Community Catalysts

Engineering Unleashed Community Catalysts are members invested in driving the Engineering Unleashed mission, online and off.

Meet Cohort 12 - and their thoughts on why entrepreneurial mindset (EM) is important:

Dr. Abigail Clark, Ohio Northern University

"EM is important because it encourages students to think beyond the "right answer" in their textbook. Students think about why their design matters, who their design impacts, and how they can innovate. Students from all walks of life can use EM skills to see how they can make a difference in their own communities and across the world. In short, students with a strong EM skillset make better engineers who design better products for today's world."

Amy Trowbridge, Arizona State University

"Entrepreneurial Mindset is important because it ensures that we focus on developing solutions that create real value and benefit society. When teaching future engineers (our students), it is essential to empower them to explore the world with curiosity to find opportunities to create value, and make connections between different types of information and people so that they can develop solutions that will have a positive impact on people’s lives."

Dr. Andrea Gregg, Pennsylvania State University

"In our interconnected and complex world, merely focusing on technical specifications and fulfilling company and customer requirements is no longer enough. We need engineers who, beyond their problem-solving skills and technical expertise, can assess the real and often unexpected environmental and social impacts of their work. An EM framework fosters a more holistic and integrative approach to addressing engineering challenges and opportunities."

Andrea Ragonese, Pennsylvania State University

"EM is vitally important to students as it gives them access to the parts of their brain that links critical thinking skills to their imagination. When children are little, they are encouraged to play. However, once they get to school, they shift their mindset to “getting the right answers” and “striving for the highest grades”. EM combines having fun (creativity) with the best possible outcomes (correct answers). When this happens, learning comes naturally, and everyone wins."

Dr. Bhavana Kotla, The Ohio State University

"An entrepreneurial mindset is a source of inspiration for young minds. It equips students with the skills necessary for professional success, addressing complex, real-world problems, and creating a thriving society. It not only fosters innovation but also ignites the creative spark within individuals, enabling them to adapt and create value in various contexts. Cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset in the classroom helps students navigate the challenges of a rapidly changing world, make meaningful contributions, and drive positive change. Employers highly seek individuals with this mindset as it encourages teamwork, effective communication, listening to stakeholders, and understanding their needs."

Dr. Carmen Cioc, The University of Toledo

"Incorporating EML into my courses proved transformative for me and my students, and I observed firsthand its profound impact on engineering students. Beyond enhancing their engineering skillset, it nurtures curiosity, innovation, resilience, teamwork, professionalism, and a proactive mindset. EML is a catalyst for change, shaping well-rounded engineers and future leaders with a comprehensive skill set essential for success in an ever-evolving engineering environment." #KEENimpact

Dr. Dalya Ismael, Old Dominion University

"An entrepreneurial mindset encourages students to move beyond technical problem-solving, promoting critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to create meaningful value in society. It builds curiosity, resilience, and the recognition of opportunities, empowering future engineers to lead with impact. For me, it's incredibly rewarding to see students apply these skills to real-world challenges. By emphasizing collaboration and connecting classroom concepts to practical applications, we prepare them to confidently tackle real-world problems and develop innovative solutions that make a difference."

Dr. Gbeton Somasse, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

"Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) is the art of seeing and seizing opportunities to a better world in a systematic way. As such, I think EM is important as it can be considered as the implicit foundation of every effective education in the 21st century. When engaging with engineering and STEM students, it is important for educators to keep them motivated by showing them why and how what they are learning matters. EM helps achieve this goal by waking up the curious minds in every learner, encouraging them to make connections between their learning and the opportunities around them, and seizing on those opportunities and their skillset to create something new and valuable for society. The process of engaging educators and learners in EM fosters intertwined relationships between quality teaching and deeper learning for the public good."

George Salayka, New York Institute of Technology

"Through the embedding of EM principles our classes at New York Tech, we have been able help students connect with the material at a deeper level. It has helped our students answer the question of why they learn what they learn. It has become the keystone that joins ‘what they know’ and ‘what they can build’."

Dr. Girum Urgessa, George Mason University

"EML provides a common framework to elevate the student learning experience in a classroom setting, undergraduate research, capstone courses, etc. The associated mindset learning outcomes help our faculty to deliver course materials in a meaningful and intentional way. Attending a KEEN workshop, incorporating EML in my course, and writing my first KEEN card have led me to believe that EML is an exciting approach to teaching and learning. It is my pleasure to serve as a ComCat and amplify the impact of EML in our KEEN network."

Dr. John Yoo, Bradley University

"EM is important because it motivates students to challenge themselves to satisfy their curiosity, expand their connections, and create value that benefits communities they belong to."

Dr. Kapil Gangwar, Wentworth Institute of Technology

"Lessons learned from several workshops and presentations on the entrepreneurial mindset (EM) over the last few months at couple of institutions, rendered its critical role in the ever-changing field of engineering education and curriculum. The traditional approach adopted by several institutions needs reform to better prepare students for the rapidly changing engineering and technology landscape. EM is a key factor in students' development because it drives them to see the bigger picture, remain curious, and create valuable connections across multiple engineering disciplines. EM promotes innovative and creative problem skills for students to identify opportunities and develop novel solutions. EM also builds resilience, humility and risk-taking abilities, helping students navigate uncertainty and learn from failures. The nature of interdisciplinary collaboration via value creation and connections prepares students to work effectively (either individually or in teams), understand customer needs, and lead in dynamic and competitive environments. Integrating EM into engineering curriculum will prepare students that are not only technically proficient but also adaptable and motivated to succeed in their careers."

Dr. Matthew Barner, University of Portland

"I think EM is important because it broadens engineering education beyond the isolated technical approach of traditional engineering education wherein students take highly technical courses to learn how to solve problems with little context; and instead focuses on making connections across courses, solving problems to create value, and inspiring curiosity."

Dr. Mehdi Roopaei, UW-Platteville

"An Entrepreneurial Mindset is essential because it enables individuals to see opportunities where others see obstacles. It fosters resilience, creativity, and the drive to create value in any situation, making it a critical tool for both personal and professional success. By cultivating this mindset, we empower learners to innovate, adapt, and lead in a world of constant change."

Mitra Anand, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

"As the Associate Director of Makerspace and I&E Integration at WPI, I consider the entrepreneurial mindset crucial within our engineering education framework. It propels students to tackle challenges, innovate, and persevere through difficulties. Integrating this mindset into our project-based learning curriculum enables students to identify and seize opportunities, fostering a culture of resilience and innovation. The impact on our students is significant—they not only become adept problem solvers but also amazing innovators capable of making a difference in the rapidly evolving world."

Dr. Moin Bhuiyan, University of New Haven

"An entrepreneurial mindset involves adopting skills and attitudes that transform challenges into opportunities."

Dr. Namita Shrestha, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

"Teaching students to think entrepreneurially fosters skills and attitudes that go beyond traditional academic learning, preparing students for real-world challenges. EM encourages flexibility and resilience. By promoting an EM mindset in the classroom, students become more innovative, self-driven, and prepared for complex, uncertain futures."

Dr. Rachel Kajfez, The Ohio State University

"EM is important because it gives students a direction to work on complex engineering problems now and in the future. Without an EM, these problems can be very overwhelming, but with an EM students can begin tackling our greatest challenges."

Dr. Serhan Guner, The University of Toledo

"EM enables students to associate their technical knowledge with real life engineering work."

Dr. Stephanie Cutler, Pennsylvania State University

"In a world of too many meetings, too many emails, and classroom lectures, we must "beware the shrinking imagination" (Tim Eatman) where by falling into our routines we neglect the power of being creative and using our imaginations. I believe in finding joy and fun in all aspects of work and life, which is usually tied to play, creativity, and using my imagination. Why is EM important? Because EM brings these elements to the forefront and helps all of us (faculty and students) to embrace new connections, creativity, curiosity, and create value to empower us to break away from shrinking imaginations to move forward being innovative and improving the world around us."

Dr. Stephanie Wettstein, Montana State University

"The world is changing fast. An entrepreneurial mindset is essential in engineering education because it empowers students to not only solve technical problems, but to approach challenges with curiosity, creativity, and focus on creating value. By fostering a mindset that encourages students to explore new opportunities, challenge themselves, and deliver meaningful impact, we prepare them to innovate in ways that benefit both industry and society. My goal is to equip students with the ability to think like engineers, ensuring they can adapt, thrive, and lead in a fast-changing world."

Dr. Tim Kane, Pennsylvania State University

"I’ve spent years trying to guide my engineering students towards being self-motivated problem solvers. Instilling an entrepreneurial mindset (EM) does this and more; being able to creatively adapt, finding the broad connections, and (actually) creating value . . . well, those are the attributes of the engineers that society needs."

Vance Collins, Grand Canyon University

"As an engineer who has spent most of my career working with startups, I've seen firsthand how new and emerging problems come up frequently. Whether it's in regard to communication, research or figuring out how things should work I believe a engineer needs to be flexible, creative and tenacious when it comes to problem solving. Training with entrepreneurial mindset helps a person practice and develop these important traits."

Dr. Walter McDonald, Marquette University

"The entrepreneurial mindset (EM) equips engineers with the tools and abilities to solve complex and difficult challenges. Integrating EM into my classroom results in students who are inherently curious to explore multiple solutions, who can make explicit connections between their solutions and broader social and economic systems, and who can articulate how their solutions create value for interested stakeholders. In doing so, I believe EM provides students with an approach to problem-solving that can lead to a lifetime of success in their careers. "