2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 106: Innovation through Making Course: Creating a Distinctive Prototyping Experience as Part of a New Entrepreneurial Pathway (Work in Progress)

Presented at Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation Division (ENT) Poster Session

Several Engineering Education literatures suggest that engineers who can (1) innovate in the face of challenges, (2) focus beyond technical competencies to develop key skills in critical thinking, complex problem solving, written and oral communication, and (3) learn to create value in a real-world setting, are critical to the development of the next-generation workforce.

The biggest challenge in creating future-ready engineers is to address the existing problems with students’ approach to engineering education, particularly related to the risk-averse mindset of the current generation of students. Today's students often have a fear of failure that inhibits them from venturing beyond the scope of their major field of study to try and learn new things, resulting in them not stepping out of their technological comfort zones throughout their course of study. We are trying to tackle this problem by developing an introductory multi-disciplinary project-based pilot course, "Innovation Through Making", that aims to inculcate methods to learn fast, pivot quickly, fail forward, develop timeless skills, educate for life, inspire sustainable innovation, and integrate Innovation and Entrepreneurship into the fabric of our core Engineering Sciences curriculum.

The course introduces and immerses first- and second-year engineering students from a multidisciplinary background in digital fabrication and engineering design, providing hands-on experience on various prototyping technology blended with entrepreneurial skills training, including design thinking and value creation. Students are inspired to develop their own sustainable inventions, prototype, test, learn, get feedback, and experiment again through engaging activities and methods to solve a real-world environmental or societal problem and spark discovery. The course culminates in a team project that uses human-centered design thinking and value creation approaches to prototype a sustainable solution to a real-world environmental or social problem, using the UNEP sustainable development goals as a framework for choosing open-ended final projects.

In this work-in-progress paper, we explore the development of the pilot course and aim to present the initial findings of the course’s impact quantitatively and qualitatively on students’ development of engineering and entrepreneurial skills through a mixture of product and idea evaluation, and skills survey. The paper will also detail our deliberate approach to fostering diverse, inclusive, and multi-disciplinary teams.

Authors

Mitra Varun Anand http://orcid.org/0009-0000-3081-6367 Worcester Polytechnic Institute [biography]

Mitra Anand serves as the Associate Director of Makerspace, and Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in addition to being an Adjunct Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Anand's research interests lie in combining hands-on Maker skills with an entrepreneurial mindset and value creation, aiming to develop practical solutions for real-world problems. He is enthusiastic about innovation in engineering education, design thinking, prototyping, program development, crafting interactive curricula, and bringing ideas to fruition.

With over 8 years of experience in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Anand possesses a solid background in Innovation and Entrepreneurship education, Additive Manufacturing, and Digital Fabrication technologies. He has taught lectures and workshops on advanced subjects to more than 1000 undergraduate engineering students and 150 graduate students, while advising on over 500 student and faculty research projects.

His academic credentials include an M.S. in Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering from New York University and a B.E in Mechanical Engineering from Anna University.
Prof. Ahmet Can Sabuncu http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-7905-421X Worcester Polytechnic Institute [biography]

Dr. Sabuncu holds a Ph. D. in Aerospace Engineering from Old Dominion University. Dr. Sabuncu's professional interests spans from engineering education research, history of science and engineering, thermo-fluids engineering, and microfluidic technology.
Dr. Curtis Abel http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4061-5467 Worcester Polytechnic Institute [biography]

Curtis Abel, PhD, MBA is the Executive Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (I&E) at WPI. He is responsible for the I&E eco-system, Value Creation Initiative, Maker Space & Rapid Prototyping Lab, and Massachusetts Digital Games Institute. He joined WPI in 2015 as a Professor of Practice through the support of the Kern Family Foundation to create a vibrant entrepreneurial mindset culture on campus with both faculty & students. Prior to WPI, Curtis has 20+ years of experience in leadership positions at large corporations, including American Express, MasterCard, United Retail, and Bethlehem Steel. He’s held full “Profit and Loss” responsibility for several multi-million-dollar businesses, generating double-digit annual growth for each. He also held positions in new business development, marketing, strategic alliances, and R&D implementing new technology into manufacturing facilities. Curtis holds a Ph.D., ME and BS from Carnegie Mellon University in Materials Science & Engineering and Chemical Engineering, respectively, and an MBA from Cornell University. He also held international Postdoctoral Fellowships at Cambridge University and Technische Universität Wien.

Download paper (895 KB)

Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.

» Download paper

« View session