Pierre Lassonde and his late wife Claudette, both U graduates, often joked that a union between the College of Business and the College of Engineering would be a formidable force in today’s high tech industry.
To honor Claudette, Pierre Lassonde developed such a center, which is called the Lassonde New Venture Development Center.
The center, located in the Business Classroom Building, gives U students the instruction and experience they need to advance in the business industry while at the same time helping researchers evaluate and develop business models for their technologies.
The center is comprised of business, engineering and science students who work together in teams to create strategies which best help researchers promote their products.
Currently there are 12 graduate students and seven undergraduate students in the program.
Acceptance to the program is “highly competitive,” said Spencer Thunell, student director of the center.
The decision is based on the students’ academic credentials and professionalism.
Communication skills are also a priority, said Thunell, “because students are dealing with the researchers on a regular basis.”
Students in the program receive hands-on business experience, which Thunell said cannot be duplicated in a theoretical school setting.
Students attend a weekly business management class which features lectures by venture capitalists, intellectual property attorneys and other prominent members of the business community.
The management class is also taught by Executive Director Troy DiAmbrosio, who has been a member of the center since its inception in 2001.
He was Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000 and has started a number of different companies, including Convergence Communications, which is based in South America.
Thunell mentioned the risk involved in marketing a product.
“Most researchers, although geniuses at what they do, have very little business background.We try to help mitigate the risks undertaken in a new start-up.”
That is where the student teams at the center come into play.
“We do market research and product validation for them. We help them assess where their product fits and help them gauge whether they would be able to start a business or not,” Thunell said.
The engineering students can communicate between the researcher and the business student, making sure no steps are missed in the business start-up process.
Student teams work on the business development of products ranging from biomedical devices to information systems technology.
Students can pick up applications for the center in Thunell’s office, which is located in Room 445 of the Business Classroom Building.