ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS
CHAPTER 2
RECOGNIZING AND SCREENING TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, students should be able to
1. Discuss the role of creativity in innovation
2. Explain how opportunity recognition happens
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Ideas and opportunities are not the same concepts. An opportunity is an idea that can be
turned into a business or commercialized in some manner. Today nearly every technology
company is pursuing new opportunities and new ways to serve customers and solve problems.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. Opportunity recognition and creation
a. Employing creative problem-solving skills for opportunity recognition and
creation
2. Sources of opportunity
a. Study an industry
b. Search the patent literature
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d. Look into university opportunities
3. Screening technology opportunities
a. Gauge technology readiness
4. Summary
END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS
1. Provide two examples that illustrate the difference between an idea and an opportunity.
The range of answers to this question is broad. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci spent a
good deal of time coming up with ideas for how to manage water flows. His eventual
2. What two challenges do you face in becoming more creative? How will you deal with those
challenges?
This question is designed to get students to look introspectively at who they are and the role
that creativity plays in their lives. After asking the typical question, “are you a creative
person?” and getting the typical response of no, it’s time to explore the kinds of
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3. Why is studying an industry one of the most important things you can do to find an
opportunity?
It is generally agreed that increasing knowledge and experience in an industry in which the
student is interested will enhance the chances that they will find an opportunity they want
4. How are new technology ideas screened?
a. Gauge the readiness of the technology for commercialization by judging where
it lies on a continuum from idea through prototype to commercial product.
CASE STUDY SUGGESTIONS
The “Art of Invention” case study, contrasting inventors Yoshiro Nakamatsu and Claude Elwood
Shannon, offers the opportunity to discuss concepts related to opportunity recognition and
creation from the chapter.
• This is a great case to begin a discussion about creativity in general. Are inventors
extreme examples of creativity? Can anyone be an inventor? How do we use creativity
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on a daily basis? What keeps us from being creative? In the next chapter I include a
couple exercises to encourage creativity.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
STERNBERG’S THEORY OF CREATIVITY
Many theories of creativity have populated the literature and often they don’t seem to fit with
creative people we observe in the real world. Ronald B. Standler writes in a working paper
“Creativity in Science and Engineering,” that the theory that seems to most reflect what we see
in creative scientists and engineers comes from the work of psychology professor Robert J.
Sternberg at Yale University. He believes that creativity requires the following essential
elements to occur:
3. Thinking Styles. Creative people typically challenge current thought and rarely passively
accept conventional wisdom. So creative people also have a tolerance for conflict.
4. Personality. Creative people tend to be risk takers, are courageous, and seem to persist
in the face of objection and criticism.
Real creativity will not happen without all of these elements in place. Do you agree or disagree?
Can you think of a very creative person who did not display these characteristics? Recall Drs.
Yoshiro Nakamatsu and Claude Elwood Shannon from the case study at the end of the chapter.
Did they display these characteristics?
Sources:
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MY FAVORITE CREATIVE EXERCISES
These exercises have been handed down and some form of them can be found in almost any
book on creativity. Have fun with them and your students will too.
Creative Activity A: Find Your Team
Objective: To discover common backgrounds and form teams
In this exercise, the goal is for students to introduce themselves to as many people as
possible in a two-minute time frame. At the end of two minutes, the instructor will ask
Creative Activity #2: Pass the Problem
Purpose: To discover multiple solutions and opportunities from a single problem.
In teams, each person should think about a current problem or concern that needs a
solution or a need that hasn’t been met. Students should try to come up with a problem
Discussion Questions:
1. Did anyone discover novel solutions that you had not previously considered?
2. Can you see any value in trying some of these suggestions?
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Creative Activity #3: Taking Advantage of a Disconnect
Purpose: To experience the opportunity creation process. To learn that one core invention
can produce multiple applications and opportunities. This exercise is based on the premise
that many opportunities are created by going through a process that involves:
• Connecting dissimilar concepts
Form groups of 3-5. Someone in each group should turn a piece of paper into a paper
airplane. Then the group decides on a word that they are going to write on the paper
airplane. It should be a noun. When all the groups have written a word on their airplanes,
at the signal of the instructor, each group flies its plane to another group. It is that group’s
job to add another word to the plane. This pattern continues for four rounds. On the last
two rounds, the word may be an adjective, adverb, or noun.
NOTE: The use of the “airplane” creates some fun and is best used in a smaller class.
Alternatively, you can have the students write each word on a piece of paper and then pass
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