Syllabus 2009/2010 FAFF05

Syllabus academic year 2009/2010
(Created 2009-08-11.)

PROJECT ENGINEERING AT THE NANOSCALE

FAFF05

Higher education credits: 15. Grading scale: UG. Level: G2 (First level). Language of instruction: The course will be given in Swedish. Compulsory for: N3. Course coordinator: Dr. Magnus Borgström, magnus.borgstrom@ftf.lth.se, Fysik, kurslaboratoriet. Prerequisites: Compulsory courses of the first two years of the programme Engineering Nanoscience. Assessment: The examination is based on two written and one oral presentation of three projects. Further information: Project 1 and 2 are conducted by typically three students working together. Note that Project 2 may be handled with secrecy agreements if needed and agreed on. Project 3 is carried out in larger groups. Home page: http://www-gu.ftf.lth.se/.

Aim
The prime aim of the course is to gain knowledge regarding the development of commercial products and processes. The students will learn how to find information in patent databases, and gain knowledge regarding how patents are written and evaluated. The students will use their engineering skills in order to create a prototype of an instrument/device related to nanoscience.

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

understand and have knowledge about the art of developing new commercial products and processes
have fundamental knowledge about how to start-up a company.

Skills and abilities
For a passing grade the student must

be able to:

find information in both patent and literature databases
analyze the content of patents and compare it with the content of related scientific articles
understand the basics in patent writing and the requirement for getting a patent accepted
create a project plan, and work project related in a group.

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

have gained knowledge about entrepreneurial activities and an understanding about various aspects of relevance for engineers when active in industry or academia.

Contents
The student will evaluate the possibilities and various aspects of commercializing an idea/innovation. The lectures illustrates different moments related to and starting up a company, innovation processes, patent issues, and financing. Three different projects carried out during the course will result in two written and one oral report, which is presented at a symposium.

Project 1 results in a written report of an analysis of an innovation picked up from running research activities or from a recently published scientific article. The relation between the innovation and three to four related patents is analyzed, as well as the differences between the patents and the scientific article.

In project 2 the students will enter more deeply into one of the four following subtopics 1) to write a patent 2) to make a businessplan 3) to perform a market analysis.

In project 3, which runs in parallell with project 1 and 2, is a group work where the students will make use of their engineering skills in order to produce a nano/micro based prototype of an instrument or device.

Literature
Relevant material will be distributed at beginning of the course.