When getting your qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, it is easy to lose track of skills that could be easily attainable that might assist your job hunt in the future. There are a number of engineering experts that are warning students to further explore entrepreneurial and business skills that might complement their engineering degrees.
In the United Kingdom, in Newcastle, STEM experts are trying to implement a student-focused course named The Hunter’s Smart Specialisation Strategy. The strategy tries to fuse both STEM careers and entrepreneurship, as well as digital literacy, in an attempt to grow the skill sets of STEM career professionals.
The Massachusetts Insitute of Technology (MIT) also recently launched entrepreneurship courses that specifically teach engineers entrepreneurial skills for the closing of business deals. The course is called Entrepreneurial Negotiations: The MIT Way.
Moreover, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Engineering have also launched a program that sees business-savvy skills being taught to engineering students. The university wants to launch the course by this September. The program will focus on “Innovation, Leadership and Engineering Entrepreneurship.”
“We lead the pack in entrepreneurship and by creating this degree we are recognizing that innovation leadership and engineering entrepreneurship are not just satellite, extracurricular activities but we bring them front and center. Students can come to Illinois, engage their passions, and receive mentorship, education and guidance as they part in our highly entrepreneurial ecosystem on campus,” said Andreas Cangellaris, dean of engineering at UIUC.
UIUC have high-ranking engineering alumni who have gone on to start build and contribute to companies like PayPal and YouTube.
Sydney Morning Herald contributor Tony Featherstone has also commented on the need for entrepreneurship education in Australia amidst a shortage of mathematics education and entrepreneurship education. He writes:
Australia needs more scientists who think like entrepreneurs, information technology students who can turn their software into a fast-growth growth ventures, mathematicians who can turn algorithms into commercial ventures, and engineers who can build big businesses. But it will take generational change to achieve it and the push must start at school.