On September 30, Provost Dr. Christon Arthur proposed a simple program: Shark Tank. The Shark Tank Competition, named after a reality show of the same name, allows teams of faculty members to present new ideas for operations the school can invest money into. The panel of judges and the attending students could then vote on the four presentations given that day, ultimately deciding on two programs that would receive the first ever Andrews Partnership Grant, $100,000 dollars in funding. Yet, unlike the reality show, all attending parties returned home without any announcements or decisions regarding which program would be receiving the coveted grant.
On October 18, Dr. Arthur sent out an announcement to all students on the campus bearing the awaited news. He began by thanking the attendees—115 on Zoom and those who filled Newbold Auditorium to capacity—for the “tremendous success” of the First Andrews Partnership Grant & Shark Tank competition. He continued, expressing the wish to have the grant “support new or emerging interdisciplinary collaborations on our campus to integrate and energize our curriculum.” With final special thanks to the faculty and staff that helped facilitate the event, the winners were announced.
The original plan of funding two out of the four proposals had changed. Instead, only one program—Innovation & Entrepreneurship Transformation of Engineering Curriculum (hereby referred as I&E Program)—had received the full $100,000 grant; AU Abroad: An International Partnership for Learning Research and Internships and Trauma-Informed Academic Partnership shared the second grant, receiving $50,000 each. The declaration of the I&E Program as the sole recipient of the full grant carries an implicit message: the program—in the eyes of the judges and students—would be best at 1) supporting new or emerging interdisciplinary collaborations and 2) integration into and energization of the curriculum through the programs.
For more information regarding the project, we reached out to Dr. Hyun J. Kwon, the chair and professor of the School of Engineering here at Andrews, and the presenter of the I&E Program at the Shark Tank Competition. The program, she argues, fits the bill of what Dr. Arthur has been looking for perfectly. The I&E program would establish an “innovation and entrepreneurship environment involving industry partners, alumni, community and cross campus collaboration” as a method of instilling in the engineering students the spirit of what it means to innovate and create.
“It is increasingly important for engineering students to get trained in I&E mindset,” Dr. Kwon argues. “Required skills include the abilities to identify opportunities, to learn and re-learn, readiness to embrace failures, willingness to embark on multi-disciplinary work and to multi-task, abilities to pull teams together and to communicate across boundaries.” She further elaborates that the project not only attempts to provide an environment where students would have an opportunity to work and connect with people out of their enclosed ecosystem of engineering classes, but also rework the curriculum to further instill the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to each and every student. In Dr. Kwon’s words, “The School of Engineering and the Office of I&E jointly proposed that the core concept of I&E be inculcated into engineering education.”
Yet, a transformation of the curriculum and environment of an entire school does not come cheaply; the monumental amount of funding won through the Andrews Partnership Grant would have to be utilized building the infrastructure necessary. For the primary use of the fund, Dr. Kwon lists establishing “...connecting and communication system with industry partners, alumni, cross campus through IndustryLab, Alumni network, Idea bank, and E-team…” as the first directions of funding. Construction of these communication networks would then allow for the collaborative environment that she seeks for the engineering department. On the other hand, the curriculum would also have to be revised to match for the advancing environment, the software matching the available hardware. In this respect, Dr. Kwon also mentioned allocating funds to “..strengthen design and prototyping skills within the engineering curriculum with additional equipment.”
The benefits of the program as outlined by Dr. Kwon are undeniable. As our world moves inexorably toward being more connected than ever, providing the grounds for engineering students to develop the intellectual muscles for innovation and entrepreneurship is indisputable. However, benefits notwithstanding, it is hard to ignore the emphasis that this program has on the engineering departments as a whole. Out of all of the benefits enumerated, ways in which the I&E program includes other schools and programs in 老司机传媒 into headlong charge into the future is noticeably lacking. On the development of the project, Dr. Kwon says the following: “The idea of I&E transformation of the engineering curriculum has been incubated within the engineering faculty.” Though the words are not an explicit exclusion of other departments, there’s nonetheless a lack of their inclusion as well.
Some students echo the sentiment; especially those in departments that seldom find their programs and buildings on the receiving end of such grants. Nora Martin (junior, English and psychology) comments the following: “There is not enough information, so my opinion is biased. However, it is interesting they gave so much funding to a department that serves a limited amount of people.”
Judging a program at its infancy is always a difficult, if not foolworthy, practice. It is hard to measure the precise impact the I&E program will bring to 老司机传媒 once its rollout is complete. Potentially, the profits that it could generate through working and partnering with industry partners could provide more revenue that the university could channel into other departments, indirectly reaching out a helping hand to those departments that did not receive the full funding. I&E’s goals are noble, and the revitalization it brings to the School of Engineering is definitely the breath of new life that Dr. Arthur sought for in his mission statement for the Andrews Partnership Grant. Only time will tell if it delivers in interdisciplinary collaboration.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.