Development of a New Graduate Course in Sustainable Technology Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers

This paper describes the development of a new graduate level course entitled Sustainable Technology Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers (STESE), which was jointly developed and delivered by the Colleges of Engineering, Business and Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University. The overarching goals of the STESE course were twofold: (1) to instill an entrepreneurial mindset and global/sustainable perspective among engineering and science students and (2) to provide technical expertise and rapid product realization resources to student teams within the Global Social Sustainable Enterprise (GSSE) program housed in the College of Business. The motivation behind the first goal was to address a deficiency of adequate entrepreneurship training opportunities for graduate students within engineering and agricultural sciences at CSU. The motivation behind the second goal was to address a critical shortage of engineering and agricultural science acumen within the GSSE teams engaged in sustainable enterprises in developing countries. The latter need was addressed by assigning engineering and science students from the STESE course directly to the GSSE teams. In its first offering, the STESE course was cross listed between the Colleges of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences, which yielded a total enrollment of 40 students among 6 different majors. The course was jointly taught by faculty from three departments (Management, Mechanical Engineering and Agricultural Resource Economics) in a weekly format that included lectures, project based learning, and guest speakers. The 16-week semester was divided into four general topic areas: the entrepreneurial mindset, product realization, opportunities at the base of the global economic pyramid and new venture management. Student evaluations from the first offering of the STESE course strongly suggest that the students gained valuable exposure to commercialization opportunities for their graduate research along with the recognition of the potential opportunities at the base of the global economic period. The slate of guest speakers was overwhelmingly evaluated as the most valuable aspect of the course. The project component of the course was generally viewed less favorably.