ENGINEERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP MINOR
Engineering Entrepreneurship Concentrations
Beginning Fall 2024
Open to students from all colleges, Villanova University offers a unique 16-credit Engineering Entrepreneurship minor that aims to provide students across all majors and colleges with an engineering innovation mindset and the skills needed for business success. The minor was started with funding from the Kern Family Foundation to teach the entrepreneurial fundamentals of curiosity, making connections and value creation. Launching Fall 2024, students may choose between two paths to complete the minor, providing flexibility for students to explore different interests.
Beginning Fall 2024 all students of the 16-credit hour Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor complete the following:
- 7-credit hours of Fundamentals in Engineering Innovation
- 6-credit hours in a chosen concentration of either Engineering Social Entrepreneurship or Technology Opportunity Assessment
- one approved 3-credit hour elective from their major
For specific course requirements, electives and policy,
please view the Villanova University Undergraduate Catalog.
Students may alternatively opt not to complete the entire minor but rather only complete courses or sections relevant to their future career interests.
The interdisciplinary minor covers a diverse set of topics including:
- creativity and ideation frameworks
- emerging disruptive technology assessment
- design thinking for new product innovation
- market research
- customer discovery
- persona development
- intellectual property management
- agile prototyping
- value proposition development
- innovative business model design
- product development planning
- social engineering
- entrepreneurial finance
- marketing for startups
Academic Framework and Program Timeline
Generally, a student declares the Engineering Entrepreneurship minor the spring of freshman year or fall of sophomore year. A student may choose to limit their involvement in the program and only complete sections of the minor.
Fundamentals in Engineering Innovation (7-credit hours)
Your focus is on a career path in innovation:
Engineering Innovation Fundamentals is designed to equip undergraduate students with the skills and mindset needed to drive innovation. Fundamentals in Engineering Innovation covers three courses essential to new product innovation: Creative Thinking for Scientist and Engineers, Customer Discovery and Design Thinking, and Innovative Business Model Development. It is recommended that these courses are taken in sequence.
Through Engineering Innovation Fundamentals, students will learn processes and strategies for identifying real-world problems, generating innovative solutions, and transforming ideas into viable business opportunities. Hands-on projects provide opportunities to apply innovation principles to real world challenges. Students who complete the will gain an innovative and entrepreneurial edge, empowering them to spearhead impactful innovations throughout their careers. Those seeking careers in product development, corporate innovation, or business consulting will particularly benefit.
CONCENTRATIONS
Technology Opportunity Assessment (6-credit hours)
Your focus is on a career path in technology-based innovation.
The Technology Opportunity Assessment concentration equips students with an understanding of intellectual property fundamentals, experience in evaluating disruptive innovations, and insights into the drivers of technology innovation. It provides a valued credential for a wide variety of careers including engineering product development, intellectual property management, new business development, and technology scouting.
Engineering Social Entrepreneurship (6-credit hours)
Your focus is on a career path in social impact innovation.
The Social Entrepreneurship concentration equips undergraduate students with the entrepreneurial skills and cross-disciplinary perspectives needed to drive positive social and environmental impact through mission-driven ventures. Through project-based learning, case studies, and potential cross-campus collaborations, students apply entrepreneurial strategies to engineer innovative and impactful solutions to the world's most pressing sustainability and humanitarian challenges. This 6-credit track includes an approved 3-credit hour course from either Humanitarian Engineering or Sustainable Engineering.
INNOVATE Partnership
The experiential minor is structured so that students work on interdisciplinary teams to develop products/services while learning educational content. The minor is aligned with INNOVATE. Students who participate in INNOVATE can continue to work on their innovation within the Engineering Entrepreneurship minor. When ready, Engineering Entrepreneurship students from INNOVATE can apply to The Launchpad, a stage gated early seed fund with a CEO Mentor network for students to launch their business ventures.
Engineering Entrepreneurship Electives
The approved Elective List complements the minor with content specific to each major in the College of Engineering. Additional electives for VSB and CLAS participants are approved through the Director of the Engineering Entrepreneurship program.
Disclaimer:
The above program requirements are applicable to students declaring the minor Fall 2024 and beyond. Please consult the appropriate archived handbook available on the homepage for years prior to these requirements. In order that programs offered by Villanova University reflect current advances and additions to knowledge and upgraded professional requirements, Villanova University reserves the right to change programs and requirements without prior notice. Special requirements may be in effect for students who have left the University and are being readmitted. Students are advised to check with the web catalog or with their college offices regarding changes that may affect them. Additional academic information may be obtained from the various college offices and the web sites listed for the particular policies, programs and services found in this catalog.