Developing Aspiring Engineers into Budding Entrepreneurs: An Invention and Innovation Course

Our invention and innovation course for engineering students cultivates an understanding of the entrepreneurship and invention world through a hands‐on introduction to product design and development. A pervasive emphasis on team dynamics as well as on the processes of design, invention and innovation fosters an environment that produces successful teams and inventions. This paper describes objectives and components of the elective course, development of high‐performance invention teams, course evaluation, assessment tools and results, and lessons learned. Students working in teams design and build an invention of their choice, and explore entrepreneurial topics such as profitability, marketing, sources for capital, and patenting. Creating business feasibility studies leads each team to estimate the manufacturing cost of their product and forecast potential sales revenues and profits. A two‐week, low‐risk introductory creativity and design project provides an early opportunity for creative expression, as well as insight into individuals' contribution and effectiveness in a team environment. Our course was inspired and initially supported by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). Some student teams have subsequently received NCIIA product development funding.