DESIGNING CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PROGRAMMES TO DEVELOP THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS OF ENGINEERING DESIGN & BUSINESS STUDENTS

Abstract

It is desirable that current and future employees have a range of skills, be adaptable to challenges, collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, and are creative in finding new solutions to problems. To achieve this, developing the entrepreneurial skills of students is beneficial for future employers and the students themselves. This can be achieved by educating students on the factors which influence commercial success including technical feasibility, market desirability and commercial viability. An observation was made that engineering design students are typically highly skilled in developing creative & technically feasible solutions with the user in mind, and business students are highly skilled in developing commercially viable proposals. This paper details what happens when a cross-disciplinary educational intervention is conducted between engineering design and business students for mutual skills development. An 8-week pilot programme was designed at the University of Strathclyde where six teams of business students were paired with a student engineering design mentor to provide advice and guidance on the technical feasibility and viability of the commercial propositions being developed by the business students. The outcomes of the programme were in the technical and softs skills development for the engineering design students, the development of stronger commercial proposals supported by tangible assets for business students, and a greater appreciation of client/consultant negotiation and communication for both disciples of students. Recommendations are shared for those who are considering the development of similar programmes in the future.