UFSM Case
Get to know the monetization story of an extension project within a federal university.
Currently, it is essential to search for knowledge and skills that enable the development of sustainable solutions, new resources and economic viability, with the aim of promoting innovation and, consequently, social transformation. Within this, the triple helix model emerges, based on the relationship between the three most traditional spheres of the knowledge society: government, industry and universities, with the objective of generating, disseminating, using and commercializing knowledge and innovation. With the objective of going beyond the knowledge of traditional teaching, sharing with the community the most current concepts on innovation and entrepreneurship, Paulo Roberto Silveira Machado, PhD in Business Administration from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), and Business Manager at the de Redes Inteligentes Institute, from UFSM, started the university extension project with the Startup Mundi Game.
Monetizing ideas
“In my academic career, specifically studying my doctorate, I reflected on how theteaching on subjects related to entrepreneurship and startups in the classrooms of the Business Administration course could be better. I realized that I lacked practice and a vision
differentiated for students and that a methodology different from the traditional one could improve learning. Until in 2019 I came across the proposal of the Startup Mundi Game Experience. I was delighted with the methodology and how it could open the eyes of the participants with the themes of innovation and entrepreneurship” - says Paulo.
In 2019, Startup Mundi was launched as a UFSM extension project open to the community, with funds raised in partnership with the Innovation and Technology Transfer Agency (AGITTEC) “I took the idea to UFSM through AGITTEC. I presented the methodology to AGITTEC and created an extension project with the objective of applying the workshop to students, employees and the community of Santa Maria. AGITTEC/UFSM was the promoter of the process and responsible for the resources to take the game to UFSM. A great way to facilitate the inclusion of innovative methodologies in university teaching” - Machado.
The dissemination on social networks ensured the success of the extension project and the game, considering that those who attend the university are already a target audience:
“We've had fifteen groups since the beginning of the project and the profile of the participants circulated among students, teaching staff, administrative technicians, self-employed professionals. A very varied profile that contributes to enriching the experience for the participants, in addition to forming a network between them.”
Paulo explains that, as the game is linked to an university extension program, it facilitates the application in a single day since it is not linked to a course or class hour, with a strategy that worked in all aspects. On one hand, the university becomes known as a driving agent of knowledge in the innovation ecosystem, which contributes to the education and culture of validation processes.
On the other hand, in the academic environment, where knowledge about research is more common, the game helps with knowledge about how to take research results to the market, complementing and enhancing learning through practice.
"The game helps with knowledge about how to take the research result to the market".
The Game model accelerating knowledge and projects
In a game environment, the opportunity to learn and experience becomes a fundamental stimulus to make each participant a multiplying agent of the concepts shared during the experience.
''Everyone likes to feel in their skin the emotion of being a Startup CEO: accomplishinghires going to the market, forming strategies with the preparation of pitch and learning concepts that most of the time are far from their respective realities. In addition to the opportunity for participants to relate to people who are different from their daily lives. It is something that strengthens the innovation network in the university environment''.
Do you want to know more about Paulo's story and his extension project? Watch the full interview!