Offered for the first time as a course last Spring Quarter, NUvention Energy will be available again this winter through the Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern. This year, by taking the course during the winter instead of the spring, students will have an extra quarter to develop their own sustainable energy projects, said Kellogg visiting assistant professor Nicholas Switanek.
The quarter-long course focuses on the development of a product or service that would be potentially beneficial to the sustainable energy industry, according to the course syllabus. The course was developed to help counter climate change through the development of innovation and entrepreneurism in alternative energy sources, according to NUvention’s website.
NUvention already has two other courses – on medical innovation and web innovation – and could expand further into nanotechnology, but has yet to mobilize on the possible addition, McCormick professor Mike Marasco said.
According to ISEN marketing manager Jane Wuellner, last year’s NUvention Energy course was a great success.
“A lot of wonderful work was done by the student teams on their products,” Wuellner said. “The students had a tremendous experience.”
Swapnil Chaturvedi, a management, sustainable design and innovation graduate student who took the course last year, said he really benefitted from the networking created by the class.
“In December, I knew six people [in energy], but now I have a network of 700 people who work in energy space,” he said. “And it happened just because I took this class.”
The class has a wide, diverse group of instructors, Wuellner said.
According to the syllabus, in order to become a successful entrepreneur for sustainable energy, many tools and skills must be honed. These include market analysis, business strategy formation and environmental life cycle assessment.
Instructors for the course will include Marasco as lead professor, along with Switanek, economics professor Mark Witte, and NU law professor David Dana. NUvention Energy Advisory Board members James Cahan, Tom McMahon, and Mark Petri will also be instructors.
“We’re trying to give [students] the best-rounded experience in this area in the short period of time,” Marasco said.
Final projects for the course provide students with opportunities to research with NU professors but also with companies such as ComEd, Marasco said. NUvention Energy is still waiting for project descriptions from the Chicago Climate Action Plan and the Chicago Department of the Environment. The instructors are also waiting for project confirmation from Argonne National Laboratory, he said.
“We have been really lucky to get some really good, interesting projects,” said McMahon, advisory board co-chair.
To McMahon, who became involved with the course last year, these projects are the key to the course. Last year, none of the final projects developed outside of the class, which Marasco said was disappointing.
Students must apply to be admitted into the course. Applications are due today; however, that date is not definite, Marasco said. Students are encouraged to submit applications as soon as possible, he said.
Approximately 40 to 50 students will be accepted for the second-year course. The course will be available for graduate students and undergraduates who are upperclassmen, since the course is a 400-level class, Wuellner said.
NUvention courses offer a combination of experiential and interdisciplinary studies, Marasco said. NUvention Energy offers a unique experience, he said.
“You will, in this class, really go through an experience sort of the evolution of what it means to build a project as well what it potentially means to build a business,” he said. “(This course is) meant to give as close to a real-life simulation as possible.”
[email protected], contributing writer
