Students hoping to turn their technological innovations into successful business ventures have a new ally in the Northwestern’s Information Technology Development Laboratory — and its new chief operating officer.
DevLab, a center within the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, is a resource for students and faculty who wish to develop computer software they design into a commercial enterprise. Students in computer science, the Kellogg School of Management and the Medill School of Journalism can participate as interns with the goal of providing students with real-world experience inside an academic environment, according to the center’s Web site.
“Basically what we’re trying to do is take ideas (and) intellectual property and turn them into businesses to make money,” said James Shein, who was appointed last week as the lab’s new head.
Until Shein took over, DevLab, which started up a year ago, did not have anyone to manage the business aspects of the lab.
One goal of the lab is to make technology available to the public, “where it can try and do some good,” he said.
The laboratory already has produced one company, Open Road Technologies, Inc., which is developing the software Watson, an improved way to search the Internet.
Motorola, Inc., a partner in DevLab, was the first investor in Open Road Technologies.
“DevLab serves as an internal incubator that allows faculty and students who originally develop technology to participate in its commercialization,” said Ira Uslander, McCormick’s director of industry relations who serves on the center’s advisory board.
DevLab inventors also serve as executives of the companies resulting from their technologies.
This approach provides an opportunity for students to learn how to transition their inventions into the business world, said William White, an industrial engineering and management sciences professor and member of DevLab advisory board.
“The more (students) know about how businesses build and launch new technologies, the more successful they will be as engineers,” he said.
Shein, an adjunct professor of management and strategy at Kellogg, said he was attracted to the position at DevLab because it will give him the opportunity to apply his diverse expertise.
He has served as counsel at Chicago law firm McDermott, Will & Emery for the past five years, as well as CEO and president of two other companies — R.C. Manufacturing and Northbrook Corp.
But Stein also has a stake in the DevLab’s inventive, developmental side, he said.
“It’s going to be fun doing creative work with a lot of very bright people,” Stein said.
Jay Budzik, a computer science doctoral student involved with the Watson project, said working with DevLab has been a valuable opportunity. He now serves as vice president of development and architecture for the company working on the software.
“I’ve gotten a lot of experience dealing with clients,” he said.
Budzik said he expects Shein will help make the business end of DevLab more productive.
Shein’s business expertise will be a useful addition to a lab already brimming with ideas and technological talent, White said.
“(Shein) brings a wealth of business experience to complement the tech background of staff and students,” he said.
