Commercialization of a masonry tool designed in a senior-capstone class through a licensing agreement

Abstract

Many seemingly viable products are designed and built in MIT Mechanical Engineering's senior capstone design class, 2.009, but a small fraction make it to real markets. The 2017 2.009 Orange Team is commercializing their product through the company Rhino Tools and Equipment (RTE). The product, a rotary hammer attachment that guides the chisel bit as it moves within a mortar joint, was designed with the aim of improving the repointing work done by masons on brick exteriors. Given the real constraints on a team of soon-to-be graduating students and analysis of the market and the product, a licensing business model was chosen. The licensing business model is heavily reliant on intellectual property. Thus, an extensive prior art search was carried out to determine the product's novelty. By this analysis the product is patentable. Cash flows were projected to determine a fair allocation of economic benefit in a licensing agreement; RTE should expect to receive about 4.5% royalty on revenue. Moving forward, RTE should pursue funding to complete the patent process as well as a pilot program with masons, and continue to develop its connections within the tool industry.