11/6/2016 John E Hurtado. Magda Lagoudas. Rodney Boehm Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor College of Engineering, Texas A&M University Engineering Entrepreneurship Need In 2013, The Innovative and Entrepreneurial University Report: Higher Education, Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Focus 1 stated the position of the United States as the global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship is being constantly challenged by global competition and identified Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship as one of five key categories of focus for universities. Furthermore, in a 2016 editorial article in Advances in Engineering Education, Weilerstein and Buyer 2 state that it is no longer sufficient (for engineers) to be technically qualified; to succeed, engineers must be prepared to understand the business context of decisions and contribute to, if not lead, the success of the organization they join. In 2015 spring semester, the Student Engineer s Council included in their annual student survey questions about entrepreneurship. The survey was sent to all engineering undergraduates. In a question about interested on a certificate/minor on entrepreneurship, 49.83% of responders indicated interest. Furthermore, in a separate question about general interest on courses and programs for innovation and entrepreneurship, 69.71% indicated interest. Similar levels of interest were observed in the 2016 spring semester survey which demonstrates very high levels of student interest in the area of entrepreneurship. In addition, during 2015 spring semester, we conducted an industry survey through the Texas A&M University Career Center to receive input on this area. In total, eighty one industry participants completed the survey and 75.95% of them indicate that over the past five year, the demand for engineering graduates with innovation and entrepreneurial characteristics increased within their company. 77% of the industry survey participants had 10 or more years of experience in the profession and 46.91% represented industries with 500 or more employees. In the past several years, the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University has made significant efforts to provide engineering undergraduates with opportunities to pursue innovation and entrepreneurship. These include: 1) facilities such as the Engineering Innovation Center and upcoming Design Center at the Zachry Engineering Education Complex, 2) extracurricular programs such as Aggies Invent, U-Ignite, Pop Up Classes, Business Management Certificate, and 3) courses with focus on entrepreneurship both at the college level and within majors. Furthermore, we have invested in partnerships such as Pathways to Innovation and University Innovation Fellows out of EPICENTER at Stanford University and also the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Consortium out of Georgia Tech both aiming to promote innovation and entrepreneurial mindsets across from freshman to senior engineering undergraduates. Finally, we have a strong partnership with the Mays Business College which includes the Startup Aggieland, Summer Lean Startup program, and the NSF I-Corps Node effort targeting faculty. Whereas we have made significant steps towards developing a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem within the College of Engineering, we recognize that we can do more to present a formal comprehensive curriculum path for engineering undergraduates interested on entrepreneurship. 1
11/6/2016 John E Hurtado. Magda Lagoudas. Rodney Boehm A Minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship will provide interested engineering undergraduates a welldefined pathway for entrepreneurship and a roadmap to acquire the competencies to successfully lead technology entrepreneurship within a corporation or by launching their own startups. This minor will provide students with opportunities to gain knowledge in areas such as innovative technology product development, evidence-based entrepreneurship in the context of engineering, and elements of business fundamentals. Minor Curriculum Curriculum: Students interested in the Minor of Engineering Entrepreneurship are required to complete 15 semester credit hours: Required core courses (6 credit hours): ENGR 260 Engineering Creativity (1-2; 2 credits) ENGR 360 Engineering Entrepreneurial Mindsets (3-0; 3 credits) ENGR 462 Engineering Entrepreneur Hour (1-0; 1 credit) Elective courses (9 credit hours) Electives must be approved. Some examples include the following: Technical Elective within a Major or Topical Area (3 credits) x2 ENGR 461 Product Lean Launch for Engineers (2-2; 3 credits) Courses offered in spring 2017 Special Topics versions of ENGR 260 ; ENGR 461 ; ENGR 462 Courses offered in fall 2017 ENGR 360 To further reinforce the knowledge and skills acquired as part of the curriculum, participants of the minor will have opportunities to apply these skills in programs such as Aggies Invent, AggiE_Challenge, U-Ignite, Engineering Inventeer, and internships at startup companies. Minor Objectives: Students completing this minor shall gain knowledge of the following skills: Articulate testable value propositions Test value propositions by conducting customer discovery Generate and improve engineering design requirements Estimate potential market size for a value proposition and design requirements Build a minimal viable product Make initial build-or-buy design decisions for components and processes Design funding plan, including financial sources Estimate the breakeven point and estimate investor return Collaborate productively with students from the other disciplines. This includes learning nomenclature/terminology, asking questions to better understand the other s thinking, recognizing similarities/differences in the way each discipline talks about decision-making and problem-solving processes across multidisciplinary engineering areas. 2
11/6/2016 John E Hurtado. Magda Lagoudas. Rodney Boehm Other Supporting Elements of Engineering Entrepreneurship Some other elements of the Engineering Entrepreneurship ecosystem that are planned include the following: 1. The development of course i-sections. This would be an innovation section similar to an honors section. It could be stacked or not, and students would be expected to do more or different. This will begin in spring 2017. 2. The development of an Innovation Fellows program for students similar to the Teaching Fellows. Graduate students would apply and help within the i-sections. 3. Master of Science in Engineering Entrepreneurship and Master of Engineering in Engineering Entrepreneurship. 4. A Bachelor of Science in Engineering Entrepreneurship. This will be developed within the approved Interdisciplinary Engineering program. 5. Engineering Matchmaker. Student teams can apply to be matched with external Entrepreneursin-residence, Engineers-in-residence, and Executives-in-residence. References 1. U.S. Department of Commerce, The Innovative and Entrepreneurial University Higher Education, Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Focus, October 2013 - link 3
11/6/2016 John E Hurtado. Magda Lagoudas. Rodney Boehm 2. Weilerstein, P. and Byers, T., Guest Editorial: Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Engineering Education, Advances in Engineering Education, Winter 2016, Vol 5, Issue 1 - link Current Engineering Entrepreneurship Team John E Hurtado EASA Magda Lagoudas EASA Rodney Boehm EASA Jim Donnell MEEN Balakrishna Haridas BMEN Saurabh Biswas BMEN Mark Holtzapple CHEN Bruce Gooch CSCE Jay Porter ETID Joe Morgan ETID Andrea Strzelec MEEN 4