The Technopreneurship track is intended for

students interested in pursuing a

technology based business innovation

leading a career of technology based

entrepreneurship.

The track emphasises immersive

experiences as a Technopreneurship Study

Mission (TSM), a related internship, and

requires students to identify and develop

their own technology based business

innovation. The track is offered in

collaboration with SMU Institute of

Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE). For

suitable projects, IIE shall be able to help

students start a company based on their

innovations and raise funds from

government agencies such as SPRING or

from private sources.

The Technopreneurship Study Mission

objectively allows students to understand

the entrepreneurship landscape of many

successful start-ups and companies.

Overall, it also allows students to identify

the internship possibilities with the host.

Technopreneurship Study Mission ScheduleSee the TSM wiki's main page hereTerm Destination

2014-15 Term 1 Silicon Valley

2013-14 Term 2 South Korea

2013-14 Term 1 Europe

2012-13 Term 2 South Korea

2012-13 Term 1 China, Europe, Vietnam

2011-12 Term 2 South Korea

2011-12 Term 1 China, Europe, Vietnam

2010-11 Term 2 China, India

2010-11 Term 1 Vietnam

2009-10 Term 1 Israel

Technopreneurship Study Mission: Europe 2013

TSM Europe had 14 students and a teaching

assistant, and spent two days in Belgium,

two days in France, and three days in

Germany. 

The first day of the trip was spent in Ghent,

Belgium, the capital and largest city of the

East Flanders province. The second day

began with a presentation at iMinds, by Jan

Coppens. The group's time at Ghent

concluded with the end of eight

Euratechnologies company discussions.

The team then travelled onwards to Munich,

Germany. The following two days were

spent engaged in presentations to MBS

companies. 

 

Technopreneurship Study Mission: Europe 2012

TSM Europe had 14 students and a teaching

assistant, and spent two days in Belgium

and two days in Germany. 

The first day in Belgium was a visit to

iMinds, the ICT research lab and incubators,

one of the four national applied research

labs funded by the Belgium government.

The students got to interact with about a

dozen companies, where they shared their

own assessment of a company’s Strength,

Weakness, Opportunities and Threats and

suggested how the companies could plan

their growth, including growth in Asia. A

number of these presentations were

extremely well received. The team spent

the next day at Leuven visiting iMEC,

another national lab focused on

semiconductor and related technologies.

We had very lively exchanges with the

different stakeholders. Professor Desai was

asked to present on SMU, the

Technopreneurship track, and TSM.  His

presentations were well received. It was not

just hard work, the team also had a lot of

fun, including activities like a boat ride on

the river in Ghent. They also had an

opportunity to see first-hand the university

at which our President Professor Arnoud De

Meyer studied. The students also visited

some historical sites and enjoyed the food,

beer and the chocolates. Some of the

companies incubated by iMinds were

gracious enough to offer our students

internships.

The visit to Germany was primarily focused

on Munich. Munich Business School played

host to our visit. The team visited some

exciting companies such as Payon and

Bonayou to understand the state of

entrepreneurship and venture climate in

Munich. The group also visited the BMW

manufacturing plant. There they were

amazed by the level of automation and

technology used in the production of BMW 3

series cars.  We were surprised to learn that

despite producing a few hundred cars every

month there were rarely two cars of the

same kind produced at that plant.  The

team also happened to visit one of the

largest natural Gas distribution companies

in the world where they were given some

useful insights into the art of project

management by one of the C level

members of the company. 

The team came away very inspired by the

quality of innovation and the dedication of

the entrepreneurs and some of them chose

to think seriously about starting their own

companies.

 

Technopreneurship Study Mission: Vietnam 2010

 Nineteen SMU students from across the

different schools visited IDG Ventures

(Vietnam) and ten other companies over a

week from the 5th to the 10th December

2010. This visit gave the students a first-

hand introduction to the technopreneurial

activities in Vietnam. All the ten companies

were investee companies of IDG Ventures

Vietnam which is the dominant early stage

venture capital company in Vietnam for

Technology Media and Telecommunication.

The companies visited ranged from web

aggregators to a company that allowed

Vietnamese to invest in gold using Internet.

The visit resulted in internship opportunities

for the technopreneurship track and other

internships from nine of the ten companies

visited. The team was also extended a joint

venture opportunity by two of the

companies.

The students found out that Vietnam

adopted a fast follower model. Given that

Vietnam has 85 million people, a number of

them young and Internet Savvy, such a

model works for them. Many of the

founders were experienced people either

within Vietnam or from countries such as

US who chose to return to Vietnam sensing

the rising tide of opportunities. The visit

energized several students into thinking

about starting their own companies. Three

of the students were very surprised that

IDG ventures invited them for a dinner

meeting upon hearing their proposed

business idea. Such immediate response

was not expected and welcome with

pleasure.

The students also got to visit Cuchi tunnels

in Ho Chi Minh city to get an appreciation of

the history of Vietnam.

The highlight of the visit was the final

dinner where the students had an

opportunity to spend significant time with

the CEOs of the different companies they

visited and learn more through informal

interaction.

Technopreneurship Study Mission: Israel 2009

 When we think of science and technology,

the countries that often spring to mind are

Japan, Germany, and the United States.

Twelve students embarked on a trip to visit

Israel's buzzing technopreneurship scene.

Israel in fact ranks fourth in the world in

scientific publications, and counts IBM,

Microsoft, Intel, HP, Cisco, Google among its

list of technology heavyweights that have

opened up R&D and regional business

centres in Israel.

Over the weeklong trip, students had the

opportunity to meet professionals from a

wide spectrum of technopreneurship

activity: venture capital firms, start-ups,

research institutions, and government

agencies. For the pre-trip class projects, the

students worked in groups to present an

up-and-coming start-up and propose a new

business idea. The highlight of the trip was

when the students met some of the

entrepreneurs from these start-ups; the

students finally got to quiz the

entrepreneurs on their experiences, and

even pitch their business ideas in person.

The projects became more meaningful and

vivid, and made for an inspiring learning

experience

Entrepreneurship is so ingrained in Israeli

society that it is the norm rather than the

exception. Various speakers attested to this

- the social environment is encouraging

when one embarks on an entrepreneurship

journey, and there is an established

infrastructure where entrepreneurs can get

both financial and administrative support.

This study mission also saw the burgeoning

of working relationships between the SMU

Institute of Innovation and

Entrepreneurship, and various Israeli

institutes.

Of course, no trip to Israel is complete

without paying homage to some of her

most famed sites. The students visited

several historical places of interest such as

Bethlehem, the Yad Vashem memorial for

the Holocaust, and the Western Wall. The

icing on the cake was without a doubt, the

rejuvenating dip in the Dead Sea.