PROMOTION OF INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ENGINEERING DESIGN BY SYNCHRONIZING ENGINEERING AND BUSINESS SCHOOL COURSES

摘要

There is a need to improve the innovation and entrepreneur-ship capacity of engineering design students before graduation, as innovation and entrepreneurship are drivers of economic growth. This paper presents the alignment of existing courses within a university system, mainly Design Thinking (Engineering) and Consumer Behavior (Marketing), with the purpose of developing technology-based entrepreneurship efforts that directly impact a society in need of economic development. Students from each course were presented with six current problems being faced by society, for them to work on in groups. The experience of having interdisciplinary teams working together to achieve a common goal is documented. Also, in order to measure the impact of the courses on the students, a survey of innovation self-efficacy was given to the students at the beginning and at the end of each semester. The results and implications for engineering design education are discussed.