The Halmstad Model
Step 1: The engineering education
Through its Innovation Engineering Programme, Halmstad University has since
its early start 25 years ago been well known as the “Innovation University”.
In the Innovation Engineering Programme, which has been the model for most of
the following engineering programmes, the students learn to develop ideas into
products on a market. They gain technical as well as economic knowledge. During
their study period the students either work in defined projects – to find
solutions of real problems in the working life – or develop their own
ideas that later may be the start of new companies.
The idea behind the engineering education in Halmstad is that the students
work project oriented in close cooperation with industry. In order to learn
how to run projects and to take their responsibility the process the students
during their last year get access to their own work place in form of:
- Project rooms with complete equipment, phones, faxes and computers
- Workshops for metal and modeling
- Manage their own budget
- Economic support from enterprise or from the University
- Patent support.
During the summer holidays, through the “summer entrepreneur” project
arranged by the FUTURUM foundation, students have the possibility to work as
a “consultant” closely related to an enterprise. During this period
the “summer entrepreneur” gets support and assistance with individual
coaching and business training and they learn how to start their own enterprise.
In May each year a 3-days exhibition called UTEXPO takes place at the university
where the engineering students have the possibility to show their major exam
projects to the public and to visitors from industry and other organizations.
Here also different awards from organizations like banks, engineering associations,
industrial companies, business support organizations etc, are given to nominated
students. The number of student projects exposed at UTEXPO is steadily increasing
each year, in 2003 there where about 150 exhibition cases.
Step 2: The Innovation Group - Halmstad University Incubator
Students who are interested in starting their own company out of their major
exam project idea are invited to the Innovation Group. Through this incubator
Halmstad University acts to facilitate the changeover for students from studying
to starting their own companies. Here the students get the possibility to calmly
test their business ideas before starting their business in reality. When having
passed their exams, the Innovation Group is available for all students from
Halmstad University, not only engineers. In the incubator, which is located
at the campus, a workplace with infrastructure (furniture, phone, computer etc.)
is offered to the student. Additionally to this guidance, consulting and mentoring
are regularly made available. The location in the Innovation Group is guaranteed
for a minimum of six months, and can be prolonged with an additional number
of months, maximum 12 months. Salary is obtained through scholarships, the employment
office, subsidies or loans.
Support is obtained from instructors, teachers from the university, short training
courses and seminars. Advantages with starting one’s own business through
the Innovation Group are that the risk is minimal, it is relatively easy to
create networks and to establish contacts with others in the same situation
and those business relations are generated with other companies.
Step 3: TeknoCenter
From the incubator the young engineers may establish themselves at the University
Science Park, TeknoCenter, also located at the University campus. At TeknoCenter
the entrepreneur get access to administrative support and to a broad network
of scientists and other academic entrepreneurs.
Interactive, web based Business School for students, researchers, teachers
and university start-ups
Through our daily work with university start-ups we meet highly skilled scientists
and researchers with a great expertise in their technical fields but lacking
knowledge about how to commercialize their ideas. They are often unfamiliar
with how to formulate a business idea, conduct a market research or how to write
a business plan. In order to make them better prepared and more interested for
these steps towards commercializing their inventions as well as to teach them
about the tasks they will have when running their businesses, we have developed
our Internet-based Business School (www.affarsskolan.nu). Affärsskolan
is also aimed as a tool to make our work as business advisors more efficient.
Interactive, entertaining and relevant
Affärsskolan is very interactive, utilizing modern pedagogy combined with
the latest multimedia and Internet technology.
The communications and information sharing between the tutors (our business
advisers) and the students, as well as between the students, is facilitated
by means of a chat, e-mail and notice boards.
More than how to start and run the business
Our students will learn the steps in the process of commercialising an idea.
By means of own exercises, focused on their own inventions, they will get a
feeling about what is expected from them when starting and running a company.
Plentiful examples from other entrepreneurs and existing companies will make
them aware and help them to solve practical problems along the way.
Affärsskolan is completely self-instructive. However, the student can
at any time during the course apply and get a personal tutor, a business advisor,
a person to bandy ideas with.
Other important aspects are great possibilities for information gathering and
contact making offered by Internet and e-mailing. The technology encourages
and makes it easier to contact experts and ordinary people, companies and organisations,
contacts that otherwise may never happen.
The course modules
1. Business idea.
Can your invention be a business? Here you will learn how to define a customer
value and to evaluate your idea from the customers’ perspective. You will
also formulate your own business idea.
2. How do I protect my own invention?
Why is it so important to protect your idea/invention? We present different
alternatives and discuss patents, trade marks, protection of designs and copy
rights. You will also learn about how to apply for a patent in Sweden, EPO and
PCT, about different patent strategies and costs.
3. Business Plan
How do you organise and what can you expect from your Dream Team, your Board
and management team? How do you put forward a marketing plan and what kind of
organization will you need to realize it? This module consists of six lessons:
Summary, Business idea, The Dream Team, Marketing plan, Organization and Risks.
4. Financing
Here you will get familiar with various economical reports such as Profit or
Loss Report, Cash-flow Report and learn how to prepare your Statement of Income
and Balance Sheet. You will also learn about company valuation and what the
investors are looking at when evaluating your idea or business. This module
consists of five lessons: Profit or Loss Reporting, Cash-flow Reporting, Balance
Reporting, Company valuation and Capital requirements.
5. Exploitation
We deal with different alternatives for how to organize the production, marketing
and sales - from licensing to subcontracting, from own sales department to sales
through agencies and representatives.
6. Law: Establishing a company
We deal with different types of company association and teach the steps towards
establishing a company.
7. Law: The Agreement Act
We go through examples and discuss different kinds of useful agreements such
as Secrecy Agreement, Licensing Agreement or Consortium Agreement.
User value:
• a perfect tool to start with your business planning
• assistance from a tutor and other business advisers from our network
• network
• real cases
• possibility to contacts with other entrepreneurs
• higher success rate
• flexibility in place and time – just-in-time learning
Affärsskolan AB is collaborating with Swedish Foundations for Technology
Transfer, Teknopol AB and in close contact with universities and technical universities
in Sweden.
What is the Foundation for Technology Transfer?
The Foundations for Technology Transfer are created by the Swedish Government
to increase the transfer of knowledge and technology between universities and
colleges and industry. There are seven regional foundations situated around
major universities in Sweden, from Lund in south, to Gothenburg, Linköping,
Stockholm, Uppsala, Umeå and Luleå in the north. The Foundation
for Technology Transfer in Lund covers the southern Sweden area with eight universities
and technical universities and administers capital of SEK 320 million.
Dr. Mirka Fahlander
Business Adviser
Teknopol AB
E-mail: mirka.fahlander@telia.com , mirka.fahlander@teknopol.se
Tel +46 708 398742
|
