BOSTON – June 12, 2008 –Tucker Marion, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Northeastern University’s School of Technological Entrepreneurship (STE), has been awarded a 2008 Dell Design Educator Award. Marion teaches the core STE course for graduate students “Managing a Technology-Based Business” and worked closely with the students to help them develop conceptual designs for Dell’s ReGeneration Competition during this past Spring semester. The award recognizes Professor Marion’s dedication to his students during this competition, providing mentorship as they worked together to bring their ideas to fruition.

The challenge set forth by Dell is to develop the most environmentally responsible computer technology. Marion, who built this contest into the course curriculum, was able to oversee his students from concept to design, allowing them to see what goes into starting a business.

Marion was selected as one of eleven recipients of this international award. In order to qualify, Marion specifically tailored this program to fit in with the STE curriculum, promoting an environment of real-world situations with real-world solutions. By bringing together students that are experts in engineering, math, business or science, the groups were able to collaborate and develop a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary model, keeping with the spirit of entrepreneurship.

“My students were given a budget and the task of conceptually designing and developing a sustainable computer system,” said Marion, whose class of 25 students was divided into four groups. “Each group worked with external industrial designers, creating a true start-up environment and entrepreneurial spirit for the project.”

The students had eight weeks to complete their design, and their entries were submitted to the Dell ReGeneration Competition. The entries included two energy-efficient laptop designs and two other home power management solutions.

Marion hopes to increase the funding for these teams next year and collaborate with students at the Mass College of Art.

For more information about Prof. Marion’s award, or about STE, please contact Jenny Eriksen at (617) 373-2802 or via email at j.eriksen@neu.edu.

About the School of Technological Entrepreneurship

Northeastern University has been a leader in teaching technology for a century, and we continue this tradition with our School of Technological Entrepreneurship. We are a center of multidisciplinary activity that educates students from science, computing, engineering, health sciences and business, and draws on the expertise of faculty members from a wide range of disciplines and professional fields. Students study topics including intellectual property rights, technology licensing, product development strategies, marketing, finance and business plan development. For more information, please visit www.ste.neu.edu.

About Northeastern

Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in interdisciplinary research, urban engagement, and the integration of classroom learning with real-world experience. The university’s distinctive cooperative education program, where students alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, is one of the largest and most innovative in the world. The University offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in six undergraduate colleges, eight graduate schools, and two part-time divisions. For more information, please visit www.northeastern.edu.