Jetboil Burner Assembly

B.E. students helped to optimize Jetboil's burner assembly and flame-testing processes. Jetboil, co-founded by Dwight Aspinwall '84, develops and manufactures portable cooking systems.

"As a venture capitalist I evaluate technologies across many markets and applications. The broad perspective I gained from Thayer's unique, interdisciplinary approach helps me identify innovations that have the potential to change the world."

—Steve Hallowell '01 Th'02

Entrepreneurship

Transferring technology from the laboratory to the world

The problems of the 21st century aren't solved in a vacuum. Thayer School convenes the brightest minds from a range of disciplines to take on today's toughest challenges. Faculty, students, and research partners confront engineering problems with an entrepreneurial spirit, developing technologies and processes that lead to patents—and entrepreneurial ventures.

From inventor to entrepreneur

Innovation at Thayer School has produced groundbreaking advances from health-care technologies to green energy to microscopic robots. With the help of experienced faculty entrepreneurs and extensive Dartmouth resources, faculty, alumni, and students have turned their ideas into vital and successful companies.

And Thayer School now offers the nation's first doctoral-level engineering Innovation Program meant to provide Ph.D. graduates with the entrepreneurial training they need to turn research discoveries into marketable applied technologies.

From project to product

In their first engineering class, undergraduates learn to define problems in terms of societal needs and environmental impact. They are encouraged to develop solutions with an eye to the marketplace. Patents searches and business plans are everyday project tools, and students present their prototypes to professional review boards—corporate engineers who ask difficult questions and then help students find the answers.

Students who want to patent their technology—or even bring it to market—can tap the expertise of Thayer School faculty and staff knowledgeable about the entire process. One Introduction to Engineering team developed an innovative training bicycle called The Gyrobike. The team is patenting the technology and bringing their product to market.