ENGR 188 Course Overview
Engineering Entrepreneurship Certificate
Description of the Course
Seminar, four hours; outside study, eight hours. Special topics in engineering for undergraduate students taught on experimental or temporary basis, such as those taught by resident and visiting faculty members. May be repeated for credit with topic or instructor change. Letter grading.
Background students will need
Entrepreneurial Product Development is a new course designed for those interested in
innovations related to making new products, particularly in the current global environment
fascinated with entrepreneurship. There are no pre‐requisites. This is not a course in
engineering, and previous experience in making new products is not required. However some
familiarity of technological concepts and applications would be valuable.
About the Instructor
Farhad Rostamian (farhad.rostamian@anderson.ucla.edu) has spent most of his career in
creating and fostering innovative products and solutions and managing them for sustainable
growth across industries such as semiconductors, consumer electronics, sensors, imaging,
medical devices, software and digital media. A quad bruin, Farhad has degrees from UCLA
schools of engineering and business. He has significant experience in fortune 100s, as well as
start‐ups and growth stage companies: fast‐paced organizations characterized with innovation
and competition in complex global ecosystems. He has held various senior positions in
technology development, commercialization and management, end‐to‐end operations,
business and product strategy, international business, and digital innovations in companies
such as Xerox, Photobit, Micron and Interlink. In these roles he successfully took more than 25
high‐tech products to market generating $500M annually and 35% market share, including such
iconic products as the Pill camera and the camera for Apple’s first iPhone. Farhad is currently at
the Entrepreneurship Department at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, teaching
courses on new product development. Utilizing his vast industry knowledge and expertise in
new product creation, he brings real world examples of products and companies into the
course. He turns the classroom into a place where student teams can be creative and practical
about pursuing ideas and ventures and continues to mentor them post‐graduation. Farhad is a
world traveler (40+ countries) and an avid scuba diver (250 dives) in many tropical waters
around the world. He is passionate about coral and oceanic health and biodiversity.
Syllabus
New products and services are the lifeblood of any company: a start‐up in a garage, a farm, a
laboratory, or a well‐established corporation. Additionally, new products, and the innovations
related to making and marketing such products are the cornerstone of any flourishing
economy. Without creating a new product, there is no start‐up company to create new jobs.
Likewise, without disruptive innovations to expand the product portfolio, any modern
corporation can quickly succumb to competition ‐ especially from an innovative company (or
individual) conjuring up a new way to disrupt their industry. It’s not uncommon to witness
industry pioneers and giants lose significant market share, or even be totally dis‐intermediated.
This phenomenon has been intensified with the advancements in digital economy. Digital
economy has significantly altered the speed and the scope of innovations across all industries
and markets. Recognizing the need for product innovation, entrepreneurs and established
corporations allocate all or significant amount of their human and capital resources in the
creation of new products. However, not all such products will ever make it to the market; even
if they enter the market, not all will reach the mainstream adoption, and yet a smaller
percentage can stand the test of time and achieve significant market share or resilient
popularity. As innovation has become one of the key drivers of making new products, in this
course we will examine the process of innovation and new product development and discuss
the related paradigms and success factors (through the cases and class discussions).
Examples of critical concepts and relevant topics covered:
Invention and Innovation
Elements of Marketing Strategy
Entrepreneurship Process (agile start‐up)
Ideation and Validation
Business Models, Scaling and Monetization
Digital Innovation and Disruption
Intellectual Property and its Protection
Coverage of Ecosystems, Product Strategy, Product Platforms, Product line Extension
and Life Cycle Management
Topics in Product Management, Agile Development, Defining New Products, Making
MRDs and PRDs
Discussions on Sharing and On‐demand Economy, Autonomous Cars, Social Media, ARVR,
Text Books:
Text book 1: (abbreviated to NPM)
New Products Management
ISBN-10:007802904X
Edition: 11th, 2015
Authors: C. Merle Crawford, C. Anthony Di Benedetto
Text book 2: (abbreviated to TSW)
The Start-up Way
ISBN-10: 1101903201
Author: Eric Ries