Driving innovation: UTC marketing students help propel faculty research into the real world

UTC juniors Brayden McBee, left, and Jayla Terry work in the University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Photo by Angela Foster.

At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, business students are gaining hands-on experience while helping faculty move their research into the marketplace.

The UTC Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship launched these roles to give students practical experience while bolstering UTC faculty research and commercialization efforts.

Juniors Jayla Terry and Brayden McBee, both studying marketing in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business, are the first to be hired in the student marketing analyst positions.

Sometimes collaborating and sometimes working solo, they focus on dissecting market trends, crafting marketing plans and managing intellectual property. The students also analyze consumer behavior, competition and industry dynamics, presenting their findings to their professor-clients.

According to Dr. Erkan Kaplanoglu, an associate professor in the UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science, the team has been invaluable. He and Dr. Max Jordon, an assistant professor in the UTC graduate physical therapy program, collaborated on an innovative balance board aimed at alleviating back pain.

Kaplanoglu said the student team has meticulously researched market demand and interest among physical therapists and patients related to lower back issues. As a result of their comprehensive analysis, he said, “Those marketing students helped us possess a deep understanding of consumer behavior, market trends and branding strategies.

“With their help, we got results about products that not only meet technical specifications but also resonate with consumers, driving successful market adoption.”

Additionally, the students navigate legal frameworks to protect and monetize intellectual property assets. Their work spans from market analysis to commercialization, requiring a blend of analytical skills and strategic thinking.

“Working on these projects has been a bit like putting a puzzle together,” Terry said. “The market research and navigating the intellectual property processes felt daunting at first, but it’s turned into an exciting challenge. It’s fascinating to see how a theoretical concept can evolve into a tangible product that could genuinely help people.”

As for McBee, he’s already parlayed his analyst position at UTC into another part-time job with NASA as a marketing and communications intern.

“Starting out, I won’t lie, it was intimidating to dive into work that was so technical, but it’s opened doors I hadn’t even considered,” said McBee, who is minoring in environmental science.

The students are supervised and mentored by UTC commercialization counselor Jennifer Skjellum, who has been building a network of faculty and staff interested in moving their research from theory to application at UTC since 2020.

From helping hone an idea to identifying existing competition in the market to plugging into the system-wide University of Tennessee Research Foundation, she has become a resource for faculty researchers, expanding her reach even further thanks to her new student analysts.

“Seeing our students step into roles where they’re directly applying their skills to help faculty transition from concept to marketplace is incredibly rewarding. They’re getting amazing experience and contributing to the University’s research and innovation mission. It’s a win-win all the way around,” Skjellum said.

Their work on real-world commercialization projects highlights the “practical impact of our collaborative efforts to bring UTC research into the marketplace,” she said.

“This is a sign of the direction we’re headed, where academic curiosity meets entrepreneurial spirit.”