INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACCELERATION (IDEA) Year ...

106 Pages·2017·1.98 MB·English

INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACCELERATION (IDEA)

Year 3 Milestone 8 Report

Fixed Obligation Grant No. AID-492-F-13-00006
Under the FY 2012 Global Development Alliance (GDA)
Annual Program Statement No. APS-OAA-12-000003

December 22, 2016

This IDEA Year 3 Milestone 8 Report is made possible by the generous support of the American
people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents
are the responsibility of Philippine S&T Development Foundation-Manila, Inc. (PhilDev S&T) and
do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government.
IDEA Program
Year 3 Milestone 8 Reports

The Philippine S&T Development Foundation - Manila, Inc. (PhilDev S&T), in partnership with the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has implemented a three-year
program called Innovative Development through Entrepreneurship Acceleration (IDEA). The
program aimed to create and strengthen a sustainable science and technology-based
entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Philippines.

As part of the contractual obligation of PhilDev S&T to USAID, milestone reports are submitted to
USAID to document its plans and accomplishments. For the Year 3 Milestone 8 report, which
serves as the final and last report, the following constitutes this document:

Details Means of Verification Page
A. Background of IDEA Page 3
B. Overview of IDEA
three-year Activities Page 4
I. Documented Success Documentation Report of the IDEA’s success stories highlighting
Stories of IDEA sustainability, partnerships and links established among industry
Program and academe in the US and in the Philippines Page 5
II. Final Report and End Chapter 1: Introduction
of Project Evaluation Executive Summary Page 21
Finalized IDEA Program Overview Page 26
IDEA Program Components Page 28
Timeline of Important Events Page 34
Objectives of the Evaluation Page 35
Profile of the Evaluation Respondents Page 35
Methodology Page 36
Data Gathering Page 37
Chapter 2: Evaluation Findings
1. Relevance Page 39
2. Effectiveness Page 45
3. Efficiency Page 64
4. Partnerships Page 66
5. Sustainability Page 72
Chapter 3: Lessons Learned and Recommendations Page 82
Lessons Learned Page 86
Recommendations
III. Appendices Statistics, Survey Data, and Photos of IDEA Year 3 Activities Page 88

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A. BACKGROUND

The Philippine educational system is enhancing its Science, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture
and Mathematics (STEAM) curriculum to produce more scientists and engineers with MS/PhD
degrees. To apply the talent and skill level to a tangible economic growth path, it requires training
on how to transform and link their research into products and services that meet domestic
demands and global market competencies. PhilDev S&T centered on the linkages of engineering
and entrepreneurship in the higher education system, especially in State Universities and Colleges
(SUCs). The IDEA program pursued activities that enable capacity building, technical assistance, and
faculty exchanges:

Table 1. IDEA Activities
Project Activities Details
IDEA Global PhilDev hosts an annual international symposium in areas of societal needs,
Entrepreneurship entrepreneurship, and increasing expertise in productively utilizing innovations in science
Symposium and technology. The annual IDEA Symposium is a platform to create and expand dialogue
between the US and Philippine HEIs, government agencies, startup entrepreneurs, and
industry leaders. The symposium features Silicon Valley- based entrepreneurs and US
professors. It serves as venue to link startup companies and venture capitalists with
emerging technologies and expertise.
IDEA Global PhilDev conducts a series of hands on entrepreneurship workshops for science and
Entrepreneurship engineering scholars and startup entrepreneurs. US and Filipino professors and established
Workshop Series entrepreneurs serve as trainers, speakers, and mentors to the three-day workshops that will
include understanding global markets, identifying major market needs, productization of
innovative research, business incubation, searching and working with venture capitalists,
among others.
IDEA Visiting US PhilDev develops a flexible term topical training mission program for US professors who will
Professors Program be hosted by local Philippine universities. This aims to review and develop, and infuse
(VPP) entrepreneurship in the engineering curricula of various private and state universities and
colleges nationwide.
Additional Activities:
IDEA Faculty The SCET Berkeley team conducts a three-day bootcamp on infusing entrepreneurship in
Bootcamp on engineering curricula and the complementary teaching methods. At least 2 engineering
Technopreneurship professors each from at least 20 Philippine universities participate in the entrepreneurship
bootcamp for faculty.
IDEA Study Visit to SCET Berkeley hosts 4 engineering professors each in Fall 2015 and 2016. For a period of 3
CET Berkeley months, the engineering professors are provided with hands on experience of how
entrepreneurship is actually sinewed and implemented in the engineering discipline.
CHED Partnership: Based on the recommendations of the IDEA VPP, CHED and PhilDev signed a partnership
Technopreneurship agreement to develop and institutionalize a Technopreneurship 101 course in all engineering
101 Roadmap schools in the Philippines. PhilDev and CHED identified joint activities to pilot and refine the
Technopreneurship 101 implementation.

The end state and expected impact of the IDEA program is a coordinated and effective network of
Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs), private sector partners, and businesses that will
productively utilize products and services to attract venture capital and investments. Guided by
Philippine government counterparts and in partnership with US Universities, this network would be
able to directly contribute to broad-based and inclusive economic growth.

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B. OVERVIEW OF THREE-YEAR IDEA ACTIVITIES, BENEFICIARIES, AND PROJECT SITES

As committed in the Fixed Obligation Grant No. AID-492-F-13-00006 on September 17, 2013 and
modified on September 17, 2014, the IDEA program implemented a series of activities focused on
entrepreneurship and education. It targeted engineering professors and students, startup
entrepreneurs, HEIs, and relevant government agencies, as beneficiaries. Below is the tabulation of
the actual activities that surpassed the target number in all activities for three years, plus the
development of Technopreneurship 101 that PhilDev worked closely with CHED.

Table 2. Three-year Summary of IDEA activities
No Activity Beneficiaries 2014 2015 2016 Total
Target 500 500 500 1,500
1. IDEA Symposium 2014, 2015, 2016
Actual 844 585 709 2,138
Target 200 200 200 600
2. IDEA Workshop 2014, 2015, 2016
Actual 254 275 370 899
Target 5 8 9 23
3. IDEA VPP 2014, 2015, 2016
Actual 5 8 13 26
Target n/a 40 40 80
4. IDEA Faculty Bootcamp 2015, 2016
Actual n/a 63 60 123
Target n/a 4 4 8
5. IDEA Study Visit to SCET Berkeley – Fall 2015 and 2016
Actual n/a 5 5 10
CHED-PhilDev Partnership – Development of Target n/a n/a n/a n/a
6.
Technopreneurship 101 Actual n/a � � �

The Philippine’s Commission on Higher Education (CHED) was the main government partner of the
IDEA program due to the partnership signed with PhilDev on February 17, 2015 to develop
Technopreneurship 101 that will be officially rolled out to all 539 Philippine universities that offer
engineering degrees in the academic year 2018.

PhilDev also included the Cities Development Initiative (CDI) sites of USAID. While the IDEA
Symposia, Workshops, and Faculty Bootcamps from 2014-2016 were primary conducted in Metro
Manila, participants from CDI sites (Batangas, Cagayan De Oro, Iloilo, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban,
Tagbilaran, and Zamboanga) showed up. Four (4) visiting US professors were assigned in CDI sites:
Prof. Donald Lewis of Texas A&M University to Batangas State University (BatStateU) in Batangas
City, Dr. Gary Wnek of Case Western Reserve University to Xavier University (XU) in Cagayan De
Oro City, Dr. Joshua Viers of UC Merced to Palawan State University (PSU) in Puerto Princesa City
and Prof. Eugene Noh of UC Berkeley in University of Science and Technology of Southern
Philippines (USTSP, formerly Mindanao University of Science and Technology) in Cagayan De Oro
City. Three (3) professors from CDI sites participated in the IDEA Study Visit to SCET Berkeley in Fall
2015 and 2016: Dr. Ambrosio Cultura of USTSP, Prof. Mary Jean Apor of XU, and Dr. Godelyn Hisole
of Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISTU) in Iloilo City.

The IDEA program involved heavily the Philippine universities to strengthen the institutionalization
of Technopreneurship in its engineering curricula. This included deployment of visiting US
professors, IDEA Faculty Bootcamps conducted by SCET Berkeley, and supporting 10 Filipino
professors for a semester of study visit at UC Berkeley in the Fall 2015 and 2016.
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I. DOCUMENTED SUCCESS STORIES OF THE IDEA PROGRAM

After three years of program implementation, IDEA surpassed the target deliverables.
To deepen the understanding and appreciation of the IDEA program’s results and
document, case studies of selected beneficiaries were conducted as part of the
Milestone 8 report submission.

The case study subjects were chosen based on the following criteria:
• extent of interventions received from the IDEA program,
• impact of the IDEA program
• uniqueness and richness of their story

Five subjects were selected, four professors and one entrepreneur. All of them have
been champions of Technopreneurship in their respective fields and institutions. Their
case studies reveal some of the factors of the program’s success.

1. Engr. Albertson Amante of Batangas State University
2. Dr. Ambrosio Cultura of University of Science and Technology in Southern
Philippines
3. Dr. May Rose Imperial in her concurrent capacities as professor at Far
Eastern University - Institute of Technology, Chairperson of CHED Technical
Committee in Electronics Engineering and Member of the CHED Technical
Panel on Engineering and Technology
4. Engr. Charlie Marquez of University of Santos Tomas
5. Paulo Oscuro, a Startup Entrepreneur

In the case of the professors, at least two professors iterated the following factors in
their case studies. First, the administration’s support is crucial in integrating
[Technopreneurship in their engineering curriculum. The influence of the university
official (i.e. president, vice president, senior director, dean) can institutionalize the
changes needed to implement Technopreneurship and to set up a Center. In the case
of Dr. Imperial, her position in CHED as member of the Technical Panel for
Engineering and Technology has been significant in the progress of development and
eventual implementation of Technopreneurship 101 in engineering programs in the
Philippines.

Another factor for the professors is having colleagues who share their vision. In
particular, Engr. Amante, Dr. Cultura, and Engr. Marquez were aware of the
magnitude of the tasks needed to achieve their vision. Given their other
responsibilities in their respective universities, it is important to have colleagues to
share these duties. For this, they were very grateful to their colleagues who have also
been beneficiaries of the IDEA program.

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The professors also reiterated external opportunities and support as a factor of
success. Continuous events, workshops, and partnership opportunities are key to
keep the momentum going. These opportunities further promote Technopreneurship
and strengthen their capacity as entrepreneurs and to teach it. It is important for
them to continue improving their skills and to keep exposing their students and
colleagues to the entrepreneurial mindset.

All the professors have been implementing the teaching methods in entrepreneurship
in their classes. For Engr. Amante and Dr. Cultura, they have already successfully
integrated entrepreneurship in all engineering programs in their universities. In the
case of Engr. Amante, he has shown an improvement in his students from this
teaching method. He tracked the learning outcomes of his Technopreneurship class
students through a pre- and post-semester survey. The results reveal that after the
course, the students are more inclined to become entrepreneurs compared to before
the course. There was also significant improvement in communication skills and
application of knowledge.

However, the professors are still faced with certain challenges. To them, changing the
mindset of fellow professors still needs work. And it is a challenge for students to
continue their startups after graduation. In the case of Engr. Marquez, he found that
teaching 1st to 5th year engineering students is more challenging than teaching 3rd
year students. Marquez thinks the 5th year is already too late to introduce
Technopreneurship to students. 5th year students also prioritize other requirements
for graduation, and his course is only a minor subject. The level of effort given to
Marquez’ class is suboptimal. However, Marquez noticed that the 3rd year students
are more enthusiastic and receptive of entrepreneurship. Despite all this, the
professors believe that engineering students should learn entrepreneurship.

In the case of Paulo Oscuro, he did not know anything about startups and
entrepreneurship before the IDEA program. He discovered the program completely by
coincidence. He was only driven by his goal to meet the Chairman of PhilDev, Dado
Banatao. Now Paulo is on his way to pursue his passion with limitless possibilities
ahead. He attributes the start of his career as an entrepreneur through the program.
The program sparked his curiosity on entrepreneurship. He found the environment he
was yearning for in entrepreneurship. He continues to collaborate and help young
entrepreneurs from all over the world. Paulo believes that to be an entrepreneur, one
should be 100% committed to it. For Paulo, it is important for students to know this is
an option for them and to experience being an entrepreneur.

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Case Study 1: Creating innovation with an impact
Subject: Engr. Albertson Amante
Designation: Head, Center for Technopreneurship and Innovation
School: Batangas State University

Engr. Albertson Amante became an advocate of entrepreneurship out of interest and
curiosity. “I started doing research two years ago, and there are a lot of good
opportunities in research. When I incorporated Technopreneurship, I realized my
research could be used in the market. For me, that’s better because my research will
have more impact and not just kept in shelves.”

In 2012, Batangas State University (BatStateU) had an entrepreneurship subject for
seven of its engineering programs. Dr. Tirso Ronquillo as the Dean of College of
Engineering enacted this subject. Meanwhile, Engr. Amante was a professor under
the Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE) department.

The IDEA Entrepreneurship Symposium in 2014 was Engr. Amante’s first IDEA activity.
He attended with Dr. Ronquillo and other professors from BatStateU. The sessions
and speakers inspired Engr. Amante to create a university-based incubator. “That
time, I realized that our university could have our own technology business incubator
(TBI). I suggested this to Dr. Ronquillo who was the Vice President for Academic
Affairs then. He told me to hold on to the idea for a while.” At that time, Dr. Ronquillo
was eyeing the position of BatStateU President. True enough, on July 2014, BatStateU
declared Dr. Ronquillo as its new president. As president, Dr. Ronquillo required all
engineering and technology programs to take entrepreneurship.

During the IDEA Entrepreneurship Symposium 2014, BatStateU established a network
with PhilDev. On the same year, BatStateU was one of the beneficiaries to host an
IDEA VPP. In August 2014, Prof. Don Lewis of Texas A&M University led a workshop
on Technopreneurship. Working on Prof. Lewis’ recommendation, BatStateU formally
established the Center for Technopreneurship and Innovation (CTI). The Center was
one of the Dr. Ronquillo’s first major initiatives. The following month, in September
2014, Engr. Amante was appointed as the head of CTI.

Other opportunities followed that year. Dr. Luis Sison of the University of the
Philippines Enterprise Center, a long-established TBI, visited BatStateU. It was part of
UP’s efforts to create an extension and share their framework with other universities.
“I was sent to UP for one semester in 2014 to learn how they taught and
implemented Technopreneurship. That was helpful in refining our course outline and
reference materials.”

The close relationship between Dr. Ronquillo and Engr. Amante started many years
ago. Together, they were crucial in BatStateU’s achievements in Technopreneurship.
Dr. Ronquillo was the department chair for ECE when Engr. Amante was just an
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undergrad in BatStateU. In those years, many engineers preferred working abroad
than teaching. Dr. Ronquillo encouraged Engr. Amante and his friends to teach in
BatStateU. Engr. Amante considers Dr. Ronquillo as his mentor. It was also Dr.
Ronquillo, who nominated Engr. Amante to attend the IDEA Faculty Bootcamp in
2015.

During the Bootcamp, Engr. Amante aimed to be one of the professors in the IDEA
Study Visit to UC Berkeley in Fall 2015. Having an existing Center proved to be an
advantage in his application. He was the youngest of the five professors in the first
batch of IDEA Study Visit. “The most important experience for me was learning how
to execute good programs. I learned a lot of activities that we can apply in
BatStateU.”

Once he returned, Engr. Amante started the “Challenge Lab”. It was one of the
activities they experienced in UC Berkeley. A Challenge Lab is a competition
sponsored by an industry partner. The students are given a problem or a question for
them to create an innovative solution. Their partner was SKP Lab, a Filipino-owned
international drone services company. The challenge for the students was to create
other unique applications of drones. The students enjoyed creating concepts and
presenting their ideas. The winners were undergrad engineering students. Their
concept was a Police Drone Unit, which is a timely concept in the incidence of police
shootings in the United States. SKP Lab has even pledged to fund the second phase of
the winner’s concept.

Engr. Amante also practiced Flipped Teaching and games in his classes on
Technopreneurship. These were new methods in engineering’s entrepreneurship
classes. He has added and improved the reference materials for the class.

As part of the outcome-based education (OBE) approach, Engr. Amante conducted a
pre- and post-semester survey on 150 students taking the class. Personally, he also
wanted to understand his students better and track their learning outcomes. The
surveys took the students’ background and self-perceived evaluations. In the pre-
semester survey, the results showed that the majority of the students preferred to
work in industry after graduating. In the post-semester survey, there was a significant
shift in the number of students who wanted to be entrepreneurs after graduation.
The results also showed an improvement in their communication skills and ability to
apply their knowledge.

“The feedback of the students from the surveys was really heartwarming. Some of
them said that they wished the school offered the subject earlier. It’s fulfilling for me
as their teacher to see their progress. If we had a Technopreneurship subject before,
we could have been more motivated to pursue our ideas. The students today are
lucky because they can test their ideas in the market and work as an entrepreneur.”

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Engr. Amante made use of the results of his survey in a research paper entitled,
“Batangas State University Method of Technopreneurship as an Outcomes – Based
Education Tool Applied in Some Engineering and Computing Science Programs”. It has
been accepted for publication in the proceedings and presentation at the 27th
Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference, AAEE2016, in Coffs
Harbor, Australia on December 4-7, 2016.

For Engr. Amante, the challenge is to find and encourage his students to pursue their
ventures. “Majority of those lined up for incubation are students. But they are too
preoccupied with their theses rather than focus on their startups. For some students,
their thesis is their product, but they are still not completely decided to continue the
startup.”

To address this challenge, CTI recently launched “Technovation”. It is a university-
wide incubation and mentoring program that is also open to faculty and alumni of
BatStateU. “We are looking for mature entrepreneurs. If they really have the
determination to be successful, we can support them.”

Engr. Amante believes that the support and making the most out of every opportunity
go hand-in-hand. “It was fortunate that the President and I see eye-to-eye in our
vision. But without execution, support can be meaningless. As much as possible, we
take the most out of every funding we get. We also benchmark our activities with
other universities. Wherever we are invited, we take their best practices and adapt it
to our university. It takes a community and a system to realize what you want to do
and how you will do it.”

Case Study 2: Transforming teaching and learning
Subject: Dr. Ambrosio Cultura III
Designation: Vice President for Academic Affairs
School: University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (formerly
Mindanao University of Science and Technology)

Dr. Ambrosio Cultura III’s dream is for University of Science and Technology of
Southern Philippines to produce founders of successful startup enterprises. “All great
universities started like that. Stanford University and UC Berkeley have produced
graduates who founded startups. That’s what I also want for my university.” With Dr.
Cultura’s passion and initiatives, this dream is turning into fruition.

Even before the IDEA program, Dr. Cultura already believed in the relevance of
entrepreneurship in engineering. USTSP ‘s existing entrepreneurship subject wasn’t
successful because of the lack of faculty expertise. Some USTSP professors were even
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trained under the Conceive-Design-Innovate-Operate (CDIO) framework1. Dr. Cultura
found this framework important and useful. Yet it was not enough to teach
entrepreneurship to students.

In 2015, the IDEA Faculty Bootcamp invited USTSP College of Engineering. Dr. Cultura
was the Dean of the college then. He decided to attend the Bootcamp himself, with
another professor. At that time, he already had plans to implement
Technopreneurship in his college. As the Dean, he knew he had the capacity to
execute the changes needed. With these plans in tow, he applied and qualified to be
part of the IDEA Study Visit in UC Berkeley in 2015

For Dr. Cultura, the teaching method was his most important lesson from the IDEA
Study Visit. He noticed a significant difference in the traditional way versus the way it
is in UC Berkeley. He even spent time in Berkeley’s Center for Teaching and Learning
to know more about this method. Through this, Dr. Cultura has started refining his
vision for USTSP. “The method of teaching was the most memorable for me. I
consider this important because of the impact it creates on the student. If the topic is
good but the teaching and learning is not effective, then the learning outcomes will
not be achieved.”

Upon his return, Dr. Cultura immediately worked on incorporating Technopreneurship
in the College of Engineering. He found an ally with USTSP President, Dr. Ricardo
Rotoras, who was already aware of similar initiatives in USAID STRIDE program, which
focuses on research and innovation. Dr. Cultura also convinced the USTSP’s Board to
approve the inclusion of Technopreneurship as a new subject in the engineering
programs. This has been one of his proudest achievements. “I believe USTSP is the
first university to formally integrate entrepreneurship in engineering. We are the first
in Visayas and Mindanao.”

Soon, Dr. Cultura would become the Vice President for Academic Affairs. He is
grateful for his colleagues who share his advocacy. “I am lucky we have professors
who are passionate about entrepreneurship. They have the skills and experience to
lead and teach it.” Dr. Cultura would refer to Engr. Diogones Pascua and Engr.
Bronson Mabulay who are now teaching and supporting Technopreneurship classes
and initiatives in USTSP. The IDEA Faculty Bootcamp 2016 and the IDEA
Entrepreneurship Workshop 2016 also trained Engrs. Pascua and Mabulay.

The consecutive events and workshops on innovation and entrepreneurship is also an
important factor. The momentum was sustained after his return from UC Berkeley.
He specified events coordinated by Smart Telecommunications, Ideaspace, and the
IDEA program. “The consecutive follow-up activities were crucial. We were able to
1 The training for the CDIO method was held in 2014, in Manila and Singapore. To know more about the framework,
s e e t h e S i n g a p o r e P o l y t e c h n i c U n i v e rsity website: http://tinyurl.com/zgcfgyd.
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