Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset Using the KEEN Framework for a Digital Communication System Course

The College of Engineering (CoE) is using the Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN) model to develop an entrepreneurial mindset while meeting technical objectives in a digital communication course. The authors attended a three and one-half day meeting called the Integrating Curriculum with Entrepreneurial-Mindset (ICE) Workshop to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset. [1] During the workshop, the authors developed a set of learning modules focused using KEEN’s model. The student must deliver a presentation and a written report focused on the entrepreneurial mindset for a digital communication course, identified as EE 463. Several Entrepreneurial-Minded Learning (EML) activities prepared students for the research project and report. Although the senior and adult students were exposed for the firsttime to the KEEN framework, they performed tasks to foster an entrepreneurial mindset based on the following topics covered in six of the eleven weeks: Internet of Things, Light Fidelity (LiFi), Deep Learning/Artificial Intelligence, Smart Everything (Smart Cities, Smart/Driverless Cars, etc.), Bitcoin/Block Chain Technology, and 5G and Enabling Technologies. Each student must summarize their findings in a discussion board for the assigned topic and make at least one connection of a communication system concept studied in class. Their discussion must also include either a business opportunity/business model, economic or social implication. Each student was asked to develop a discussion question to lead a 10-15 minute discussion for the next lesson. The discussion boards are intended to prepare the students for doing the research paper and presentation. An end of course survey and student feedback are presented. Introduction and Course Description The College of Engineering (CoE) seeks opportunities to enhance its program curriculum helping students become more successful after graduation. As of October 2017, the CoE’s mission is as follows: “The mission of the College of Engineering is to develop team-oriented engineering professionals from diverse backgrounds who are prepared to ethically apply industry-current real-world skills to achieve value-added solutions in a dynamic world.” During 2017, CoE successfully received an ABET re-accreditation with no interim reports for six years for the BSEE and BSCE undergraduate programs. During the accreditation process, one issue ABET visitors posed a question to CoE paraphrased as: where does the CoE see their students after three to five years beyond graduation? To better address this question for another ABET visit in six years, CoE intends to enrich its program curriculum and equip students with additional skills by incorporating an entrepreneurial mindset. In September 2017, the College of Engineering (CoE) decided to embed entrepreneurial skills in engineering learning activities for a number of courses throughout the program curriculum, requiring an efficient and integrated process. By incorporating EML in different course sequences such as circuits, electronic design, and communications systems, students will have the opportunity to develop and build up their entrepreneurial mindset. The CoE already offers elements of systems thinking for complex problems in the capstone courses for undergraduate and graduate programs [2]. However, the engineering students will not only have the technical “know how” when they graduate but will further augment their technical skills with “the why” mindset. CoE intends to incorporate the entrepreneurial mindset in engineering problem solving within the engineering curriculum. In summary, CoE also intends to address ABET’s question about graduates three to five years beyond graduation. CoE’s a long-term vision is to graduate students who are inventive engineers providing innovative solutions having economic and societal benefits. With students having an entrepreneurial mindset coupled with their technical skillsets, CoE aims to graduate strategic thinkers creating value for themselves, for their employers, and for society. To get started, the authors decided to develop two courses for the 2017 Fall Quarter to begin incorporating the entrepreneurial mindset. One of these courses is a digital communication course and the other is an electronics course. This paper will focus on the final course of a threecourse communications system sequence. The course represents a continuation of basic communications theory with emphasis in digital communications. Representations of digital signals are studied along with techniques for digital modulation and multiplexing. The course presents coding theory principles and introduces spread spectrum system fundamentals. Students perform three Matlab experiments for system modeling and simulation of communication system concepts. The technical objectives for the course are given as follows: Determine the sampling rate for a continuous-time signal, the spectrum of the sampled signal, and identify any aliasing effects Identify and explain the components and functions of a basic Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) system. Demonstrate the effects and tradeoffs of Delta Modulation and other variants of a PCM system. Explain Intersymbol Interference (ISI) in baseband transmission and explain methods to minimize these effects. Demonstrate the tradeoff/performance of basic bandpass modulation systems (ASK, PSK, and FSK) in a noisy environment. Explain the fundamentals of spread spectrum techniques. Demonstrate error coding techniques in digital transmission methods. Apply software design tools to demonstrate the above concepts. Before describing the changes to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in the digital communication course, the next two sections provides a comprehensive review of entrepreneurial minded learning (EML) from other universities and a description of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) framework to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Support for and Review of Entrepreneurial Minded Learning (EML) in Engineering Education In the past, a curriculum of entrepreneurship education was most likely be found in business schools. With the rapid changes in the world and the globalization in the engineering area, more higher-education institutions worldwide saw the benefits of adopting the entrepreneurial skills into their engineering curriculum. According to Byers, “...beyond technical expertise, today’s engineers must possess an entrepreneurial mindset in order to be the innovators of tomorrow.” [3] Engineers need to solve challenging, complex real-world problems. In the article “Engineering the Future”, the authors stated that training engineers to take on the challenges of the future and solve complex real problems are the most important contributions that colleges and universities make to advance the human condition [4]. To bring technical solutions to life, students need help to become master learners with an outcome-oriented mindset. Kern Engineering Entrepreneurship Network (KEEN) lists the following title at their website: “Engineers with an Entrepreneurial Mindset Transform the World”. [5] Engineers equipped with an entrepreneurial mindset will understand the bigger picture, recognize opportunities, evaluate markets, and learn from mistakes to create value for themselves, for their employers and for society. KEEN is a 33-plus network of universities and colleges and has continued to grow [5]. Recently, more universities and faculty are engaged to include an entrepreneurial minded learning (EML) into the engineering curriculum. Several universities involved with KEEN developed detailed four-year plan to implement EML in their curriculum. Although not every student will become an entrepreneur after they graduate, having an entrepreneurial mindset will help them become creative and valuable engineers. “EML is not about start-ups, it is about thinking creatively and creating value for society” [6]. However, it is not easy for students to build up entrepreneurial skills within one course or a couple of courses in an already crowded engineering program. Welker, et, al [6] summarized the classes with EML in the four-year Civil Engineering Curriculum at Villanova University. University of New Haven created short, selfpaced, e-learning modules into courses spanning all four years of all engineering and computer science programs. They used a flipped classroom instructional model to integrate the modules into courses [7]. More and more universities in the U.S. are trying to incorporate EML into students’ learning. Some universities have their own Entrepreneurship Center. For example, MIT has several departments, labs, centers, and over 40 student clubs and initiatives to foster entrepreneurship and innovation. Their educational efforts in this area resulted in having an impressive impact at local, regional, and global levels. “A 2015 report suggested that 30,000 companies founded by MIT alumni were active as of 2014, employing 4.6 million people and producing annual revenues of $1.9 trillion, equivalent to the world’s 10th largest economy.” [8] In addition, there is an entrepreneurship center in the Stanford’s School of Engineering. The Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) targets to accelerate entrepreneurship education at their university and around the world [9]. Santa Clara University has an aggressive extracurricular program complementing elements of the EML program. Each quarter, they have activities including: seminars, lunch with an entrepreneur events, business and law primer presentations. One highlight of this program is an EML challenge in which teams of students develop ideas based on opportunities they identify in order to validate a market and assess the creation of value. The winner is often offered a “contract” to produce the product for university purposes [10] . Some schools integrated EML in their course projects. The authors of