#BigBeacon Twitter Chat – Wed, April 29, 8pm ET – Why Mindset Matters

Engineering: It’s not just about skill. It’s about a mindset.

Technical understanding is essential to engineering, but in order to truly unleash engineers to fulfill their potential, we must look deeper than just technical aptitude. Engineers find success and personal fulfillment when they couple technical skills with a mindset to create extraordinary value for others. Possessing an entrepreneurial mindset is the key.

What does this mindset look like? For starters, watch…

This mindset is defined by 3 Cs: Curiosity, Connections, and Creating Value.

CURIOSITY:  In a world of accelerating change, today’s solutions are often obsolete tomorrow. Since discoveries are made by the curious, we must empower students to investigate a rapidly changing world with an insatiable curiosity.

CONNECTIONS: Discoveries, however, are not enough. Information only yields insight when connected with other information. We must teach our students to habitually pursue knowledge and integrate it with their own discoveries to reveal innovative solutions.

CREATING VALUE: Innovative solutions are most meaningful when they create extraordinary value for others. Therefore, students must be champions of value creation. As educators, we must train students to persistently anticipate and meet the needs of a changing world.

On April 29 at 8 p.m. EST, you are invited to join representatives of KEEN and Project Lead The Way (PLTW) on Twitter using #BigBeacon hashtag, for an in-depth conversation on why mindset matters. Areas of discussion will include:

• What is the entrepreneurial mindset?
• Why should engineers care about a mindset?
• Is “know-why” just as important as “know-how” in engineering education?

Be sure to join in for a discussion of these questions and to ask some of your own using the #BigBeacon hashtag!

About KEEN

The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) is a collaboration of U.S. universities that strive to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering and technology students. KEEN’s mission is to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can create personal, economic, and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work. In a dynamic and interconnected world, it is critical for undergraduate engineering schools to teach technical skills while fostering curiosity, connections, and the creation of value. KEEN promotes collaboration among institutions and individuals who share this compelling vision.

How to Twitter Chat

If you’ve never Twitter chatted before, don’t worry; it’s very easy! First, get a Twitter account if you don’t already have one, and log in. At 8 PM ET on Wednesday go to twitter.com and type #BigBeacon into the search box on Twitter. Thereafter all the tweets with the hashtag #BigBeacon will show up on your Twitter page. To participate, simply express your opinion by sending a tweet, and be sure to append the hashtag #BigBeacon so other members of the Twitter Chat see you are posting. Alternatively, automate the hashtag search and append feature by using the free service Tchat at http://www.tchat.io.