Are we creating a culture of entrepreneurialism?

The Future of Engineering and Technology Education

Are we creating a culture of entrepreneurialism? Enhancing innovation and entrepreneurial skills among students Vince Thomson NOWADAYS, PROVIDING PRODUCTS and services is global and there are few constraints due to distance and the need for local personalization. Companies during the original wave of globalization competed on cost, with developing countries pitted against developed countries based on wage differences. As a consequence, developing countries, especially China, built up a large number of manufacturing companies that compete very well internationally. Today, the competition has moved to innovation of products, services and operations. Ordinarily, one thinks of revolutionary innovation, the creation or radical improvement of products. Many times this is brought about due to a market discontinuity, such as a new soap for washing in cold water because customers wish to save energy, or due to a new invention such as the Blackberry. However, incremental innovation, the continuous improvement of processes, services and products is more common and more valuable for companies since it has a greater effect on their bottom line. Many small improvements in business and production processes add up to a significant reduction in cost. Although companies create a new product from time to time, they mostly improve existing models to satisfy customers. These improved products are a company’s lifeblood. Over the past 20-30 years, developed countries have had stagnating economies where it has been difficult to increase jobs and disposable income—wealth. They are focusing more and more on innovation as a way to create new opportunities and jobs. Recently, developed countries have been creating strategies to promote innovation to help their About the Author Vincent Thomson is the Werner Graupe Professor of Manufacturing Automation with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University. Vincent has been involved in manufacturing and information technology related research for the past 30 years at McGill University and the National Research Council (Canada). His research interests include manufacturing, real time control and process management. Vincent is currently working with many aerospace companies on such issues as the management of design change, the requirement for close collaboration with suppliers, the measurement of development performance, and the reduction of time to market. [email protected]

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companies compete, and thus, create wealth. The desire to stake out a territory in the innovation space has made the competition fierce. Here, developed countries can compete with developing countries on innovation better than wages. For example, in 2010, Gillette launched Guard, its first razor developed entirely in and for the Indian and other emerging markets. Guard’s replacement blades cost a mere 5 rupees 95 per cent less than the Indian version of Gillette’s Mach3. Innovation is allowing Proctor and Gamble as well as GE with its PC based, portable ultrasound device to compete in Asia.

We need students to transform society, to take on the challenge of innovation, and imbue the spirit of innovation in others.

The Training Imperative Canada lacks a strong innovation culture. As an example of an innovation culture, we can look at the United States of America. US citizens like newness. They buy newness. As business people, they take on risk to create and sell as well as use new. Canadian society and companies are more risk averse. This can change: we can improve Canada’s innovation culture. We can teach it and reward it. The easiest way to change a culture is to teach new ways in school. We need to teach innovation and entrepreneurship in school. Some universities have Master degree business programs aimed at innovation and entrepreneurship but they are few. There are also a few university and college programs which have courses in innovation and entrepreneurship. To their credit, many university and college engineering programs have specific courses and projects where students work with companies on innovation by improving the companies’ products and processes. L FOCU S

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The Future of Engineering and Technology Education

O P I N I O N by Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE PERCEIVED Canadian “Productivity Gap” is related in part to a lack of an entrepreneurial culture that is not cultivated at the post-secondary education level. In contrast to the Canadian university system, as well as many universities in the U.S., a major impetus of the New American University model here at Arizona State University is our focus on building an ecosystem of entrepreneurialism across our students and faculty. We do not concentrate entrepreneurship within one unit, such as just the business school, as more traditional universities might. Nor do we have an exclusive entrepreneurship institute or school. Rather, we weave entrepreneurialism across the fabric of the institution through student and faculty experiences to promote a truly entrepreneurial culture. For example, students and faculty are motivated to solve local and global grand challenges by focusing investment, mentorship, and infrastructure to help advance novel ideas. This unique approach led to ASU being named a Kauffman Campus in 2007 by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City along with a $5 million investment. This investment has been used to initiate, scale, and sustain opportunities across our colleges and units. Another effort called the Edson Student Entrepreneurship Initiative, a $5.4 million endowment established in 2005, provides students with resources and keen mentorship to turn their ideas into reality, and provides $200,000 annually in seed funding. ASU’s innovation center, SkySong, provides a dedicated space for student-founded programs, initiatives, and industry. This has contributed to the embedding of the entrepreneurial spirit among the faculty and students, which in turn is impacting the economic vitality of the region. Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan is Senior Vice President, Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development, Director, Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (CUbiC) and Foundation Chair in Computing and Informatics

We need students to transform society, to take on the challenge of innovation, and imbue the spirit of innovation in others.

How do we get there? Besides universities and colleges, we need courses in high school and even grade school that focus on the elements of innovation. Courses in design in grade school in the UK and Canada have been very successful in engaging students and developing skills of thinking about new ways of doing things. This can be done through new courses, and through projects and after school clubs. Invite the business community (parents) who can work with children on projects and who can give a visibility and connection to students about the business community. It is in grade school and high school that students develop attitudes about future careers and endeavours. Competitions can be created. In the same way that there are competitions for science projects, a system of competitions for students for innovation can be started. This will increase visibility and show students that society values innovation.

Conclusion We need to transform Canadian society to adopt the mantra of innovation. This can best be done by training students in the knowledge and culture of innovation. This needs to be organized at all levels of the school system—the earlier the better. It is not only about better training for a few engineers, but about creating an enthusiasm in society for innovation and for constant improvement. This élan for an innovation, a transformative culture is vital if Canada is to compete in the new era. ■

Similarly, business schools have courses where students work with companies to improve business practices. Beside these courses with direct contact with industry, there are courses where students learn about quality improvement, process improvement, and new product development; however, they are somewhat sterile since there is no business imperative and no commercialization force which drives the project. All together, this is not enough. So, what needs to be done?

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We need to develop innovation savvy graduates, and thus, improve graduates that will help to transform companies. We need all universities and colleges to graduate students who can undertake innovation and entrepreneurship at all levels in society. Innovation is needed for new products, but mostly for continuous improvement. Continuous improvement is an attitude (culture) where people are always looking for better ways of doing things whether it is products, services or production. We need students to transform society, to take on the challenge of innovation, and imbue the spirit of innovation in others. 2

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