Wentworth Institute of Technology is a private university founded in 1904. We provide our diverse community of learners with access to educational programs responsive to evolving market needs. Through a uniquely effective, hands-on, experiential, and cooperative education approach, Wentworth prepares graduates who are future-focused and career-ready.
Why We're In KEEN
KEEN's mission is a priority for the School of Engineering at Wentworth. Entrepreneurial mindset is embedded in the School of Engineering's mission, which is to empower, inspire, and innovate through experiential learning and a student-centered approach to education. Our faculty members include those with significant industrial, consulting, entrepreneurial, and project management experience to help prepare students to transition from school to the real world.
As a KEEN partner, the School will implement the entrepreneurial mindset into its curricula, leveraging the resources shared by other KEEN partners. We will share our success across engineering conferences in addition to the KEEN community.
Vision
Placing the student at the center of what we do, our vibrant and diverse campus community of faculty, staff, and students helps each member reach their greatest potential. We seek to maximize the value of our graduates’ contributions to global society and their effectiveness as future leaders.
The following four pillars support our vision:
Current Work
The entrepreneurial mindset is taught in a variety of design courses. The School is in the process of reimagining engineering through major curriculum changes to cultivate an innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership mindset.
We have begun collaborating with Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) on joint design projects between Wentworth engineering seniors and the MCPHS students on different pharmaceutical and engineering design projects.
Starting June 2023, Provost Maggelakis initiated the “Entrepreneurial/Innovation” taskforce, whose members consist of faculty and staff members from different schools and offices and from across the campus. Our KEEN leaders, Dr. Ghanavati and Dr. McCusker, serve on this taskforce.
The taskforce has proposed five different categories as the pillars of entrepreneurial mindset (EM). The categories are: 1) Communication, 2) Design Thinking, 3) Creativity, 4) Proactive Problem Solving, 5) Confidence.
One of the assignments of the taskforce is to identify existing courses and existing course content in all offered disciplines that meet the taskforce's EM categories. Another assignment of the taskforce is to create an Overarching Learning Goal: By the time of graduation (almost) all undergraduate students will have had the opportunity to practice an entrepreneurial mindset as demonstrated by the completion of the WIT High Value Learning (HVL) Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) requirement (Degree).
The taskforce has discussed potential approaches to obtain the overarching goal and has made initial proposals to frame out pathways to completion.
Why We're In KEEN
KEEN's mission is a priority for the School of Engineering at Wentworth. Entrepreneurial mindset is embedded in the School of Engineering's mission, which is to empower, inspire, and innovate through experiential learning and a student-centered approach to education. Our faculty members include those with significant industrial, consulting, entrepreneurial, and project management experience to help prepare students to transition from school to the real world.
As a KEEN partner, the School will implement the entrepreneurial mindset into its curricula, leveraging the resources shared by other KEEN partners. We will share our success across engineering conferences in addition to the KEEN community.
Vision
Placing the student at the center of what we do, our vibrant and diverse campus community of faculty, staff, and students helps each member reach their greatest potential. We seek to maximize the value of our graduates’ contributions to global society and their effectiveness as future leaders.
The following four pillars support our vision:
- Inclusive Excellence. We achieve inclusive excellence by intentionally embedding inclusion in every policy, practice, and individual behavior.
- High-Value Learning. We deliver high-value learning through innovative community and industry integration, advanced technological exploration, immersive practice on real-world challenges, personalized learning, and social impact projects.
- Transformative Student Experience. We expand skillsets and mindsets with opportunities that flow into local, national, global, and international interests and pursuits.
- Next-Generation Partnerships. We provide lifelong learning opportunities geared to rapidly changing labor-force skill requirements and develop opportunities for alumni.
Current Work
The entrepreneurial mindset is taught in a variety of design courses. The School is in the process of reimagining engineering through major curriculum changes to cultivate an innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership mindset.
We have begun collaborating with Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) on joint design projects between Wentworth engineering seniors and the MCPHS students on different pharmaceutical and engineering design projects.
Starting June 2023, Provost Maggelakis initiated the “Entrepreneurial/Innovation” taskforce, whose members consist of faculty and staff members from different schools and offices and from across the campus. Our KEEN leaders, Dr. Ghanavati and Dr. McCusker, serve on this taskforce.
The taskforce has proposed five different categories as the pillars of entrepreneurial mindset (EM). The categories are: 1) Communication, 2) Design Thinking, 3) Creativity, 4) Proactive Problem Solving, 5) Confidence.
One of the assignments of the taskforce is to identify existing courses and existing course content in all offered disciplines that meet the taskforce's EM categories. Another assignment of the taskforce is to create an Overarching Learning Goal: By the time of graduation (almost) all undergraduate students will have had the opportunity to practice an entrepreneurial mindset as demonstrated by the completion of the WIT High Value Learning (HVL) Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) requirement (Degree).
The taskforce has discussed potential approaches to obtain the overarching goal and has made initial proposals to frame out pathways to completion.
Wentworth Institute of Technology is known for its project-based approach to education. Our students develop a strong technical foundation, nurture their creativity and problem-solving skills on real-world projects, sharpen innovation and entrepreneurship skills in a collaborative, diverse environment, and complete at least two required semesters of cooperative work experience. The partnership with KEEN helps integrate an entrepreneurial mindset into engineering curricula and cultivate innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership mindset by reimagining engineering.
