Details & How to Apply

Typical sponsor FAQs are answered via the points below:

Objectives

• To satisfy industry sponsors by providing professional-grade deliverables which exceed project expectations.

• To expose Duke MEM students to real-world commercialization project opportunities provided by industry sponsors.

Scope Requirements

1. Project must be relevant to commercialization, i.e., some aspect of extracting value from (i.e., bringing to market) a new idea/product/service.

2. Project must be of importance to the industry sponsor.  The sponsor must care about the outcome so that it is a rich and real-world experience for everyone involved.

While not required, we sometimes show preference to projects which have some type of intellectual property in place (patented or patent pending) and projects based upon high-tech inventions.

Sponsor Interaction Expectations

Sponsors must have a point of contact within your organization willing to spend perhaps 5-10 total hours over the course of the semester setting goals, answering a few questions, accommodating an interim update, listening to final presentation, and providing some closing feedback.

Student Team Profile

About 3–6 MEM students are assigned to each project team (depending upon course enrollment and target project pool).  Each student has a four-year degree in an engineering or science discipline and is seeking an engineering management degree.  Our students have technical degrees and often have MBA-like career aspirations.

Student-Project Mapping Process

Students are presented with project opportunities early in the semester and are allowed to self select projects.  By design, this allows students to be matched with projects for which they have a high level of interest and technical fit. 

Duration & Time Invested

The CTI course runs from the last week in August to the first week in December each Fall semester. Projects will commence within 2 weeks of semester start and conclude at semester end.  Depending upon team size (and given students have other CTI work besides the practicum project), a team will invest perhaps 200 cumulative hours on a project.

Project Management

Each student team will be responsible for project management. Professor Holmes serves as a practicum advisor and will maintain close communication with each student team.  Each sponsor will provide at least one point of contact to serve as a project liaison.

Communication Frequency & Protocol

Frequency and style (i.e., e-mail, phone, meetings, teleconferences, & web conferences) of communications will be co-designed between each student team and the industry sponsor.  Professor Holmes will be openly copied on all e-mail communications with the sponsor to provide quality control.

Confidentiality

Upon request, students and Professor Holmes can sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and, regardless, will treat all project information confidentially. NDA signing is strongly recommended if your invention is not patented or patent pending (Professor Holmes can provide an NDA copy if needed, but recommends each inventor seek legal counsel for advice on such matters as needed).  

Final Presentations

Non-confidential final project presentations are typically held 12:00-2:30 PM eastern on the first or second Monday in December at Duke University (room to be announced).  Attendance by at least one sponsor representative is requested (if the sponsor is local to Duke), albeit an alternate videoconference can be scheduled if conflicts arise or for non-local sponsors.  Any other final deliverables (e.g., report, supporting documents, etc.) are transferred electronically to each sponsor at project close.

*** How to Apply ***

Complete this online application by 5:00 PM Eastern on August 1

https://ae-survey.questionpro.com/Duke-CTI-Project-Application-Fall-2025 

Contact Professor Holmes if you have questions about potential project fit, application completion, or mutual expectations.