Collaborative efforts to encourage entrepreneurial mindsets

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to discuss efforts to engage and inspire engineering students by adding entrepreneurial course content and creating relevant extra-programmatic opportunities. Three primary mechanisms discussed in this paper include 1) entrepreneurship-specific course modifications to both a first-year engineering course and to a second-year engineering design course (including collaboration with business faculty and students), 2) creation of entrepreneurially-relevant extracurricular clubs, activities, and events for students on campus and 3) introduction to extra-university interaction opportunities for engineering students interested in entrepreneurship with both the private sector and with students and mentors from other universities. It is hoped that descriptions of lessons learned and anecdotal evidence of successes may benefit other institutions attempting to more closely integrate entrepreneurial concepts with engineering education.