Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

For over 150 years, S&T, from its original charter as Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, to University of Missouri-Rolla, to now Missouri University of Science and Technology, has been a crown jewel of American engineering and science education. All along, our graduates have provided critical contributions to critical challenges of their time. Among other professions, many of our innovative and inventive graduates became entrepreneurs, started businesses, served as rainmakers and made generous philanthropic contributions to their alma mater and other worthy causes. Just this past week, I read the remarkable life story of Roger Dorf, one of our most prolific alumni of influence whose entrepreneurial life journey is exemplar in many ways.

What is the secret to the success of so many of our graduates? Why did some innovative business ideas succeed more than others? Well, the secret to their success is really no secret at all! They understood what is required is the identification, development and refinement of an idea, followed by good old fashioned relentless pursuit of it along with the belief that effort really matters! They understood Thomas Edison when he said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

Success in the entrepreneurial domain also requires understanding and implementation of business plans, complete with clear articulation of the value proposition, realistic assessment of challenges to overcome, and identification and acquisition of needed resources.

IP? Business plan? Fundraising? Currency exchange? How are we to learn and develop these essential skills? Fortunately, here at S&T, we offer a comprehensive set of education and training necessary for our students, faculty and staff to sharpen their understanding of these key concepts. In fact, our Kummer Student Programs hosts the Startup Challenge annually to show students how to create and refine a business model. Teams complete learning modules and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. Their prize? Scholarships, in addition to what they gain from the curriculum and the experience. Through Kummer Student Programs, students can also develop their entrepreneurial mindset by completing the Badges of Entrepreneurial Excellence. The program is based on the KEEN framework and encourages curiosity, developing connections and creating value.

Additionally, the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program provides significant financial support to faculty, staff and students to develop and deploy a business perspective while conducting research. Innovation to impact: Missouri S&T I-Corps is available not only to faculty researchers but also to students; post-doctoral, doctoral, and master’s degree students. Currently, S&T has 15 I-Corps teams developing their concept-to-market transition plans. One team, SmarTreatMate, for example, is creating AI-driven software to assist in cancer treatment. Another great initiative, the Innovation Ecosystem Design Initiative, which launched this year, is a one-year project designed to promote, monitor and guide entrepreneurial efforts campuswide.

Through these initiatives, here at S&T, we have developed strategies to create an entrepreneurship ecosystem for the region, have established a council of innovators and entrepreneurs, formed an entrepreneurs-in-residence program and offer presentations through the Distinguished Innovation and Entrepreneurship Speaker Series. To help achieve our objectives, this week, during Entrepreneurship Day, S&T’s Kummer College hosted its inaugural entrepreneurship workshop. Topics included intellectual property and its protection mechanism, commercialization process, risk of public disclosure, angel funds, venture funds, launchpads, hackathons, incubators, and much more.

As we continue to strengthen our Technology Transfer and Economic Development office, I encourage our interested students, faculty and staff to review the 11 steps of starting a business and the seven keys to entrepreneurial success. After all, this year alone, our tech transfer office reported more than $1 million in licensing revenue, received 44 invention disclosures, filed 34 patent applications, registered two copyrights and was granted eight patents.

To our students I say, consider entrepreneurial thinking as a new dimension of your S&T experience, envision yourself as a creator and work to achieve your entrepreneurial goals along with your educational pursuit. Does any other path compare?

Warmly,

-Mo.

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Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu