Becoming an engineer is hard work.  But does it have to be all formulas and problem sets?  Or can we as professors engage students’ hearts as well as their minds?

There are a group of faculty who believe the key to student success begins with cultivating the entrepreneurial mindset, encompassed by curiosity, connections and creating value for others. The question is: how do faculty find the time and resources to foster successful student engagement activities?

The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) is a Network of colleges and faculty across the country who have a goal to instill the entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering students. Many efforts across the Network are focused on curricular changes, but extra-curricular programs are also likely to impact students positively. In fact

• Boston University has developed Inspiration Ambassadors where undergraduate engineering students lead activities in K-12 to build STEM interest and aid recruitment.
• Bucknell University has created the KEEN Winter Interdisciplinary Design Experience (K-WIDE) which is a multi-day experience that immerses students in entrepreneurially minded learning.
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology hosts Operation Catapult, a unique summer camp for high school juniors which jumpstarts their  entrepreneurial engineering experience.
• And University of Dayton, Lehigh University, Saint Louis University, Ohio Northern University and Santa Clara University are also leaders in hosting student engagement activities that focus on curiosity, connections and creating value.

All of these programs provide excellent examples of how to engage and connect with students to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in their engineering education and beyond. That’s why we’ve decided to devote our next Big Beacon Twitter Chat to discuss how curiosity, connections, and creating value (the basis of the entrepreneurial mindset) can be integrated into student experiences in leadership, service, outreach, and competitions.

You are invited to join in the conversation on Wednesday, September 16 at 8:00 pm ET, and speak with faculty members from the aforementioned institutions as we discuss best practices to engage students with an entrepreneurial mindset. Use the hashtag #BigBeacon to join the conversation.

Students are also invited to join in the conversation to talk about their experiences and to discover what entrepreneurially minded engagement on campus is all about.

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.