A new program developed by the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering will prepare graduates to be more successful when assuming leadership roles in their companies and faced with real-world business challenges.
The new Engineering Leadership and Entrepreneurism Program will be launched this spring as a pilot program of 25 students. In time, the College hopes to expand the program so that most engineering students will be able to participate. The new program is one of only a handful of its kind in the country, and represents a recent trend toward combining business concepts in engineering programs.
The program consists of a two-course, project-focused curriculum designed to simulate the realistic conditions surrounding technical based companies. The program, available only to a select group of engineering students, emphasizes problem-based learning, professional communications and the integration of business and engineering concepts.
"This new program combines two of the university's traditional academic strengths-business and engineering-but in an innovative new way," says Raymond Flumerfelt, dean of engineering. "It prepares students for the real challenges of today's competitive global markets, and it grooms them for entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial success in a technical-type business."
Selected students will receive course scholarships, as well as book allowances, and each will be assigned an executive mentor from the industrial/business community. They will also participate in support activities, such as program and graduation dinners, mixers, and retreats, and will receive a program certificate at the successful conclusion of the program.
"I believe this program will widen the perspective of the engineering students, especially when it comes to the total business process in which they're involved," says William Sherrill, program director for the Center for Entrepreneurship Innovation at the business college. Sherrill's assistance was helpful in developing the curriculum for the program.
Leading faculty from both colleges will work together to teach the courses. The selection process for applicants will begin Nov. 25 and continue until all student slots are filled. Second semester juniors and seniors are eligible to apply.