Question:
is there any specific school for inventors that is either accredited or unaccredited that teaches inventors what they will need to learn in order to increase their chances at success , basically a school that fosters the creative side of invention and NPD( New Product Development) and Engineering Knowledge to make a product; along with the necessary disciplines of Business with Sales & Marketing , Finance, MIS, and Human Resources . Basically I am looking for a course or study that combines creativity, engineering, business, and entrepreneurship if it isn't out there I plan on starting such a school myself, by Mid 2003.
Do you all believe a school like this would work or do you all know of any school that was out there that tried to teach inventors and failed, or if you know of any success stories, please feel free to contact me about this. I plan on opening a place here in Iowa and have some classes initially taught by Vo-tech instructors , and the real life classes only by individuals who have actually done it and have invented things and have the hands on knowledge along with the theory that comes from an engineering degree and MBA at a minimum. We will if this works offer a courses delivered through broadband web based distance learning as well.
Answer:
It would seem like a large undertaking to combine all of this in one school. You would have to duplicate a major university, throw in some trade schools, and add a few finishing touches. It may work if you were to choose one general area of inventions and build a program just for it. Another approach would be a 1 or 2 year school that would fill in areas appropriate to inventing and business formation after the sudent had trained in the technical area of his inventive field. My invention crossed a lot of technical fields so that I did not have time to take formal education in all of them. I had to seek out solutions to specific problems as they came up. I could not live long enough to become an expert in every area in which I have dealt.
I would like to see the UIA try for a more hands on approach at some of their chapters. For example, the local adult education school has a machine shop filled with donated equipment from local industries. Two CNC machines, lathes, milling machines, etc. They are all past their prime but donated with the intent to foster new machinists. Instead of meeting in some conference room to discuss things, I would love to convene somewhere that would be filled with 'stuff', where the members could actually do some work on either their own projects or a group project. Membership dues would most likely be on the high side, but it would be invalueable for learning new things in a skills exchange environment.
