efforts of the UCF-CEI, Economic Development Office, Technology Transfer Office, Technology Incubator, Venture Lab and Small Business Development Center. These groups work together to enhance research commercialization, new venture creation, and regional economic development. The CEI facility serves as a community center for entrepreneurial endeavors conceived and developed on the UCF campus and in the Central Florida community.

Tech Transfer at UCF:

So what? who cares? why you? is being used as part of the commercialization assessment methodology at UCF's Technology Transfer Office. Joseph Giampapa, Associate Director of UCF's Technology Transfer Office, was first to introduce the book to UCF. Giampapa was looking to equip the research and entrepreneurship communities with tools to instill the business value thinking around inventions and ideas. He introduced So what? who cares? why you?® to his colleagues involved in the Entrepreneurship Network for review as a standard methodology for use across the university. The network reviewed the book and made the decision to adopt it across the center, in both academic programs and the technology transfer office. Today, So what? who cares? why you? is used early in the invention disclosure process to help inventors explore the commercial value proposition.

Academic Entrepreneurship Courses:

So what? who cares? why you? is being used as the course textbook in both undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship courses at UCF. Wendy assisted UCF in the creation of a course syllabus structured to complement the book. The online knowledge portal, the ToolShed, is also a key component of the self-directed learning for students. A booklet of worksheets was created for students to complete and submit as part of the course requirements. Wendy provided professors with support materials including an integrated real-world case study based upon an early stage startup company as well as other aids to complement the key learning outcomes identified in the syllabus.

"We chose Wendy's book because it distills the commercialization assessment process into 3 simple to understand, but not always so simple to answer - components! It gives UCF a standard approach and language to work with inventors to discover the commercial potential for their ideas."

Joseph Giampapa,
Associate Director,
Technology Transfer


UCF FACTS

  • UCF is the nation's 7th largest university.
  • 46,519 full-time students attend UCF
  • UCF has the nation's 2nd largest business school.
  • UCF earns over $103 Million in annual research awards, representing approximately a 200% increase in research funding since 1999.
  • UCF's Technology Business Incubator recently earned the National Business Incubator Association (NBIA) #1 ranking.
  • UCF's Central Florida Research Park is recognized as one of the top-10 in the world.
  • UCF supports the nation's 2nd Small Business Administration National Entrepreneurship Center.