Integration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Topics in Design Courses - Experiences and Lessons Learned

Teaching and learning a fundamental core course such as Machine Design continues to be fun but a challenging task for many instructors, as well as for students. Strong foundation in Statics and Mechanics of Materials is a must to appreciate the inherent open-endedness that is typical to a Machine Design course. After briefly reviewing the literature, this paper discusses the experiences of including innovation and entrepreneurship topic as a part of one of the design courses taught by the author. Assessment of students' feedback of this effort is also discussed. While the use of math and/or CAE tools enhanced in studying alternative designs, many students still lack the motivation to develop an appreciation for the open-endedness and ambiguity of design requirements. These are some of the attributes for innovation and creativity that may be necessary to develop a mindset in both faculty and students for possible entrepreneurship. Integration of entrepreneurship is done through discussion of case studies, open-ended projects and a discussion of the five (5) principles of innovation. A math professor was also invited to teach a topic on the applications of calculus and statistics in the design and selection of rolling contact bearings. For each mini-project and the final project, the students are asked to write a brief review of NABC analysis. (Need, Approach, Benefits and Competition). The overall appreciation for inclusion of innovation and entrepreneurship topics and the NABC analysis seem to be encouraging.