Innovations may begin as a single idea nurtured by a path-breaking discovery but taking an idea from the lab to the real world requires expertise beyond science. The University of Pittsburgh School of Business offers a graduate level course, called Innovation Studio, to help scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs advance path-breaking solutions to urgent problems.
In this course, interdisciplinary teams of business, law, and engineering students work with scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs to validate target markets, design financially sustainable business models, assess intellectual property strategies and regulatory pathways, and evaluate alternative revenue and partnership models.
Projects navigate commercialization and scaling challenges for cutting edge technologies like AI-based solutions for healthcare delivery, generative drug discovery, adaptive medical devices, autonomous surgical systems and digital therapeutics. While Innovation Studio specializes in next-gen healthcare, teams can work on innovations in other domains including humanoid robotics, autonomous vehicles, resilient energy grids, smart home devices, self-healing polymers, and sustainability solutions.
Regardless of the specific technology, teams tackle questions fundamental to determining whether and how an invention warrants further investment including:
- Can this concept truly advance current practice?
- How must its design evolve to achieve superior product-market fit?
- Who will pay for this solution and why?
- Can we develop a defensible competitive advantage?
- Is your intended market large enough to attract funding to scale?
- Will your market grow fast enough to sustain customer and investor interest?
- Is your business model economically viable at scale?
- How will you gain traction in the relevant business ecosystem?
A recent innovator who collaborated with a student team through the Innovation Studio, Keisuke Ishihara said, “I have never experienced something that integrates market analysis and strategic suggestions for development as we refine the hardware requirements and business model. This is helping us think about the work in our lab in a different way and it has been exciting.”
Joining Sue Cohen, associate professor of organizations and entrepreneurship, in teaching the class is Stephen Hunter, chief innovation & transformation officer for the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. Previously, Hunter was architect of AlphaLab Health and VP of innovation & incubator operations at AHN, and then VP AHN for digital strategy & innovation. Stephen brings a wealth of experience in innovation, consulting, startups, and the economics of healthcare to the program.
“This project was a challenging but rewarding experience that pushed me to work outside of my comfort zone” said Tori-Ann Pfeiffer (MBA ’28). “I am used to approaching problems from an engineering perspective, so this experience required me to think differently and consider factors like healthcare systems, patients, providers, and market needs.”
Another student in the class, Shaaz Nadeem, (MS-MPE ’26) said, “This course taught me that innovation is much messier than a linear product development process. It requires technical thinking, but also humility, stakeholder empathy, commercial judgment, and a willingness to revise your assumptions.”
At the end of the course, the entrepreneurs and scientists who work with the students receive a professional quality investor pitch deck, with major findings as an investment opportunity; market stage gates, with milestone and investment timeline with funding recommendations; design framework including insight on must have performance metrics and solutions features for key stakeholders; plus a written research report with data, research process, analyses, and recommendations geared toward their specific questions.
Previously called BSPP 2111 Commercializing New Technologies (CNT), this experiential, project-based course counts toward the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Micro-credential and any other micro or concentration where CNT is still listed. To learn more about this course contact Cohen at suecohen@pitt.edu