Conference Session

Engineering Entrepreneurship and K-12 Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donald Carpenter, Lawrence Technological University; Gregory Feierfeil, Lawrence Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

AC 2007-1689: CULTIVATING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET THROUGHINTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION AND NETWORKINGDonald Carpenter, Lawrence Technological UniversityGregory Feierfeil, Lawrence Technological University Page 12.426.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Cultivating an Entrepreneurial Mindset through Interdisciplinary Collaboration and NetworkingAbstractLawrence Technological University, a private institution located in the Detroitmetropolitan area, has an enrollment of approximately 3000 undergraduate students inday and evening degree programs. Unlike a majority of institutions were entrepreneurialprograms tend to originate in the college

Conference Session

Entrepreneurial Leadership and Non-traditional Ways to Engage Students in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wilburn Clouse, Vanderbilt University

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

. The curriculum is a vehicle for creating learning environmentsthat foster entrepreneurial activities and develop a mindset for thinking outside of structuredsettings. The curriculum takes the position that every person has the potential to think creativelyand entrepreneurially. The current cases are as follows.Featured CasesUniversities CasesThe following eleven cases have been developed as a part of this research project. The cases areconsidered to be a work in progress until field-tested and revised. The cases are as follows:Case 1 – Blackout in America – This case is about the great electrical energy blackout thatbegan in the west and continued through the eastern part of the United States several few yearsago. The case encourages students

Conference Session

Entrepreneurial Leadership and Non-traditional Ways to Engage Students in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Karen High, Oklahoma State University; Paul Rossler, Oklahoma State University; Martin High, Oklahoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

an employer as graduation draws near,begin businesses within the state or join entrepreneurial firms within the state.It is unlikely that an entrepreneurial mindset of the required risk taking can be taught.But, it is likely that the skills required to make those with an inclination towardentrepreneurship more successful can be taught. In addition, a degree program thatfocuses on entrepreneurship might prove successful in: (1) attracting students into the Page 12.632.2engineering program who are seeking educational opportunities in entrepreneurship, orwho might otherwise gravitate toward other majors and (2) fostering student creativityand drive to

Conference Session

The Challenges of Tech Transfer

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carmo D'Cruz, Florida Tech; Dr. Shoaib Shaikh, Nothrup Grumman Corporation

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering Constituent Committee

in strategy, team dynamics, and finance areintegrated into these courses focusing on Engineering Entrepreneurship. It appears thatEngineering Entrepreneurship has emerged as a Killer App for Systems Engineering.IntroductionThe emerging facts from successful organizations, including universities, indicate that the realsource of power in a knowledge economy is in combining technical prowess withentrepreneurship.1 A survey of business executives and managers indicated that highly successfulengineers are not only academically astute, but also possess entrepreneurial skills.2 TheEngineers of 2020 will need to be educated as innovators, with more direct exposure to cross-disciplinary topics and the workings of an entrepreneurial economy.3 However

Conference Session

Systems Engineering and Entrepreneurship

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carmo D'Cruz, Florida Tech; Shoaib Shaikh, Northrop Grumman Corporation

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

combining technical prowess withentrepreneurship.1 A survey of business executives and managers indicated that highly successfulengineers are not only academically astute, but also possess entrepreneurial skills.2 TheEngineers of 2020 will need to be educated as innovators, with more direct exposure to cross-disciplinary topics and the workings of an entrepreneurial economy.3 However, engineeringschools have been slow to incorporate entrepreneurship courses into the technical programs.A common complaint heard from most high tech entrepreneurs is that their entrepreneurialprojects always take more than 2X the time, 2X the money and 2X the resources than what theyplanned for at the outset.4 It has been observed that most successful high tech and

Conference Session

EMD Program Design

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carmo D'Cruz, Florida Tech; Muzaffar Shaikh, Florida Tech; Wade Shaw, Florida Tech

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

. These experiential activitiesinclude the monthly “Engineering Entrepreneur in the Spotlight” seminar series – wherepromising engineers-turned- entrepreneurs visit Florida Tech and share their experiences;the judging of the Brevard School Science Fair Projects for their commercialization value;collaborating with the city, government and private organizations in the community tocommercialize innovative student-developed technologies; etc. Students work in E-Teamson their entrepreneurial class projects and write NCIIA/SBIR grant proposals forfunding and also present at the regional/state-level Business Plan Competitions. They arealso members of the Florida Tech Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Club and theyparticipate in local and national SIFE

Conference Session

Critical Success Factors for Technopolis Creation

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carmo D'Cruz, Florida Tech; Frank Kinney, Florida Tech; Vaidy Vaidyanathan; Tom O'Neal, University of Central Florida; Clifford Bragdon, Florida Tech; Dennis Kulonda, Florida Tech; Grisselle Centeno, University of South Florida; Jose Zayas-Castro, University of South Florida; Lynda Weatherman, Space Caost EDC

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

its commercialization, called the“Technopolis Phenomenon”.A Technopolis (plural Technopoleis) is a region trying to build and maintain a healthy,technology-driven economy. 1Dr. Fred Phillips (ex Austin, Texas) of the Maastrict School of Management ((Netherlands),1 anacknowledged authority and experienced expert on the Technopolis phenomenon in the US andEurope, has postulated that Technopolis regions grow by: 1. Attracting new companies 2. Nurturing existing indigenous firms 3. Encouraging entrepreneurial start-ups Page 12.423.2 4. Providing a supportive educational, social, tax, quality-of-life and cultural context for research

Conference Session

Creating a Technology Incubator and Creating a Seed Fund

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Thomas Duening, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

a widerange of commercial settings. While not everyone who develops such technologies is interestedin their commercial potential, much less interested in spearheading their migration to themarketplace, the value of an entrepreneurial mindset within engineering schools has intuitiveappeal. Page 12.484.3Entrepreneurship education in higher education in the United States actually began 40 years agoin technology centric programs. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is often cited as thebirthplace of technology entrepreneurship education.8 MIT has continued its tradition ofentrepreneurship since those early days, with technology and its

Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Steiner, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Langdon Winner, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

comfortable andcompetent with multidisciplinary thinking and at odds with the conventional mindset that tendsto focus on disciplinary specialization. They represent the kinds of students that organizations inindustry, government and society are asking for; educated as resourceful problem solvers andfirst rate technical professionals. This paper offers thoughts and reflections on the PDI program,starting with its original vision and goals, a report on its current status and progress, and finallysome perspectives on the future directions and promise of the program.Keywords: multidisciplinary, design, education, innovation1. Introduction, Motivation, BackgroundThe engineering profession is often called upon to solve complex problems that meet

Conference Session

Emerging Trends in Engineering Education Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

E. Bernard White, George Mason University

unique needs of all institutions as they prepare to meet the needs of their individualconstituencies. Again, instead of concentrating solely on impacts of today’s non-traditionalcomputing and engineering programs on more traditional programs, the focus should be onemerging trends in the high technology environment as well as within the increasingly globaleconomy. The progressive and entrepreneurial engineering schools that confront and embracethe identified and related challenges with an optimistic and “think out of the box” mindset willfind unimaginable opportunities for new programming and organizational structures that willattract and retain both the “best and brightest” students and faculty. These will be among ourmost highly ranked