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It is well recognized that the contributions of entrepreneurs have collectively
been the major growth engine of the economy of the United States throughout
its history. Many of these entrepreneurs have been or are engineers, either
self taught or professionally educated. However, until very recently, the
training of most formally educated engineers focused primarily on engineering
courses. Their entrepreneurial skills were acquired outside the classroom.
This was for two reasons. First, entrepreneurship programs were primarily
available only to students enrolled in business schools. Second, the time
engineering students had available to take entrepreneurship courses was
very scarce owing to the many labs associated with their engineering courses.
About 20 years ago educators began to realize that engineering students
would benefit by having entrepreneurial and leadership skills to succeed
in the dynamic marketplace that has been evolving in recent times. To address
this need, in the fall of 2008 Villanova launched a new and unique Entrepreneurship
for Engineers minor. This initiative has been partly supported by a grant
from the Kern Family Foundation whose objective is to equip engineers with
an entrepreneurial mindset that will enable them to contribute to the business
success of the companies they establish or work for.
Villanova’s Engineering Entrepreneurship program has been established
in collaboration with faculty from the Villanova School of Business. Faculty
members from both schools also teach the courses in the program. Successful
entrepreneurs also routinely participate by being guest speakers thereby
sharing their valuable experience with students. The program is open to
students in all engineering disciplines. The minor consists of 16 credits.
The first course taken in the beginning of the sophomore year is Creativity
& Innovation. Subsequent courses, taken during the sophomore, junior, and
senior years cover topics such as opportunity analysis, new product ideation
& development, intellectual property, project management, prototyping, basic
accounting & finance concepts, new product marketing, risk management, team
development, project funding, and product launch. Students get first exposure
to some of these topics from on-line resources which they connect to by
themselves; classroom discussion follows. By the beginning of the junior
year students will start working in teams, under the guidance of faculty
staff or experienced external mentors, to develop products and then launch
them in the marketplace. Those who complete this program will not only have
learned valuable engineering skills but also how to link technology with
marketplace needs and perhaps become entrepreneurs themselves or intrapreneurs
in the companies that employ them.
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Courses
Application
Download the Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor Requirements form.
For more information, please contact
Dr. Pritpal Singh, Academic Coordinator of the Engineering
Entrepreneurship Minor Program.
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