Environmental Innovation Practicum

ENTRE 490/579 ENGR 498 and ENVIR 450

Class meets Fall Quarter 2010

Tuesdays 4:00-5:50 pm, Johnson 175

Instructor: Emer Dooley (emer@u.washington.edu), 206 369-7248

Reading Packet available: RAMS 4144 University Way

The goal of this practicum is to discover the universe of clean-tech solutions to environmental challenges and to put you on a path to competing in the third UW Environmental Innovation Challenge event to be held at the UW in April 2011.

The seminar will consist of a selection of required readings and a series of industry experts who will speak on a specific clean-tech topic each week.

You will work in teams to present a proposed clean-tech solution to an environmental problem. The final deliverable for the class is a 5-10 minute presentation.

The presentation should cover

· The extent of the problem and how it is manifested

· Your proposed solution

· What’s involved in implementing the solution?

· What will your prototype be? (Only if you plan to enter the Environmental Innovation Challenge)

· Solutions that have been tried already and why yours is better/cheaper/faster or just more interesting.

· Is there a market for this?

Grading: The class will be graded as follows:

Class participation is vital.

30% 5 Weekly quizzes on the assigned readings. The quiz will take place in the first 15 minutes of each class. Read materials in advance and come prepared. If you miss a class you must submit a 1-page paper on the topic discussed and take the quiz.

10% 1- page reflection during the quarter on a class speaker. Choose any speaker on any topic and in one page write how this affected your thinking about the space and why. Due the last day of the quarter.

10% 1-2 page bullet-pointed summary of speaker’s main points to be posted on the class webpage. Each student will be assigned a day to cover.

20% Project/topic-area proposal on November 9^th. On Nov 9^th we will have an industry panel in to help you hone your ideas about your final project proposal. For this class you will need to have formed teams and use the presentation outline above. The goal of this session is to give you feedback and direction on your project, suggest people you can speak with who can help and possibly set you up with a mentor. It is expected that your ideas will be very preliminary at this stage.

30% December 7. Final team project proposal. This will be a 5-10 minute presentation with more detail than the Nov 9 session.