<p>Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) innovators lag behind their non-HBCU counterparts in the commercialization of innovations as they were originally set up as teaching and blue-collar trade institutions. There exists a strong need for education and training to bridge this gap by promoting the commercialization of innovations in HBCU and thus transform next-generation HBCU innovators into entrepreneurs. HBCUs are promoting entrepreneurial education and mindset via changes in engineering education programs and curriculums. Several federally funded programs like the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Center for Nanotechnology Research Excellence (CNRE) are promoting innovation and intellectual property generation at HBCUs. NSF I-Corps Program supports the education and training of innovators about the commercialization of mature or patented innovations at HBCUs. The NSF I-Corps Introduction to Customer Discovery explores strategies in identifying key customer segments through extensive customer interviews, which is a fundamental step in the commercialization process. This paper discusses our educational experience in the customer discovery process for Pumpless Solar Thermal Air Heater (Patent Number 10775058). To learn about the customers’ attitudes and perceptions of the innovation, we conducted 30 interviews with potential customers (end users). Our innovation is focused on providing portable, cost-effective, healthy, and environmentally friendly space heating solutions. We tested several hypotheses about the value proposition of our innovation during interviews to explore the market segments for potential commercialization. The initial hypotheses tested are: (i) End users can identify key issues related to their home heating systems as motivation to explore alternatives, (ii) Reducing heating bills is a priority for end-users, (iii) Reducing the level of noise from the heating system is a priority to end-users. During the interviews, we learned about new value propositions that helped us to revise our initial hypotheses. We also realized that nose-bleeding and health issues caused by dry air are a concern for several people. Originally, we did not think about this market segment. During the interview process, we learned that our hypothesis that reducing heating costs is a major motivation for the homeowner was correct. However, our interviews so far did not reveal that noise due to the heating system was any concern. To understand the implications of the results of the interview, we discussed the outcome of initial interviews and features of our innovation with a commercialization expert. We have finally concluded that commercialization of our innovation is promising to focus the following value propositions: our innovation has the potential to serve the need of customers (i) seeking ways to minimize health issues due to space heating, (ii) seeking portable add on technology on top of the existing HVAC system to reduce their heating bills, (iii) seeking low maintenance and &gt;10 years lifetime heating system for mobile home or recreational vehicles (RV). In future interviews, we also plan to test the hypothesis that a green supplementary heating system is a demand area in environmentally conscious homeowners. With this experience, we are geared up to look for suitable commercialization venues. Our next step is to target the different commercialization opportunities (market segments) for our innovation. We plan to utilize the current experience of commercialization of intellectual property to develop training modules for the MECH 302 Undergraduate Research Experience and MECH 500 Research Methods and Technical Communication courses offered under the mechanical engineering program at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC).&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Educating Historically Black Colleges and Universities Innovators About the Commercialization of Innovation by the Customer Discovery Process

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2021/volume/85543

ASME 2021 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2021)

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