Innovations within the Division
Entrepreneurship Opportunities
It is widely agreed that science and engineering are currently undergoing a radical metamorphosis, in terms of the skill sets and approach that successful practitioners must bring to problems. A significant fraction of science and engineering graduates will quickly find themselves in job environments very different from what traditional science and engineering programs have prepared them for. Economic growth in the United States is inextricably tied to small, high technology start-up firms; in which, a few key professionals play roles critical to success. Technologists, working in start-up environments, cannot afford to have a narrow knowledge base or compartmentalized thinking; they must possess the ability to not only effectively communicate with their technical colleagues, but also, equally importantly, with potential customers, investors, and other business professionals. In comparison to their counterparts who work for large corporations, technologists working in a contemporary start-up business environment must be more aware of the market, the legal and environmental constraints, and human resources issues in order for the small business to succeed. Engineering and science students who are taught using even the most superior traditional pedagogy (characterized by highly structured and in-depth curricula) are often ill prepared for careers at smaller technology companies where strong communication and innovation skills are vital.
The Division of Engineering has an exciting suite of entrepreneurship offerings. Since Brown does not have a business school, the teaching of entrepreneurship is predominately performed in the Division of Engineering by faculty with a core expertise in business, technology management, innovation and entrepreneurship, and highly successful adjunct faculty with vast practical experience – in fact, in many cases faculty and adjunct faculty co-teach courses to bring the full gamut of theory and practice into the classroom. Heralded by Professor Barrett Hazeltine in the early 1970’s, entrepreneurship pedagogy has a long and successful history in the Division of Engineering, ranging from undergraduate courses in Management of Industrial and Nonprofit Organizations (Engineering 90), Managerial Decision Making (Engineering 900), The Entrepreneurial Process: Innovation in Practice (Engineering 1010), Construction of the Entrepreneurial Framework (Engineering 190), Social Entrepreneurship (Engineering 1930Q) to a two semester sequence in Entrepreneurship where students work with mentors to develop a new product (Engineering 193-194-S07). Students not only prepare a business plan, but they are also required to build a working prototype of the product concept. The students in this class are exposed to speakers from the local business community, including angel investors and venture capitalists. Often finding themselves pitching their ideas to seasoned investors, the students are provided with a valuable expertise in the art of communication and persuasion.
A new undergraduate concentration has recently emerged on the Brown University campus; it is a tightly knit consortium of three departments: the Economics Department, the Sociology Department and the Division of Engineering. The new undergraduate concentration is entitled Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship, or COE. The Division of Engineering brings the technology, engineering and entrepreneurship aspect to the new curriculum, while Sociology and Economics bring their knowledge bases of organization and commerce, respectively.
Building upon successes at the undergraduate level, a gradate course on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Engineering 292-S26), where Ph.D. students create human and societal value out of their thesis research, has been developed. The graduate students shown below have each developed a number of prototype products stemming from their research and this course, including a flexible display, a non-invasive hemoglobin level measuring device, and new ways to grow globules of cells in a Petri dish.
A unique spin-off of this entrepreneurship activity was the launch of the new Masters level Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME) Engineering. The PRIME Engineering Masters experience is an educational solution designed to address the many challenges young engineering and science students will encounter. By committing to a one-year master’s program after their technology-based undergraduate education, students receive a unique set of core competencies to lead them in the high technology and global workplace. This Masters program has several educational objectives:
- To train students who understand both the engineering and business aspects of technology, as well as the intimate and intricate relationship between the two;
- To combine the study of the development of embryonic idea generation and emerging technologies, those at the fuzzy front end, with contemporary principles of innovation and management – bringing students to the forefront of high technology leadership and entrepreneurship;
- To develop an innovative learning environment where students discover the value of cutting across disciplinary boundaries to solve complex problems;
- To develop a global engineering aspect to the curriculum by utilizing prominent international contacts, who will train students to be effective in the fast paced international marketplace;
- To prepare students to lead within and across technology-based organizations;
- To train students to be actively engaged in organizations where understanding and exploiting rapidly changing technology is a key to success;
- To converge the core expertise of enthusiastic Engineering faculty with the experience of adjunct faculty, who will bring to the students strategic innovation and technology management perspectives with regards to the challenge of emerging technology;
- To engage students in emerging topics of science and engineering through coursework and the internship experience;
- To leverage Brown University’s research infrastructure to seed student project ideas and satisfy the internship experience;
- To develop leaders who will be successful in a world of accelerating technological change.
If approved by their advisor, Ph.D. students may also participate in the PRIME program, thereby obtaining Masters’ degrees in the innovation field on the way to their doctoral degree in engineering.
