Innovation Advancement Program

 

 

The Innovation Advancement Program (IAP) is a credit-carrying course open to graduate and honors undergraduate students with diverse backgrounds in business, engineering, the sciences and law. Undergraduate students from the Barrett, The Honors College and graduate students from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, W.P Carey School of Business, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences work together to assist in the commercialization and monetization of new technologies developed at ASU. Students are guided throughout the semester by the Director of the IAP, Eric Menkhus, and are supervised by the program's in-residence professionals, Hool Law Group of Phoenix and Tom Fulcher, founder of the Valley-based The Idea Gardener. 

 

 

1. To help entrepreneurs with their technology start-up efforts.

2. To provide valuable, real-life, technology commercialization and technology entrepreneurship experience that students can build upon as their careers develop.

3.  To encourage a diversification of the Arizona economy by percolating high-growth technology start-up firms.

IAP students are involved in creating technology assessments, performing intellectual property analyses, conducting market research and making informed recommendations to clients regarding commercialization strategies, among other tasks. Students also are provided written resources and required to attend a weekly meeting (and seminar course for law students) in which relevant issues including, but not limited to, licensing strategies, entrepreneurship and selection of business entities are discussed.

Students produce actual work products used in real-world commercialization decisions and work directly with entrepreneurs and small businesses.