Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset through a sophomore-level, multi-disciplinary, engineering design studio experience

Abstract

First year, project-based, engineering design courses have become common within engineering curricula across the country. In our first year course, we intentionally lay the foundation for the development of an entrepreneurial mindset within the context of traditional project-based design experiences. In addition, engineering programs have traditionally incorporated a capstone design project during the senior year and this provides another opportunity for our students to demonstrate an enterprising attitude. However, there exists a gap in design opportunities as well as in opportunities to continue the development of an entrepreneurial mindset for many students between the freshman and senior year of their engineering education. To address this need, we have designed a sophomore level course that will foster an entrepreneurial mindset in our students through a team-based, multidisciplinary engineering design studio experience. In this course, students will build upon the lessons learned in the first-year course by engaging real customers to identify and define opportunities themselves based on a theme. They will then use a systematic design process to design, build, and test prototypes that address these opportunities and create value for their customers. The purpose of this paper is to present the process to design this new course and to describe the course curriculum. For example, while studio courses are commonplace in architecture programs, they are not traditionally found in engineering curricula. Thus, best practices had to be found through identification of existing programs and benchmarking activities. Benchmarking of curriculum, studio pedagogy, and facilities were all important aspects of the development of this course. After benchmarking and reviewing the literature, we created the learning objectives and outlined a syllabus and course schedule for the design studio. Additional ongoing development activities have included garnering support from faculty and administration to incorporate the course into the core curriculum as well as assembling an external advisory board of industrial and entrepreneurial professionals to mentor students during their time in the design studio. Future papers will document implementation and assessment of the course.