In today’s global market economy, equipping engineering students with a broader set of skills associated with an entrepreneurial mindset will empower them to create value for the companies they join or launch their own startups. In recent years, institutions across the nation have been investing resources in developing maker spaces plus curricular and extracurricular programs to provide opportunities for students to acquire knowledge, skills, and pursue innovative ideas in a safe environment – while still in college. In 2011, the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched the Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program focused on accelerating economic and societal benefits of NSF funded research projects. Today, there are almost 100 institutions participating in the program as part of an I-Corps Node or an I-Corps Site. While each institution utilizes similar approaches, including an I-Corps team formation, knowledge and skills training, customer discovery and guidance from experienced entrepreneurs, each ecosystem is unique because the program outcomes are closely related to the entrepreneurial culture both on campus and also in the surrounding local community. In this poster presentation, authors will present assessment data from a study designed to understand the impact of the program on student knowledge, perceptions, and practice of entrepreneurship. In the four-cohort assessment data, participants indicate increased confidence in value proposition, self-efficacy in entrepreneurship, and customer discovery. Furthermore, assessment data indicate that participants with a GO decision (to continue pursuing their technology) had higher interest on entrepreneurship, higher confidence in value proposition, with higher perception on the current status of technology and business model. In addition, authors will present a new pilot program to be offered in spring 2020 and aimed to further enhance our I-Corps Site efforts on campus for broader impacts.
Magda Lagoudas, Executive Director for Industry and Nonprofit Partnerships, has been at Texas A&M University since 1992 and served on several capacities across the College of Engineering, including Director for the Space Engineering Institute and Associate Director for the Space Engineering Research Center. Current responsibilities include pursuing strategic partnerships with industry to provide engineering students with opportunities to collaborate on multidisciplinary teams addressing real world challenges and with industry engagement. College signature programs include the Texas A&M I-Corps Site, AggiE_Challenge, INSPIRES, and two annual Project Showcases. Magda is the Principal Investigator of the Texas A&M University I-Corps Site grant and has been active in promoting entrepreneurship both at the local and national level.
Dr. So Yoon Yoon is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati, OH, USA. Dr. Yoon received her Ph.D. in Gifted Education, and an M.S.Ed. in Research Methods and Measurement with a specialization in Educational Psychology, both from Purdue University, IN, USA. She also holds an M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics and a B.S. in Astronomy and Meteorology from Kyungpook National University, South Korea. Her work centers on elementary, secondary, and postsecondary engineering education research as a psychometrician, data analyst, and program evaluator with research interests in spatial ability, STEAM education, workplace climate, and research synthesis with a particular focus on meta-analysis. She has developed, validated, revised, and copyrighted several instruments beneficial for STEM education research and practice. Dr. Yoon has authored more than 85 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and served as a journal reviewer in engineering education, STEM education, and educational psychology. She has also served as a PI, co-PI, advisory board member, or external evaluator on several NSF- and NASA-funded projects.
Rodney Boehm is the Director of Engineering Entrepreneurship and an Associate Professor of Practice in the Texas A&M University College of Engineering. He has broad industry experiences, including over 35 years in all aspects of the telecommunications industry (sales, marketing, manufacturing, business development, and technical design), the creation of a telecommunications standard (SONET - Synchronous Optical Network) for the fiber optics industry that is still in use internationally over 30 years later, a wide variety of business experiences in international companies, and startup experiences. This has helped him lead a very successful industry career.
Currently he is using his technical business experiences to develop and run innovation and entrepreneurial programs for the Engineering Innovation Center, a 20,000 sq ft rapid prototyping facility. These include Aggies Invent, TAMU iSITE, Inventeer, and Pop Up Classes. In addition, he mentors multiple entrepreneurial teams.
Formerly he was a Senior Vice President of Fujitsu Network Communications, headquartered in Richardson, Texas. With over 30 years of experience in telecommunications, Rodney was responsible for developing partnerships with leading network technology providers and driving marketing efforts for optical, access and data products developed by Fujitsu. Rodney was Chairman of the T1X1 Technical Sub-Committee (the organization responsible for SONET standardization) from 1990 through 1994. He has been active in SONET's National and International Standardization since 1985. In addition, Rodney has published numerous papers and presentations on SONET.
Rodney began his career with Fujitsu Network Communications in 1989 as the Director of Strategic Planning. He also held the positions of Director of Transport Product Planning, Vice President of Business Management, Senior Vice President of Sales Management, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, and Senior Vice President of Business Development. Before joining Fujitsu, Rodney worked for Bell Laboratories, Bellcore (now Telcordia), and Rockwell International. He earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering at Texas A&M University.
Samantha Asbell is a graduate student at Texas A&M University currently pursuing her Masters of Science in Business. She received her undergraduate degree in Communication at Texas A&M. Following a research internship with the department of communication, Samantha applied for a role with the College of Engineering as an assistant for the I-Corps Site program. Samantha has a continuing interest in research as well as digital and marketing communications.
Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.
