Engineering Entrepreneurship Program
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
509A John D. Tickle Building
Knoxville, TN 37996
Phone: 865-974-0671
Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor
Come for a degree…leave with a company!
The Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor provides students with exposure to the broad range of skills required to succeed in a technologically-based entrepreneurial endeavor including introduction to engineering entrepreneurs for mentoring, analysis of technology trends, fundamentals of intellectual property protection, ethics in business, practice in key communications skills, understanding of the due diligence process, exposure to proposal writing and management skills and involvement in basic elements of starting a company. Sixteen hours of coursework are required as listed below.
The Engineering Entrepreneurship minor is designed to give students the skills to:
- Create economic value from technological ideas
- Protect and grow intellectual properties
- Create successful funding proposals
- Spot technology trends and take advantage of them
For more information about the program, contact William “Bill” Hicks to learn more.
Courses
Sixteen hours of coursework are required for the minor as listed below.
Required Courses
| Course | Credit Hour(s) |
|---|---|
| EF 130 Survey of Engineering Entrepreneurship | 1 hr |
| ENT 350 Introduction to Entrepreneurship | 3 hr |
| IE 405 Engineering Economics | 3 hr |
| IE 457 Engineering Entrepreneurship or ME 457 Engineering Entrepreneurship or NE 457 Engineering Entrepreneurship | 3 hr |
Electives (Choose two below)
| Course | Credit Hour(s) |
|---|---|
| DSGN 430 Design Thinking and Innovation | 3 hr |
| EF 437 Honors: Interdisciplinary Senior Design I | 3 hr |
| EF 438 Honors: Interdisciplinary Senior Design II | 3 hr |
| ENT 415 Start-Overs as Start-Ups | 3 hr |
| ENT 425 Entrepreneurial Marketing | 3 hr |
| ENT 460 Leading Innovation and Change | 3 hr |
| ENT 462 Innovation & Creativity | 3 hr |
| ENT 464 Corporate Entrepreneurship | 3 hr |
| ENT 470 Managing an Entrepreneurial Start-up | 3 hr |
| ENT 485 Funding Strategies for Entrepreneurs | 3 hr |
| ENT 492 – Entrepreneurship Internship | 3 hr |
| IE 452 Project Planning & Organizational Management | 3 hr |
Note: This course combination simultaneously satisfies the requirements for an Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor and the University Entrepreneurship Minor. Students may not minor in both Entrepreneurship an
Roy B. Martin Scholarship for Engineering Entrepreneurship
Roy B. Martin was a Memphis native ad a first generation college student of German immigrants. His father was a machinist, and Martin attended UT to become a mechanical engineer, graduating in 1935. He worked as an HVAC Engineer for years, but his entrepreneurial spirit took over, and he began a successful consulting business.
Martin believed in supporting fellow entrepreneurs and engineers, so at the age of 96, he started the scholarship which bears his name to support aspiring engineers pursuing the Engineering Entrepreneurship minor at UT.
Each year, 1-3 students from this class are chosen to receive up to a $1,000/year scholarship, renewable for up to 3 years. The requirements are that you stay enrolled in the college, with a GPA >3.0, and pursue the engineering entrepreneurship minor.
Representatives from the Engineering Entrepreneurship minor in the Tickle College of Engineering will choose the winners each academic year.