Stevens Institute of Technology
IN-3: Innovation 3

This year’s (2015) freshman class is the first required to take Introduction to Entrepreneurship as part of a planned “innovation spine” that will round out the rigorous engineering curriculum with a grounding in entrepreneurial thinking and how to speak the language of business. Academic entrepreneurship is more than a technology transfer process, it is a shift in academic culture that adds another dimension to higher education. The Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship prepares the student for the entrepreneurial age.
Mission: To foster and promote Institute-wide innovative research & educational programs, and technology commercialization.
The university responds to societal needs:
1. Fosters innovation and entrepreneurial practices at all academic levels that benefit all stakeholders both internal and external
2. Prepares students to compete in an environment where jobs are scarce and business and entrepreneurial skills are critical for a successful career
3. Contributes to the growth of the local and regional economies
The Innovation Spine does not include only the "Introduction to Entrepreneurship" class but also Business plan competitions, summer internships, seminars, entrepreneurship minor, research programs.

The program also includes a course sequence that culminates in a senior capstone design project for all engineering students. Over the last couple years, through the I&E program, SIT has made an a deliberate effort to increase the number of sponsored senior design projects that have a strong environmental sustainability component. They have successfully executed a number of projects in both the energy domain and water treatment and quality. In fact, Stevens recently received a $5.0M award from the Department of Defense to investigate, using a systems approach, sustainability practices at Army Ammunition plants and investigate the utilization of wastewater streams generated in these facilities for the growth of algal biomass and its subsequent conversion to biofuel for the generation of renewable energy. This specific project will result in a number of senior design projects over the next four years.

The course "Introduction to Entrepreneurship" was designed to be student centric, with lively classroom discussion and group work, and an emphasis on learning by doing. Students identify problems, meet with customers and develop prototypes, and refine concepts as they gather more data. They learn to work in teams on their projects, develop presentation skills as they share what they have learned, and create YouTube videos for a potential Kickstarter audience. In fact, seven of those projects have been accepted by Kickstarter(Glove: http://kck.st/1k5S3Gu ,key case: http://kck.st/OrTtfu, and modustrip: http://kck.st/OEZG7Z.)

Below you can see the number of students who are involved with the I&E office programs:

1. Summer Scholars Research Program : 34 students will be supported this summer (81 applications processed)
2. Stevens Scholar I&E Summer Research: 109 students are paired with faculty advisors to conduct 6 weeks of summer research
3. Stevens I&E Doctoral Fellows: 8 new fellows were admitted to the program for Fall 2013. A total of 30 doctoral fellows are currently supported
4. Student Elevator Pitch Olympics & Project Plan Olympics at I-Expo Day: Sixteen teams selected to compete – 8 in each category.

Finally, the office is planning on also establishing a new program for Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship at Stevens (IDEaS). The mission of the program is to create a holistic innovation culture by integrating and intertwining design, research and entrepreneurship student learning experiences at Stevens. This is achieved through the newly developed design spine I&E courses (MGT 103 – Entrepreneurial Learning and E403/E404 – Innovation Workshop for senior design) and other planned I&E activities. The Prototype Object Fabrication (ProOF) Laboratory, that will be housed in the new Gateway building will be managed and operated by the IDEaS program. Professor Kishore Pochiraju is appointed program director.