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Professor rolls up to teach entrepreneurship
Academics are renowned for using segues during lectures to smooth the transition between topics.
But University of the Sunshine Coast’s Dean of Business Professor Evan Douglas could well be the first to employ a Segway (a personal transportation vehicle, or PTV) to explain entrepreneurism.
Professor Douglas said the creation, development and marketing of the Segway made it an ideal teaching tool to inspire budding entrepreneurs.
For some classes, Professor Douglas rolls up on his two-wheeled vehicle and explains to students how easy it is to ride, its safety features and clever technology, and its versatility in industrial, health, sporting and recreational pursuits.
“It is a great example of entrepreneurial innovation, and its inventor Dean Kamen is a serial entrepreneur with an amazing track record of medical innovations, including the heart stent and the dialysis monitor,” he said.
“Segway provides an example of ‘sustaining technological innovation’ whereby the initial technology platform was later improved progressively.
“And there are reportedly 30 patents associated with the Segway, making it an example of a dense thicket of intellectual property protection, typically highly-valued by venture capitalists.”
Professor Douglas said the marketing buzz created by Segway provided a great example of gaining public awareness through the media that otherwise might have cost millions of dollars in conventional advertising.
He also said Segway’s recent focus on its off-road capabilities – in building models for golfers, park rangers, and bush-bashers – exemplified what innovative firms could do to compete with copy-cats.
Students across all faculties at USC can undertake a four-course minor in Entrepreneurship. The minor covers topics like new venture development, growth, establishment and operation.
— Terry Walsh