PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN A SOPHOMORE INTRODUCTORY DESIGN COURSE

Rowan University has a unique 8-semester Engineering Clinic sequence.This sequence helps develop professional skills identified in the ABET A-K criteria though projectbased-learning.The Freshman Engineering Clinics are an introduction to the profession, teamwork, and measurements.The Sophomore Engineering Clinics provide an introduction to technical communication and engineering design principles, and in the Junior/Senior Engineering Clinics, students work in multidisciplinary teams on real research and design projects.Most Junior/Senior Engineering clinics are sponsored by companies, or federal or state government agencies.As a secondary objective, the Engineering Clinic supports entrepreneurship in engineering students.The College of Engineering has a long-standing program that allows students to apply for funding to pursue their own entrepreneurial ideas through the Junior/Senior Engineering Clinics.However, the program has been utilized by very few students.Recently, two new assignments-an entrepreneurial design project and a white paper-have been added to the Sophomore Engineering Clinic sequence.This paper describes these new assignments, explaining how they are intended to promote and support entrepreneurship in engineering students, and discusses how entrepreneurship provides an excellent framework for meeting the main pedagogical objectives of the course: teaching technical communication and engineering design.