2020 Course Curriculum

April 24, 2020 – June 12, 2020 (3:30 – 5:00 on Fridays)

Welcome to the 2nd offering of Business Concepts for STEM scientists certificate course – Online.

This course is a collaboration between GPS-STEM & UCI Beall Applied Innovation to help PhD students & Postdocs understand the business jargon, business concepts and functional aspects, which are the basis of any company. These modules are a series of lectures, guest presentations and hands-on activities that will help you understand Business Model Canvas and its applications in STEM based companies. The course is generously funded by University Lab Partners (ULP), a wet lab incubator space.

Innovative elements of the 2020 course: 

• Due to the current COVID19 pandemic situation, all the modules will be offered Online! The sessions will be conducted over Zoom with teamwork in virtual breakout rooms. Live business pitch competition will take place in webinar format.
• The course modules will be built upon the last year’s business course teachings. Therefore, the participants are encouraged to watch last year’s business model canvas videos.
• Training sessions for business pitch competition. This year we have added a learning session by Activate to Captivate on how to work in teams as you prepare to present your business pitch.
• Jobs in the business sector. This module will discuss job descriptions and job titles for STEM scientists based on the business model canvas.
• The business pitch competition will be live online!

Course Instructions board. Please keep track of all the updates related to the course, assignments & content.

Instructors & Coordinators: 

• Chris Halliwell, MBA. Executive Director, Technology Marketing Center
• Matthew Hanson, Ph.D. Director of New Ventures, UCI Beall Applied Innovation
• Steve Hyun, PhD, Senior Licensing Officer, UCI Beall Applied Innovation
• Vania Cao, PhD. 
• Bri McWhorter, MFA. Activate to Captivate

Course Coordinators: 

• Harinder Singh, PhD. Director, GPS-STEM
• Prof. David Fruman, Academic Director, GPS-STEM
• Chloe Hsieh, Entrepreneur Experiences Coordinator, UCI Beall Applied Innovation

Register Now!!! Business Concepts for STEM Scientists-2020

Registration for the course: In 2019, we charged the participants a reimbursable fee of $20 to ensure attendance before awarding certificates. For this year’s registrants, we expect everyone to attend  all the classes (1 absence allowed)#, participate in teamwork exercise and present your business pitch in teams at the end to receive certificate of completion*. This is a requirement for the course.

*In the registration page, please agree to the this mandatory requirement for attending the course free of cost. We will keep track of attendance, time spent over online sessions (tracker), team formation, team participation and pitch competition.

#You can be excused only for 1 session due to unavoidable circumstances. In that case, we will share the recording of that class with you.

UCI Beall Applied Innovation & GPS-STEM Collaboration

Welcome! This series of workshops, activities, discussions, and guest speakers will help you understand the fundamental concepts underlying any company. You’ll see examples and work with 9 ‘building blocks’ to build a Business Model Canvas. In the process, you’ll realize there’s not much difference between industry and academia (they both deliver value to customers!), that you’ve learned more than expected, and that it all starts with people. Business Model Canvas explained (2 videos)  – Watch this and learn more to be course ready! – 9 Successful Steps & Value Proposition

Module 1 – Introductions and Overview: Starting with ‘people first’, we’ll meet each other, get an overview of the entire series, grasp the ethical context for business, understand the Business Model Canvas and ‘value equation’, and form teams. – Matthew Hanson, Director of New Ventures (Detailed Bio below), UCI Beall Applied Innovation.

Module 2 – Our Customer: Starting with ‘people first’, we’ll get to know our customers and their needs, what kind of relationship works best, and how we’ll exchange value with them.

Module 3 – Our Company: Starting with ‘people first’, we’ll identify those needed to help deliver value to our customers, what everyone’s roles is, the resources needed, and what all this will cost.

Module 4 – Our Strategy: Starting with ‘people first’, we’ll maximize the value exchange between us and our customer

Module 5 – Distinguished Guest Panel – Emerging Companies: Starting with ‘people first’, we’ll hear the human stories of strategic collaborations between academia and industry from entrepreneurs starting new companies right here at UCI

Module 6 – Distinguished Guest Speaker – Established Company: Starting with ‘people first’, we’ll hear what’s it like to be a UCI scientist/researcher bridging academia and industry.

Module 7 – Bringing it All Together: Starting with ‘people first’, representatives from UCI Beall Applied Innovation will hold office hours to help you prepare final presentations of your business model canvas, and share more about the resources available to bring your ideas ‘beyond the bench’.

Module 8 – Final Presentations & Business Pitch Competition by teams: Starting with ‘people first, teams will present their business model canvas to the class and invited guests, get valuable feedback so you can assess how much you’ve learned, and top presenters will receive 1st, 2nd, 3rd awards including audience pick. Many industry professionals will be in attendance and this will be your chance to network with Orange County small, medium and large size industry professionals and get hired!

Additional Resources for the Course:

1. Business Concepts for Basic Scientists from UC San Francisco NIH-BEST Program
2. What is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know. FourWeekMBA.Com (Our mini-course is based on this MBA course)
3. How Amazon Makes Money: Amazon Business Model in a Nutshell. FourWeekMBA.Com
4. How Does Google Make Money? It’s Not Just Advertising! (Some of these examples will be presented in the course. These models are basis of every pharmaceutical/biotech company)

About the Course Instructor: Matthew Hanson, PhD, Director of New Ventures at UCI’s Beall Applied Innovation. Dr. Hanson has a doctorate in aerospace engineering (USC) and an MBA (Chapman University). Matthew Hanson started his career as an engineer in the U.S. Air Force working on the GPS navigation satellite system, eventually helping develop national space policy, then retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. During this time, he transitioned to working on Northrop Grumman’s stealth bomber program first as an engineer, and eventually as a national spokesperson in Washington D.C. He and colleagues then launched from Northrop Grumman the medical technology startup Integrated Medical Systems, Inc. which they grew for over a decade. Dr. Hanson then transitioned to medical diagnostics company Beckman Coulter as a program manager leading teams in the development of an automated diagnostic system and a cloud-based data analytics platform. During this period, he began teaching entrepreneurship and related business classes, eventually becoming a full-time clinical faculty member and entrepreneur center director at Chapman University, before taking on his current role as Director of New Ventures at UCI’s Beall Applied Innovation.