Interprofessional Projects courses (IPROs) are a general education requirement at IIT, with each undergraduate student needing to complete at least two IPROs. In an IPRO, five to fifteen students from various academic disciplines work as a team to solve a real-world problem. Entrepreneurial IPROs (EnPROs) feature an additional component of business planning and new venture analysis. Such cross-disciplinary experiential learning provides students with a richer academic experience and crucial teamwork and project management skills. With the generous support of the Kern Family Foundation, the Entrepreneurship Program at IIT sponsors and helps create multiple EnPROs.
EnPRO 349: Solid Corn-Waste Fuel for Cogeneration evaluated the use of biomass as a solid fuel. Effectively any type of biomass can be burned as a solid fuel. While there has been extensive research into the use of biomass to produce bio-diesel and ethanol, almost no consideration has been given to its use as a solid fuel. There is a clear potential demonstrated, as two percent of the electricity used in the state of Illinois is generated via waste biomass created by manufacturing operations. Students in this EnPRO considered the potential of a local cogeneration plant that would provide heat and electricity for a business or a small community using biomass collected from surrounding areas.
EnPRO 351: Motion Track Studios was created from a winning idea submitted to the 2008 IEA Idea Challenge by Ty Caughell (senior, Business Administration), Cedric Collier (senior, Civil Engineering), and Joel Cornelius (senior, Computer Science). Motion Track Studios, a convenient and affordable audio recording service, caters to an emerging market of songwriters who cannot afford the premium price of a traditional recording studio and lack the equipment or expertise to do it themselves. The members of this EnPRO worked to create a formal business plan and did extensive market research, meeting with recording studio owners, music instrument store managers, and potential customers. Motion Track Studios was validated as a concept when it won the $1000 first prize at this year’s Self Employment in the Arts conference’s elevator pitch competition.
EnPRO 354: Wirelessly Conveying Emotions focused on the continued development of eMotion’s BFF<3 product. One of the winning entries in our 2007 IEA Idea Challenge, BFF<3 is a wireless communications device and fashion accessory for ‘tween’ girls. There were multiple considerations in this EnPRO, including the product’s potentially short lifecycle and additional markets (e.g., seniors, parents, young children, etc). Other areas of focus included the company’s marketing plan and product promotion schedule and various wireless communications and circuit design issues.
EnPRO 355: Enhanced Vision System began as the top entry in our 2006 IEA Idea Challenge. This EnPRO’s objective is to develop an application that will accurately communicate the location and nature of buried utility lines. Currently, equipment operators must rely upon wooden stakes and painted lines which are based upon paper records to ascertain the location of buried utility lines. The ultimate goal is to develop a software application for a handheld device, with real-time updates and a representation of the user’s location and safety range, that would be mounted in construction vehicles.
Two additional EnPROs, both winners in our 2008 IEA Idea Challenge, are being offered during the 2009-10 school year. EnPRO 350: Smart Binoculars, based on an idea submitted by Earl Fairall (sophomore, Mechanical Engineering) and Purvag Patel (senior, Mechanical Engineering), will study the possibility of combining traditional sightseeing binoculars with a ground-based tracking system and geospatial information for military applications. EnPRO 351: Alcometre, based on an idea submitted by Ayokunle Apampa (junior, Chemical Engineering), will look at new methods of keeping vehicles from being started by intoxicated operators.