Overview

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FAQ

The digital media business is broad; it comprises large well-established companies, small startups, and everything in between. It is a fast-paced, high rate-of-change field, and companies need leaders who are competent in both technical and management aspects of the business. Similarly, academic researchers must understand the market lest they focus on problems that are irrelevant, and have a clear grasp of intellectual property issues. In addition, the vibrancy of the field depends on ideas quickly migrating from research lab to companies, often in the form of startup companies. Clearly, both management and entrepreneurship training is useful and important to the coming generations of students in digital media. And giving students opportunities to build and strengthen leadership qualities will benefit them throughout their careers.

Accordingly, IGERT underscores the importance of management, leadership, and entrepreneurship in many ways. Internships will give IGERT scholars some experience in an industry setting with nontrivial responsibilities and expectations. The annual research reviews will give them the opportunity to meet and form relationships with industry research sponsors and interested companies. The mentoring of a MAT master’s student and the responsibility of running seminars and workshops will give some practical management and leadership experience. The ethics and seminar courses will give the students some training in management ethics and intellectual property issues. Participating in the recruitment of new IGERT students and helping to organize IGERT seminars and workshops will give additional opportunities for exercising leadership in the program.

In addition to these, IGERT students may leverage the Technology Management Program at UCSB (TMP), a privately funded center associated with the College of Engineering that focuses on high-tech entrepreneurship. TMP provides a number of opportunities for IGERT scholars, including an annual business plan competition and entrepreneurial courses. The description of the entrepreneurial course sequence is the following:

• ES 180A-B-C. Entrepreneurial Engineering: Covers requirements for a successful startup company. Topics include forming a company, preparing a business plan, patents, sustaining competitive advantage, attracting venture capital, dilution, evaluation, and initial public offering. Students present business, marketing, and financial plans to financiers and entrepreneurs.

IGERT scholars are encouraged to take at least one of the entrepreneurship courses, typically in the third or fourth year of the program. Students who have more entrepreneurial interest are welcome to take the complete three-course sequence.