T-Shaped Engineers: Connecting the Entrepreneurial Mindset

Ross Lee, PhD Villanova University

KEEN FoundationsAn early T-shaped Engineer: Bob Kern

The “Entrepreneurial Mindset”

“About our changing world……..” “Integrating information

from many different sources to gain insights”

“Finding unexpectedopportunities tocreate value”

Voice of Industry on “Intrapreneurship”

Key Competency Areas Related To T-shaped Skills

Technica

l compete

nce

Innovation/Id

eation

Antropologis

t

Cross

Pollinato

r

Experi

menter

/modele

r

Communication/Valu

e

Teamwork

T-shap

ed

Confidence

Other0

5

10

15

20

25

30

T-Shaped Education

;

ŶŐŝŶĞĞƌŝŶŐ ŝƐĐŝƉůŝŶĞ /ŶĚŝǀ ŝĚƵĂů

ƵůƚƵƌĞ ZĞŐŝŽŶ ĞƉƚŚ

ƌŽƐƐƵůƚƵƌĞ ƌŽƐƐZĞŐŝŽŶ ƌĞĂĚƚŚ

ƌŽƐƐŝƐĐŝƉůŝŶĞ dĞĂŵ ƌĞĂĚƚŚ

t ŚŽůĞ ƐLJƐƚĞŵƐ

;ĨƵůůƐƉĞĐƚƌƵŵ Ϳ ƉĞƌƐƉĞĐƚŝǀ Ğ

• Jim Spohrer and Phil Gardner (T-Summit 2015) • Providing full spectrum vision

Bringing in the 3C’s

Building T-Shaped Skills

• Web Engineering Vision• Leadership of Ventures Course

• Joe Tranquillo 2013 ASEE paper• Cross Discipline Education

• Xiadong Zou 2012 ASEE paper• Depth and breadth tailoring

Implications for Engineering Education• Preserve the right depth in the stem of the T

– Preserve and strengthen the core discipline education and experiences

• Assist in selecting electives to help build the crossbar breadth– Provide guidance in meeting distribution requirements

• Provide explicit cross disciplinary experiences– Build off the experiential opportunities that exist in many areas

• Provide a collaborative focused, internship– Build the desired learning outcome right into the job description

Focused Internship Spring 2015

• Jointly designed between Campbell’s and Villanova

• Key learning outcomes incorporated into job description: – Engineering expertise (depth)

• Understanding the science and engineering basis for the problem• Demonstrates data based problem analysis and problem solution skills

– Cross-discipline; cross-culture; business and customer value (breadth)• Understanding consumer value and business opportunity associated with technology solutions• Engages with and communicates in cross-functional teams

• Success with exposure to IP, new business opportunities, cross functional teamwork and leadership

• Commitment to renew in Summer 2016

Key Take Aways

• Industry views T-shaped as a critical attribute for innovation and intrapreneurship

• Building these skills typically involve experiential cross discipline instruction

• Tailored internships offer a way to test and validate successful T-shaped development

Discussion

• Take a couple of minutes to jot down where you see opportunities for building T-shaped skills in your individual engineering programs. Also jot down any established strengths for building these skills.

• As a group capture the top opportunities as, well as the top strengths, for building T-shaped skills in engineering programs. Add these to the slide at the table and be prepared to have a person report back on this.