Abstract:

In this paper we present non-traditional, radical university arrangements that we implemented in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at FAU in order to create an entrepreneurial university. In the present state of the economy, research funding has been drastically reduced – these are chances for universities. However, universities can only effectively become incubators of entrepreneurship and innovation if they themselves practice entrepreneurship. This “re-conceptualization” involves non-traditional, often radical university arrangements. In this presentation, we describe our entrepreneurial, research and innovation strategy in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University, which we implemented during the last several years. The backbone of our new concept is the NSF-sponsored Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Knowledge Enablement with 35 industry members, a more than 40 applied research projects. In addition, we implemented an innovation leadership program for the best students, providing courses in entrepreneurship, business, and communications. The university has created Research Park and the incubator for start-up companies at university premises with more than 30 high-tech companies. As part of our strategy, based on our research we launched two start-up companies that are led by our faculty and students. We also created joined industry/university laboratories, in which our faculty and students work jointly with industry scientists and engineers in creating innovative systems and products. We will present several research projects and its applied results in the area of multimedia and big data and their applications and the start-up companies formed based on this research.

Keywords:

Entrepreneurial university, industry/university cooperative research center, high-tech start-up companies.