Changes

=<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Project Pitch Video</span>=

<span data-cke-bookmark="1" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span>

A majority of RPI student want to make a difference in the world. They want to change it for the better for billions of people. But, they must be equipped with the right skill sets in order to do so. Innovative and entrepreneurial thinking must be better ingrained into their education. They must learn that TECHNOLOGY has the ability to play a critical role in solving these kinds of problems. Leveraging the power of smartphones, sensors, and the Internet is key in order to create DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES for health, education, environment, and raising the standard of living. Integrating these values into engineering education is key to empowering students to develop a strong sense of empathy and a passionate desire to take action.

Students and professors must be fully aware of the fact that t'''he world has changed'''. Acknowledgment is not enough. RPI has an opportunity to be one of the LEADERS in using technology to benefit billions of people. Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, the President of RPI, has made innovation and entrepreneurship one of the <u>key goals</u> in the Refresh Rensselaer Plan.<span style="color:#000000;">Her input, and that of the Provost and the Deans at RPI must be heard. Their suggestions regarding the efforts to expand the ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship at RPI must be noted and vocalized; the department heads and heads of </span>curriculum in&nbsp;<span style="color:#000000;">each department at RPI must be drilled down with this information.</span>

'''&nbsp;'''Professor Tina Seelig said it beautifully in her Innovation Engineer talk - we must learn how to think in the terms of &nbsp;"? +&nbsp;? = 10" not "5 + 5 =&nbsp;?". Sure, “engineers make sure bridges don’t fall down," it is their responsibility. But engineers can also create ''new ways to communicate'', ''new paths to education'', and ''new technology ''that makes it possible for any one person, anywhere in the world, to get the best possible healthcare and education.

A big theme we are wokring on this semester is communication. After interviewing students we have ocme to realize that RPI has a lot of resources to offer that are not being used becaues students do not know about them. There are also a lot of restrictions that are diffiuclt to keep straight. For example, the metal shop is only available to engineers while the woodshop is only available to humanities/ STS students. Students are confused about what is available to them. Our goal is to connect the students with the resources available. Another weak spot that we found when doing the landscape canvas was that most of the classes that expose students to I&E are not taken until they are upperclassmen. This somewhat excludes freshmen and sophomores from learning about I&E.

<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Students don't really know what a career as an entrepreneur looks like, or working on a startup. The status quo is to get an internship or a co-op, go through the general courses, and then apply for jobs as a senior. Because of this, four years of education is not looked at as "how can I build the skills required to do what I want to do", but how can I get the best grades and resume to get a job when I graduate.</span>

*<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Intellectual Property</span>

&nbsp;

<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Faculty are major stakeholders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem at RPI. Professors at RPI are very passionate about their research, but they keep it seperate from their in-class teachings.</span>

<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">There was a class at RPI for 3 semesters titled “How To Change The World” which was geared towards engaging freshman students in design thinking, creative problem solving, and social entrepreneurship. The class was discontinued following the death of the founding professor, Burt Swersey, and has yet to be reincorporated into the curriculum. The few students who took that course, name the material taught as the primary factor in their transition towards more entrepreneurial venture</span>s.

<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Many students are not fully exposed to student entrepreneurship before their senior year.</span>

<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The few entrepreneurship events on campus are geared towards students with mature start-ups, very few are for students interested in I&E.</span>

<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Like schools of similar size RPI boasts a repetoire of 200 clubs.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Many interests are captured and cultivated, there are a number of clubs geared towards I&E. These clubs keep student interest high,</span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">so there is a large amount of dedication. A leader's energy must be able to keep that interest high and keep clubs running and growing faculty advisement. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In many of the clubs geared toward entrepreneurial endeavors a culture of “doing” is not being cultivated.</span>