35
edits
Changes
no edit summary
WMU professors have been the driving force behind the greater emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship within the classroom. From designing the only ABET-Accredited Industrial & Entrepreneurial Engineering (IEE) program, to forming the newly classified Entrepreneurship major, they are dedicated to bringing I&E to university students.
Within IEE, the professors collaborate to bring a set of courses (Entrepreneurial Engineering I, II, & III) to guide students through the different stages of the product design and development cycle. Other focuses of the courses include the business canvas and the hypothetical layout of the manufacturing facility needed to build that product. Even within the Intro to Mechanical Engineering Economics course, the professor assigns a case study regarding the initial costs of starting a new businessteaches students an indroduction to design thinking, and has them apply it to hands on projects.
This is the same within the Management Department, as professors seek out entrepreneurship projects for their students. These projects typically stem from the engineering college; the management students are to apply their business expertise to help expand these entrepreneurship efforts. Generally, the professors are also the first ones to encourage students to participate in competitions and workshops, such as the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition and the Michigan Collegiate Innovation Prize.