Background

We are the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where students pursue their passions in engineering, nursing, and business. We're dreamers, thinkers, makers and doers at a small university that is dedicated to achieving big things. From international plumbing competitions to ground-breaking medical innovations, our community is making the most out of their education.

Innovation and entrepreneurship at MSOE starts with the community of learners who feel that I&E is a priority. MSOE takes this journey of I&E through five phases: Discover, Learn, Experiment, Pursue, and Spin Out. Discover begins by generating awareness, importance and fundamental elements of I&E to students. Students then realize I&E is important and we want to get involved in a deeper way when we Learn. Experiment to apply knowledge of I&E to a specific challenge/problem and form design teams or solo work to explore that potential. Students who Pursue are committing to an opportunity to license a technology, form or join a venture startup, or attain legal status. Finally, Spin Out to commercialize entities and pivot further to adapt innovations to the needs of the marketplace. MSOE's Landscape Canvas highlights I&E that is present at our university.

Find the links to our Landscape Canvas and Synthesis below.

Find our Landscape Canvas

Find our Landscape Canvas Synthesis

Promoting Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Programs, Opportunities, Organizations

Students involved in innovation and entrepreneurship Discover, Learn and Explore at MSOE.

Discover

Marketing and Communication Strategies

How it works: Marketing at MSOE is used to reach our network from the community on campus out to Milwaukee, and then beyond into the global aspect. Marketing and communication resources are used to reach families, alumni, faculty and staff, students, companies, other universities, and all of our communities.
Marketing Reaches:
- Mozee Minute
- Campus Digest
- MSOE Dimensions
- MSOE Website
- Campus Lines

MSOE Fall Career Night

Background: Each year during the fall quarter, MSOE has the Fall Career Night for companies to come to campus and network with current students, faculty, staff, and alumni. There is also a Career Night for the CAECM Department during Winter Quarter.
Outcome: Students network with companies around the Milwaukee area and across the globe to find careers and internship opportunities. MSOE Career Night is a pinnacle of the MSOE experience for students and an amazing opportunity to make connections.

Senior Design

How it works: Senior Design takes place during students' fourth year on campus. A team of students and their faculty mentor will team up with a company to design and implement a project using knowledge gained through previous years of schooling.
Mission: The mission is for students at MSOE to use their academics, innovations, and entrepreneurial experiences to coordinate with companies in a professional manner.
Outcome: Partnerships may lead to careers, but definitely lead to networking experiences with the company the students coordinated with. Real-life experience and hands-on work help students to excel.

Honors Seminar

Background: Project-based English course aligned with servant leadership. This freshman and sophomore program encourages students to think outside of the box and work with the living-learning community.
How it works: Students have to qualify for the program and reach out to actively chose to join.
Mission: The mission is to teach students to work together, reach out and network, and push the limits of their knowledge and innovation. Entrepreneurial Tie: Students work with faculty mentors and businesses to work on projects that they have a passion about.

Learn

I&E Courses

Goals: The goal of these courses is to push students to practice I&E skills outside of typical academic courses. These courses are asking students to reach further than before to network, come up with innovative solutions to problems, and utilize entrepreneurship in the classroom as well as outside of it.
Course Titles:
- Creative Thinking
- UX Minor
- Minor in Business Administration
- Minor in Finance
- UX and Communication Design
- Innovation and Business Markets
- Practicum in Entrepreneurship
- Legal Aspects of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Artificial Intelligence: Coming Soon!

Coming soon to MSOE, Artificial Intelligence is going to change the future of the campus and the presence of I&E. MSOE will utilize these new opportunities as ways to prepare students for the quickly changing world that we are living in. AI will revolutionize the university and open up endless opportunities for I&E.

Extracurricular Clubs and Program Offerings

Outcome: Extracurricular Clubs and Programs offer students a way to reach out and practice I&E through student-led events and activities on campus. Students are allowed and encouraged to pursue the things that they are passionate about outside of the classroom.
Program Name:
- Dawn of Next Generation Thinkers
- Habitat for Humanity
- Engineers Without Borders
- Cyber Raider Organization for Networking
- NASARobotic Mining Competition Team
- Investment and Entrepreneurship Club
- Global Brigades
- Mentor Program with NSBE & JCI
- Society of Women Engineers
- Project Lead the Way
- Servant Leadership
- Student Government

Competitions

Background: Students will utilize a faculty mentor in order to use their academic knowledge outside of the classroom. They will also be asked to network and utilize I&E skills they have acquired throughout their time at MSOE. Competitions push students to open their minds to find new solutions.
Program Name:
- Festival of Big Ideas
- VDC Competition Team
- ASHRAE Competition Team
- Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe Competition Team
- Shark Tank

Start-Ups

Mission: Start-Ups at MSOE give the entire community an opportunity to explore what it means to get involved in innovative and entrepreneurial endeavors. Start-Ups are a way to get everyone involved, thinking, and on-board with the importance of I&E.
Program Name:
- MKE Startup Week
- 'The Commons 'Hack-It Bracket
- Technical Communication Certificate

Explore

Internship, Co-op Opportunity

Outcome: Internship and Co-op Opportunities at MSOE give students a way to test out their knowledge in their field of study and help them to explore working in real-world applications with businesses. This is also a great way to practice I&E and to network outside of the MSOE community.
Program Name:
- The Commons
- SDL - Junior SE
- MSOE REU - Research Experience for Undergrads
- Elijah High Altitude Balloon Fellowship Program
- Junior Projects
- Facilities Design

Infrastructure and Research Centers

Research Centers at MSOE facilitate I&E through hands-on experience that put their graduates a step ahead. Labs and Research Centers help students to learn and to grow.
Research Centers:
- Rapid Prototyping Center
- EECS Makerspace
- IE Lab
- Machine Shop
- Laser Cutting Lab
- Biomolecular Modeling
- Undergraduate Research
- Fluid Power Institute
- Applied Technology Center (ATC)

Graduate Programs in Science, Technology, or Innovation

Background: Graduate Programs in Science, Technology, and Innovation at MSOE help our graduates venture into their careers with hands-on experience as well as innovative and future oriented mindsets that help them to excel as a young professional. The following graduate programs are offered at MSOE.
Program Name:
- Architectural Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Perfusion
- Marketing and Export Management
- Engineering Management
- STEM Leadership
- Business Administration
- Nursing

Encouraging Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurshipment

Faculty involvement encourages innovation and entrepreurship at MSOE that involves every part of the MSOE community and its success.

Name

Background:
How it works:
Mission:
Entrepreneurial Tie:
Competitors:
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Actively Supporting the University Technology Transfer Function

Current university technology transfer functions are limited on campus, but MSOE does have a few programs that we are proud to display.

Name: The Commons

Background: The Commons is an entrepreneurial skills accelerator that drives students and young professionals through a process of Design Thinking in order to give a startup its foundation or execute a corporate challenge.
How it works: Students apply and must be accepted to the program. Students then attend a kickoff weekend, are presented projects, pick a project, then spend 9 weeks going through processes of Customer Discovery, Ideation/Brainstorming, Defining a Problem, Creating a Solution, and Drafting a Business Plan. At the end of everything, the information is presented to the rest of the team in the form of a 4 minute pitch. Groups meet each Tuesday for 3 hours to run through the workshop of the week and often meet with each other one more time in the week, performing around 3-4 additional hours of work outside of the Tuesday sessions.
Mission: For the students of Southeast Wisconsin’s colleges and universities, The Commons is an opportunity to get firmly planted in the region’s growing innovation economy. It's a chance to put skills to the test with real-world projects, work with talented peers and find the mentorship / networking opportunities that (pardon the cliche) are game-changers for their career paths. (thecommonswi.com)
Entrepreneurial Tie: The Commons invokes the entrepreneurial mindset in students who will return to studies and careers in their respective fields with a new outlook.
Competitors: I-Corps - but I-Corps targets a different audience, usually more so groups of students looking to develop their idea into a company. The Commons is able to help both the student looking to move forward their startup as well as the students who want to contribute to something and put to use the skills they’ve been learning in class.
Outcome: Students return changed individuals to their universities and jobs. People who go through The Commons have a stronger tie to their entrepreneurial community, a passion for creativity and innovation, and the tools to handle any problem or project they may encounter.

Name: I-Corps (Innovation Corps)

Background: Students from Milwaukee universities attend a session
How it works: Students apply to the program in the early months of the year. Once accepted, the student teams gather weekly for a series of five weeks to work through a “Lean Startup” process that moves their project ideas forward quickly and with a good foundation. Students receive a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) at the end of the 5 weeks to move forward with the project.
Mission: Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Milwaukee I-Corps Program offers researchers and entrepreneurs a chance to explore the viability of their technologies and ventures through the “Lean Startup” or “Lean Launch” process of direct engagement with the potential markets. Through a five-week workshop, participants are coached on designing and validating a business model around their idea and deciding whether the idea is a go/no-go decision based on their business model. Regardless of the go/no-go outcome, teams will develop valuable skills in discovering the market – skills that will inform their research, business, and careers. (http://icorpsmilwaukee.org)
Entrepreneurial Tie: Pushes forward student projects by providing them with a model to follow in order to gain progress as well as funding to accomplish things like prototyping, marketing, etc.
Competitors: The Commons - I-Corps focuses on getting projects to the stage of prototyping, so the project can make changes and pivot if need be. They get the projects through the rough part of honing in and creating a viable solution.
Outcome: Students are encouraged to follow the inklings and create the ideas they think of. Students come out of I-Corps with the tools to move forward with prototyping and refining the solution the group has created. Students will also come out with the knowledge enabling them to reach out to additional investors to keep the project moving forward if that is what the group needs.

Name: Senior Design Seed Money

Background: Students either kickstarting their Senior Design Project or Honors Servant Leadership Project may apply for up to $500 as seed funding.
How it works: Students fill out an application outlining the project, what the money will be used for, and why it’s important that they receive this seed money. There is a finite amount of funding, and it is dealt out first come first serve.
Mission: To enable students with projects to get off the ground and ensure they have a solid foundation to get off of. Going through the application process also forces the student, if they haven’t already, to aggregate and deliver the project concisely in a way that would warrant them funding.
Entrepreneurial Tie: The seed funding enables students to achieve goals more quickly as funding may be something holding students back from moving forward with their project.
Competitors: Any outside or inside investors - Senior Design Seed Funding however, is both certainly reliable and relatively easy to obtain compared to outside sources of funding like Angel Investors or Venture Capitalists.
Outcome: Students are able to drive ideas forward with seed funding and likely have some money to fall back on later in the project.

Facilitating University-Industry Collaboration

MSOE facilitates university-industry collaboration relating to research centers, industrial parks and industry/mentor networks.

Rapid Prototyping Center (RPC)

Background:

The Rapid Prototyping Center (RPC) is an applied research center that helps businesses achieve prototype more quickly and take products to market faster. This joint effort of industry, government and MSOE is dedicated to the application of proven technologies to novel challenges.</span> According to an article celebrating the 25th anniversary of the RPC, “Manufacturing companies in the automotive, defense, water, medical device and health care industries comprise the consortium at MSOE, where members consult with each other and MSOE to develop cutting edge products and solutions. It’s cost effective and they rely on MSOE’s experts to help with R&D efforts. They also have access to leading additive manufacturing technologies at MSOE

25 Year Anniversary Article

How it works:

Membership in the industrial consortium is open to any organization interested in the application of additive manufacturing technologies. The consortium members include public and private corporations, as well as nonprofit educational institutions. Membership is available at three member levels (Full, Half, and Quarter Memberships). In order to encourage the sharing of information, this is a non-compete consortium; consortium member at the Half or Full Membership level can maintain exclusivity in their industry.

Mission:

*provide value to our industrial consortium members, through additive manufacturing services, applied research efforts, product/process development projects, and educational services;</span> *support the academic mission of MSOE, by providing additive manufacturing support for MSOE student projects and research assistant opportunities for MSOE students *provide faculty development opportunities, through access to additive manufacturing technologies and expertise for faculty research efforts. Link: http://rpc.msoe.edu/about-3/

Entrepreneurial Tie:

Consortium Members Include:

BRP

DRS Technologies

EATON, Evinrude

GE Oil & Gas

Hokler

Oshkosh

Pentair

Snap-On

Contacts:

Vince Anewenter

Director, Rapid Prototyping Consortium

Ph: (414) 277-2471

email: anewente@msoe.edu

Laser Cutting Lab

How it works:

The Laser cutting lab is open to all Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) students who have completed the required safety course. It houses a commercial sized laser cutter capable of cutting 1/4 inch plywood and different types of acrylic.

Students sign-up on a clipboard outside of the laser room. Students must be accompanied by a fellow student who has been certified in laser cutting safety. In some circumstances (design projects, Senior Design, etc) it is possible to get key card access to the room for frequent use of the laser.

Contacts:

Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald

Department: Civil & Architectural Engineering & Construction Management

macdonal@msoe.edu

Machine Shop

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How it works:

The machine shop is open to all Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) students who have completed the required safety course. Majority of the student body using the facility are Mechanical Engineering students however, it is open to all degrees. Staff is very friendly and are available to help with intricate machining work or general questions.

The Shop houses many commercial sized macherenering including:

Lathes

Drill Presses

Band Saws

Belt Sanders

Mills

Outcome:

The goal of the campus machine shop is to provide students with the ability to manufacture specialty/custom pieces on campus. With an excellent staff with years of experience in machining techniques, they want you help make your idea come to life.

EECS Makerspace

How it works:

The EECS Makerspace is an extension of the EECS Support Center and is housed in the same room. Any MSOE student is allowed to use the makerspace and its supplies for personal or academic projects

Outcome:

To provide students easy access to 3D printers and rapid prototyping technology

Contacts:

Dr. Eric Durant

Department: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

durant@msoe.edu

Industrial Engineering Lab

How it works:

The Industrial Engineering Lab is a space for collaboration and innovative thinking. With unique seating arrangement and modular design. The room can be able to accommodate different situations

Outcome:

The goal of the Lab is to provide a place where student can be free to explore creativity and apply their knowledge in new stimulating environment.

Contacts:

Dr. Charlene Yauch

Department: Mechanical Engineering

yauch@msoe.edu

Engaging with Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts

MSOE engages in regional and local economic development to promote I&E.