“The Odd Couple” of Engineering and Entrepreneurship: Playing at a University Near You

Engineering is a meticulous and methodical neat freak, frowning on anything short of success. To Engineering, failure is not an option. Engineering was not always like that, but the decade long relationship with Quality Improvement left him in knots. Entrepreneurship is a compulsive gambler who thrives on trying new and untested things. To Entrepreneurship, failure is mark of progress. Engineering lived happily in a crowded but fastidiously kept curriculum. That all changed when Entrepreneurship moved in and started unpacking. This is the story of how the two have gotten along and how they are able to share the same space. This paper gives a map of a prototypical mechanical engineering curriculum and overlays it with various entrepreneurship educational elements. This paper includes a basic review of some of the various tools and techniques used to weave in the entrepreneurial engineering elements including one such technique developed at the University of Detroit Mercy: The technical entrepreneurship multimedia case study. Index Terms Entrepreneurship, Case studies, Entrepreneurial mindset.