Engineering Design Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Transdisciplinary Teaching and Learning in a Global Context

Abstract

This paper introduces an innovation course has been taught at Stanford University since 1967. In its 52-year-long journey and iterations, both teachers and students learn to dance with ambiguity, collaborate in teams, build to think, and make ideas real. They embrace design thinking and experience the entrepreneurial culture of Silicon Valley in this year-long course. Student teams work on innovation challenges proposed by corporate partners for eight months and deliver functional proof-of-concept prototypes along with in-depth documentation that not only capture the essence of designs but the learnings that led to the ideas. In recent years, several institutions worldwide have adopted this innovative way of problem-based learning with global collaboration.