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Ean Kuska
Dr. Li
ENG 200H-11
10/10/17
The Engineering of the Future

If youre gonna get a job, clap your hands. *Clap Clap* If youre gonna get a job, clap

your hands. *Clap Clap* If youre gonna get a job, if youre gonna get a job, if youre gonna get a

job, clap your hands. *Clap Clap*, belched all of the freshman engineers during the University

of Daytons 2017 new student orientation. Each respective discipline created their own chant,

but none triumphed over the chant of the engineers. This mantra reflects a common

understanding that engineers do not have much trouble finding jobs after college; one of the

many benefits of becoming an engineer. I, myself, am a mechanical engineer, but the

University of Dayton (UD) provides all student engineers with great opportunities and resources

that lead to success after college. Learning about entrepreneurial engineering is one of these

such resources. But, what is entrepreneurial engineering? What is engineering, for that

matter? And how can a student utilize them together to create a successful life as an engineer.

So, how do we define engineering? Unfortunately, there are many definitions of

engineering that all differ from each other. For example, The Royal Academy of Engineering

states that engineers use engineering to make things, make things work, and make things work

better (What is Engineering). This definition is clearly vague and not very informative. Lets try

again. Merriam-Websters dictionary describes engineering as the application of science and

mathematics by which the properties of matter and the sources of energy in nature are made

useful to people. This is a very broad, yet strong definition. Like this definition states, engineers

use anything at their disposal to identify, analyze, and solve problems, often creating brand new

designs in the process. To make it easier to understand this definition, we can further look into

specific fields of engineering. Lets look at civil engineering, for example. Civil engineers work

with things that are physically and naturally designed, such as infrastructure like buildings,
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roads, bridges, and canals. First, the civil engineer must identify a problem, design a solution

for that problem, and then physically build and implement the solution. If a civil engineer notices

that a bridge has started to lose strength, he will need to fix it in order to ensure that it is safe to

use. He may design a new support system for the bridge, build this support, and attach it to the

bridge, thus fixing the problem. In addition to solving problems, engineers may implement their

skills to improve upon the designs of widely used items. For example, we can look at the

improvement of the medical scalpel. Initially, the medical scalpel consisted of a single, non-

moving blade that would cut into the patient causing a lot of bleeding. Over the years,

engineers have used their talents to create a scalpel with a blade that oscillates so many times

in one second that it not only decreases the difficulty of an incision, but also simultaneously

corrugates the wound, reducing the loss of blood significantly. Simply put, engineering can be

described as the use of design techniques to improve the lives of human beings.

In order to understand entrepreneurial engineering, you first must understand the

entrepreneurial mindset. According to the Network of Teaching Entrepreneurship, the

entrepreneurial mindset is, a set of attitudes, skills, and behaviors...including: initiative and self-

direction, risk-taking, flexibility and adaptability, creativity and innovation, critical thinking and

problem solving, that students need to succeed academically, personally, and professionally,

(The Entrepreneurial). According to the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), this

mindset, powers industries, transforms companies from within, and creates value for

employees and customers alike, (Entrepreneurial Mindset). In addition, they explain that the

entrepreneurial mindset is a combination of curiosity, connections, and creating value. The

traditional mindset of an engineer usually involves following models or patterns to achieve a

simple goal. KEEN desires to change this way of thinking. Instead of simply following this fixed

system when solving a problem, they hope engineers use curiosity to dive deeper. Utilizing this

curiosity, entrepreneurially minded engineers will make connections between things that seem

so different, and use these connections to create value by not only solving the simple problem,
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but creating new improvements in the process. For example, if a client asked an

entrepreneurial engineer to create a toothbrush that brushes more efficiently, the engineer

would design a product that not only brushes more efficiently, but also that people find easier

and more comfortable to use, thus creating value out of an initially simple issue. Clearly, the

entrepreneurial mindset is a useful asset for engineers to employ.

How can I, as a mechanical engineer, use the entrepreneurial mindset to succeed, and

how is UD helping me to do so? Not only would a company be more likely to hire me if I had an

entrepreneurial mindset; but also, the company would be more likely to continue to grow as well.

If I can learn to promote my own curiosity, rather than hide it, this will allow me to make strong

connections thus creating more value for myself. UD hopes to assist me in doing so with their

KEEN Fellows Program. This program looks to, empower faculty to infuse their undergraduate

engineering courses with Entrepreneurially Minded Learning (EML) and other advanced

learning pedagogies, (Visioneering). In other words, the KEEN Fellows will attempt to engage

the curiosity of the students, and create value by making connections from many different

sources and across many different disciplines. This program will teach me to utilize an

entrepreneurial mindset in order to promote myself and my engineering ability.

Simply put, entrepreneurial engineering can be seen as engineering with a different

thought process than that of a typical engineer, a thought process similar to that of a

businessman or marketing professional. This mindset searches beyond simply solving a

problem. It seeks to create and innovate into the future. It seeks to generate value and

increase productivity. It is the future of engineering. So lets engineer the right way. Lets make

stuff, make stuff that works, and make stuff that works better by digging deeper than just one

simple problem.
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Works Cited

Entrepreneurial Mindset 101. KEEN, engineeringunleashed.com/keen/em101/. Accessed 20

Sept. 2017

The Entrepreneurial Mindset. Entrepreneurship and Innovation,

entrepreneurship.msu.edu/the-entrepreneurial-mindset/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Visioneering Center. KEEN Fellows Program : University of Dayton, Ohio,

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udayton.edu/engineering/centers/visioneering/keen-fellows-program/index.php. Accessed

20 Sept. 2017.

What is engineering? Royal Academy of Engineering,

www.raeng.org.uk/education/what-is-engineering. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.