One of the most difficult tasks for an entrepreneur or business owner is to see if their idea, product, technology, etc. has market value. That’s one of the main topics in the TEAM curriculum. They spend a lot of time looking into voice of the customer, thinking through their ideas, and seeing if a product can be commercialized. TEAM alumnus Joseph Choi (’13 MS) had a real life experience with this.
As a current PhD student at the Institute of Optics, Choi worked with Professor John Howell on the Rochester cloaking device. It seems fair to say that the market opportunity for a cloaking device is very good. There has been significant interest and coverage on the system, and Choi has witnessed firsthand that there is definitely market opportunity here.
Choi said that TEAM really allows students to learn how to describe their business or idea to people who aren’t in the same field. Being able to describe the technology and process behind the cloaking process is important, especially if he were to try to commercialize it down the road. Or, if Choi ends up starting his own company with another idea down the road, he’ll have had a great experience in observing how this technology would be received by the public. Great work, Joe!