Developing an entrepreneurial mindset in engineers: An application of the three C's (Creativity, Curiosity, and Connections) in a collaborative summer mega-course

Abstract

In order to develop intra- and entrepreneurs, it is important to encourage a student's curiosity and skill in creating value and forging connections. We (a cross campus collaborative team of three professors from humanities, science, and engineering) developed an integrated mega-course that incorporates three separate fields that encompass a number of themes. These themes include teaching innovation, developing an entrepreneurial mindset, and creating solutions for developing economies. The program focuses on engaging students with our quickly changing world and its needs, bringing them out of the academic bubble to ignite their curiosity as they investigate the Grand Challenges proposed by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Students from various majors work together in teams using their creativity to design a solution that solves the stakeholders' needs. Students are motivated to produce a high quality design not only through the intrinsic motivation of meeting stakeholders' needs, but also by the requirement of holding a press-conference with local media, who will need to be convinced of both the need for and the value of the students' design.