by Frank Koe, Ph.D.

Great news for students interested in entrepreneurship! The Penn State Faculty Senate approved the Intercollege Minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ENTI) this summer, which gives entrepreneurial-minded students the opportunity to apply these principles in one of five concentrations:

• Food and Bio-innovation
• New Media
• New Ventures
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Technology-Based Entrepreneurship

My colleague in the School of Engineering Design, Technology and Professional Programs, Liz Kisenwether, serves as director of the minor and has told me that she expects the number of concentrations to grow as other colleges across Penn State participate in the program.

All students enrolled in the minor take the same three foundational courses then select three additional courses from a wide array of choices available in each concentration. This means that students are able to apply entrepreneurship to the area of study they are most interested in, making the entrepreneurship minor a truly practical undertaking.

For more information about the minor, including details about how to apply and the courses in each concentration, visit the ENTI minor website.

Frank T. Koe, Ph.D. is an instructor in entrepreneurship within the School of Engineering Design, Technology and Professional Programs (SEDTAPP) at Penn State. Accomplishments include founding his own sporting good accessory business that focuses on hunting and fishing. Products can be seen in Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart and other outlets nationwide. His entrepreneurial academic experiences include serving as associate director of the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Stern School of Business, New York University, and dean of the Baker School of Business and Technology at Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY.

The Penn State Facilities Engineering Institute (PSFEI) proudly boasts on its website: WE ARE PENN STATE to thousands of Pennsylvanians who come in contact with us everyday.

I got the opportunity to hear just how that happens from PSFEI Director Jim Myers, PE, when I visited the Institute today.

PSFEI works with government-related organizations across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to consult on the maintenance and operations of their facilities, including energy-related issues. Jim explained that a client may call the Institute to uncover a simple maintenance item, consult on a large building or renovation project, or provide training and education for employees.

And when Jim says they ARE Penn State to many Pennsylvanians, he’s not kidding. PSFEI does work in all 67 counties – through relationships with the State System of Higher Education, PA Department of Transportation, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Department of Corrections, PA Historical & Museum Commission, and many more.

What I found amazing, beyond just how efficiently the Institute serves its clients (there are 31 engineers, technicians and staffers on the team, supplemented by student interns who have the opportunity to learn from experienced engineers and take this real-world experience to jobs in the ‘real’ world), is that the Institute was working with clients to deal with energy markets, energy procurement, and energy savings programs long before it was ‘cool.’ Jim joked during our conversation, “We were Green before it was even a color!”

Jim has been with PSFEI since 1985, rising to director in 1995 and seeing the 66-year-old organization through a period of intense growth. And it’s easy to see how he’s contributed to that growth. Jim’s passion for the work PSFEI does is truly contagious. He’s just hired an assistant director, John Hajduk, MBA, to help in the next phase of growth for the Institute.

I look forward to working with Jim and his team to highlight the value that PSFEI brings to its clients, the residents of Pennsylvania and the many, many others who are touched by the work that PSFEI does. And, of course, to see what happens next!

Dana Marsh, director of marketing and communications for the College of Engineering, freely admits that she’s not an engineer but is fascinated by how the work of engineers impacts every aspect of a human’s day-to-day existence: from the houses we live in and the roads we drive on, to the smartphones and computers we rely upon. She’s now made it her mission to educate non-engineers about the real-world applications of leading-edge engineering initiatives. 

A team of Penn State engineering students won the Best Poster Presentation Award at the Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) Student Challenge earlier this summer at the American Helicopter Society (AHS) Forum 69 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Penn State’s Gnittany Gnat team won the Best Poster Presentation Award of $500 at the AHS Forum 69 in Phoenix, Ariz. (Photo by Jason L. Pereira)

The MAV Student Challenge tasked five student-research teams to design and build a vehicle capable of autonomous target acquisition and hover.

None of the teams were able to successfully complete the challenge. In addition to the Penn State team’s $500 prize for best poster for its Gnittany Gnat, the University of Texas at Austin won $1,000 for Best Manual Challenge Execution, which included flying line of sight to a target and then doing a sensor-guided, remotely operated hover over target.

The annual contest is sponsored by AHS International’s Unmanned Vertical Take Off and Landing Aircraft and Rotorcraft Committee, with $3,000 in prizes from Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.

More on the contest can be found at: http://vtol.org/news/ahs-micro-air-vehicle-student-challenge-winners-announced.

Steven Betza, founder of the ETHICS Academy, talks about the core principles of ETHICS to engineering students at the Nittany Lion Inn.

Although learning about the actual discipline is an essential part of engineering training, Penn State students also focus on other skills, including communications, leadership and teamwork.

Recently, a select group of engineering students participated in a seminar titled, “ETHICS for World-Class Engineers,” presented by Lockheed Martin and Penn State’s Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education.

Steven Betza, founder of the ETHICS Academy and corporate director of electronics engineering and packaging for Lockheed Martin, led the seminar.

Betza’s workshop introduced the students to six timeless principles of ethical leadership, which he described as “moments of truth” that occur in everyday life and decision processes to “do the right thing” when ethical situations arise.

Joe Giordano, an engineering science senior, said, “I really enjoyed the way Mr. Betza broke down the huge, nebulous concept of ethics into six parts that were easy to understand and work with. Case study after case study showed that owning up to your mistakes early on and making a focused effort to rectify them lead to a stronger business in the end. It struck me how well the general rule of ‘admit when you’re wrong and make it right’ works in the business world.”

Terri Creech, an industrial engineering, senior, said she learned successful leaders are selfless and put people first, before any other consideration.

She added, “I found the ETHICS workshop to be incredibly beneficial.”

The College of Engineering Graduate Student Council will host a “Call for Abstracts” event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 27 in Kunkle Lounge.

The event is designed to give students an opportunity to learn about the 2013 College of Engineering Research Symposium (CERS), scheduled for April 2 at the Nittany Lion Inn.

Michael Alley, associate professor of engineering, will discuss “Making Presentations and Delivering a Poster.”

The annual CERS allows students to present their research to science and engineering faculty, students and industry representatives. Participants will compete for research and travel grants totaling $5,000 for best poster and best paper in undergraduate and graduate categories.

More information on CERS can be found online at http://cers.engr.psu.edu.