Minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The Minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I Minor) educates students to serve as leaders in the innovation economy with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to develop, scale, and deliver breakthrough solutions to real-world problems. They will be prepared to do so within a range of organizational contexts: an entrepreneurial start-up of their own, as key members of a founding team, or as an entrepreneurial member of a large organization.
Jointly offered by the Schools of Engineering and Management, the minor is designed as an interdisciplinary program with a coherent combination of conceptual and practical elements that draws on a wealth of prior educational activities in this domain.
Students who complete the E&I Minor will have developed knowledge and skills in:
- The innovation process from the conception of an initial invention and the problem it may solve to the refinement of the solution, to the considerations needed in the scale-up and delivery of the solution, to the launch of an appropriately funded entity.
- Communication, teamwork, decision making and leadership skills as well as the integrity and character that are necessary to engage with stakeholders and develop the invention into a real-world product or process.
- Strategies and methods to engage in rigorous iterations to identify and deeply understand societal needs/problems and develop robust, scalable solutions.
- Types of organizational models and designs for the delivery of innovations to the world.
- A range of global contexts for entrepreneurship and innovation, including variations in the interface with key stakeholders whose interests may enable or limit the potential effectiveness of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The minor requires five courses: a core curriculum of two E&I Foundations subjects and an elective subject in each of the three domains—E&I in Context, Leadership of Teams and Organizations, and E&I Experiential.
| Core Curriculum | ||
| 15.359[J] | Engineering Innovation: Global Security Systems | 12 |
| 15.373[J] | Venture Engineering | 12 |
| Electives | ||
| Select one subject from each of the following groups: | 33-36 | |
| E&I in Context | ||
| Innovation and Commercialization of Materials Technology | ||
| Foundations of Information Policy (CI-M) | ||
| Introduction to International Development | ||
| Big Plans and Mega-Urban Landscapes | ||
| Geography of the Global Economy | ||
| Urban Energy Systems and Policy 1 | ||
| Innovation Ecosystems for Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Leaders (iEco4REAL) | ||
| American Public Policy for Washington Interns | ||
| Science, Technology, and Public Policy | ||
| Health Policy | ||
| Finance and Society | ||
| Intersections: Science, Technology, and the World | ||
| Engineering Life: Biotechnology and Society | ||
| Energy, Environment, and Society | ||
| Innovation Systems for Science, Technology, Energy, Manufacturing, and Health | ||
| Africa for Engineers | ||
| D-Lab: Development | ||
| Leadership of Teams and Organizations 2 | ||
| Management in Engineering | ||
| Leading Innovation in Teams | ||
| Foundations of Entrepreneurship for Engineers | ||
| People, Teams, and Organizations Laboratory | ||
| Entrepreneurial Founding and Teams | ||
| E&I Experiential | ||
| The Product Engineering Process 1 | ||
| Medical Device Design 1 | ||
| Development of Mechanical Products 1 | ||
| Global Engineering 1 | ||
| Materials Project Laboratory 1 | ||
| Software Design 1 | ||
| Principles and Practice of Assistive Technology | ||
| Design and Development of Games for Learning | ||
| Building an Entrepreneurial Venture: Advanced Tools and Techniques 1 | ||
| Entrepreneurship 101: Systematic Approach to New Venture Creation | ||
| Entrepreneurship Lab | ||
| Advanced Autonomous Robotic Systems 1 | ||
| Virtual Reality and Immersive Media Production | ||
CMS.610 | 1 | |
| Creating Video Games 1 | ||
| D-Lab: Design 1, 3 | ||
| Total Units | 57-60 | |
| 1 | Subject has prerequisites that are outside the program. |
| 2 | Students in the GEL1 Certificate program may satisfy the Leadership of Teams and Organizations subject by completing a combined 12 units of 6.910A and 6.910B, 6.9110, and 6.9120. |
| 3 | With permission of the minor advisor, one 9- or 12-unit D-Lab subject meeting the criteria for this category may be substituted. |
In special cases, other advanced project coursework may be substituted with the approval of the minor advisor. A minimum of three subjects (or 36 units) taken for the Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor cannot also count toward a student's major or other minor.
For more information, contact the Innovation Initiative senior program manager, Tom Luly.
