2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

BOARD # 371: Fostering Leaders in Technology Entrepreneurship (FLiTE): S-STEM Program Third Year Progress

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

The NSF S-STEM-funded program titled Fostering Leaders in Technology Entrepreneurship (FLiTE) hosted by Western Carolina University has now completed its third year of operation. The program continues to its mission to cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset and growth-oriented thinking among a cohort of engineering and technology students with the goal of creating graduates who become growth-oriented professionals and entrepreneurs. With the onboarding of its second-year recruiting class, the program has begun to observe the productive interactions of its vertically integrated cohort. Program activities for the 2024 calendar year have included a team-based pitch development program, scholar participation in an externally facilitated certificate course in business startup logistics, and the integration of scholar’s product ideas into the Project-Based Learning curriculum of the host department. This paper describes each of these program highlights. As the scholars progress in their degrees with some nearing the Flight phase of the program, the dynamics of integrating the scholars’ work into their degree curricula are addressed. Pre- and post-year surveys assessing scholars’ perception of their entrepreneurial self-efficacy are summarized, showing a positive trajectory.

Authors

Dr. Paul M Yanik http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1311-7131 Western Carolina University [biography]

Dr. Paul Yanik is Professor of Engineering Technology at Western Carolina University. His research interests include human-robot interactions, assistive devices, pattern recognition, machine learning, and engineering education.
Wendy Cagle Western Carolina University
Dr. Andrew Ritenour Western Carolina University [biography]

Andrew Ritenour is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering + Technology at Western Carolina University (WCU). In addition to teaching in the field of electrical engineering, he coordinates the senior engineering capstone program which is a multidisciplinary, two-semester course sequence with projects sponsored by industrial partners. Within this role, he focuses on industrial outreach and the teaching and assessment of professional skills. Prior to joining WCU in 2018, he spent a decade in industry managing and developing innovative technologies across a broad spectrum of applications: SiC and GaN high voltage transistors for energy-efficient power conversion, radio frequency (RF) surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters for mobile phones, and flexible paper-like displays for e-readers. He holds 31 patents related to semiconductor devices and microfabrication and has published in IEEE and AIP journals and conferences.
Dr. Chip W Ferguson Western Carolina University [biography]

Chip Ferguson is the Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology and Professor of Engineering and Technology at Western Carolina University.
Dr. Scott Rowe http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-5691-079X Western Carolina University [biography]

Scott Rowe is an Assistant Professor in Western Carolina University’s School of Engineering + Technology. He joined Western Carolina University in 2021 after studies in concentrated solar power and controls engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Scott’s research relates to accessible and inexpensive engineering equipment for laboratory education.

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