Adapting the Industrial Stage-gate® Process to Create A Novel Master's Degree Innovation Curriculum

This article describes the creation of a novel product-driven master's degree curriculum in translational medicine based on the industrial Stage-Gate® process. Stage-Gate is an essential tool used by top industrial companies to successfully manage complex development processes for products like medical devices and drugs. Intimate knowledge of this tool is key in the translation of a brilliant concept to a successful product. Currently, Stage-Gate is predominantly taught to high-level executive leadership personnel or in business-related graduate programs. Unfortunately, this "top-down approach" does not leverage the full workforce that is involved in the process. A skilled workforce on all levels, including graduate-level technical experts, is desired by industry to reduce costly ramp-up resources and to boost the attrition rate of successful new products. We adapted the Stage-Gate process to a new and exceptionally visionary master's degree program in translational medicine. A vertically integrated strategy was utilized to implement Stage-Gate. Industry expert lecturers were assigned to teach Stage-Gate in the context of small and large company environments. The Stage-Gate process itself was integrated into the curriculum schedule to allow continued hands-on practice from a company perspective. Courses were aligned and supplemented to adequately deepen key aspects of the Stage-Gate tool and seamlessly integrate the multidisciplinary curriculum that combines comprehensive core competency in medicine, engineering, and business. Finally, students were required to undergo a formal Stage-Gate review at the completion of each Stage-Gate step. The results illustrate the effectiveness of this adaptation to teach the Stage-Gate tool in a pilot cohort.