The Creativity Toolkit: Integrating Creativity in Graduate Technical Entrepreneurship Education
摘要
Lehigh University identified an opportunity to combine creativity and engineering in the context of entrepreneurship. The result? Technical Entrepreneurship (TE), an 11-month professional master’s degree in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science for students from all academic backgrounds. Launched in 2012 as part of the university-wide entrepreneurship ecosystem, TE is a dual approach to the innovation process for both product and venture, with a foundational skill-building graduate course focusing on systematic creativity methods. Those creativity skills are then purposefully applied through an iterative process across courses covering intellectual property, prototyping, integrated product development, new venture creation, and professional communication. Program alumni go on to launch careers at the intersection of disciplines—innovating in industry, joining startup teams, creating patented inventions, launching their own ventures, and supporting the overall innovation ecosystem; Technical Entrepreneurship received national recognition for its role in talent development by the University Economic Development Association (UEDA).