Capstone Course and Project

Entrepreneurial skills are highly valuable throughout your career. The Capstone Course for the MMB program will help you develop these skills through concepts of entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, strategy, and innovation, as well as vital skills that are necessary for the business world. This course serves as a culminating experience that calls on students to use the knowledge, skills, and abilities they developed throughout the program. 

Course Objectives

• Introduce concepts and skill development in:
  • Idea generation      
  • Technology evaluation
  • Regulatory affairs    
  • Intellectual property         
  • Finance                  
  • Business strategies and models    
  • Commercialization 
  • Identifying unmet needs    
  • Marketing              
  • Evidence-based entrepreneurship

• Refine the development of key professional skills valued by the bioscience industry
• Reinforce understanding of science concepts and techniques 
• Provide students with an opportunity to display their knowledge, skills, and abilities developed throughout the MMB program 

Student-Centered Learning

Course presentations, discussions, and assignments are designed to familiarize students with the many dimensions of entrepreneurship and new venture initiation. Centered on discussion rather than lectures, the course includes problem-solving exercises, case studies, individual and group activities, and guest presentations.

Student-teams complete a semester-long capstone project to refine skills in the identification of new ventures and turning ideas into reality. Briefly, students create a proposal for the formation of a company that fulfills an unmet need. They then develop a comprehensive, customer-validated business model and creates an investor pitch for both the solution and the company that will provide the solution. Each team is paired with a mentor who provides guidance throughout the process.

Learning Objectives

• Identify, evaluate, or develop:
  • Industry and market trends to exploit opportunities
  • Sources that support financial sustainability
  • Value propositions, business ideas, and/or models relevant to the bioscience industry
  • Recognize the interaction between different business areas (e.g., ideation, financing, accounting, management, and marketing)
• Learn and apply evidence-based entrepreneurship strategies
• Design and develop a comprehensive business plan for a new enterprise
• Persuasively communicate the value of a product, service, or technology and a company’s financial feasibility 
• Refine critical thinking, data analysis, decision-making and other professional skills highly valued by the bioscience industry
• Show integrity, courtesy, reliability, and respect for others through teamwork

Past Capstone Projects

Spring 2022

Juiced Up: A Trusted CBD Beverage Brand Centered Around
Education Based Marketing
Team Members: 
Rachel Brunjes, Ben Jones, Jamie Levi, Logan Miller, and Danyal Wasti

LIVARI: Live and Restore Intimacy
Team Members: 
Caycie Etris, Pauline Lee, Billy Marx, Mila Parker, and Dilán Rivera

microbite: Innovating Aquaculture One Bite at a Time
Team Members: 
Natalie Faulkner, Daniel Onuoha, Emily Sugg, Ramya Vijapurapu,
and Daniel Watson