Kern Entrepreneurial Education Network (KEEN)

KEEN Vision: “to graduate engineers who will contribute to business success, and in doing so,

transform the American workforce”

Kern Family Foundation Equipping young Americans to become tomorrow's

leaders and innovators.

• Drs. Robert and Patricia Kern – Lifetime entrepreneurs and founders of Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC)

• Foundation Involvement– K-12 Education Reform– KEEN– Faith, Work, and Economics

• KEEN is represented by 20+ member universities from across America

• Foundation sunset in 2035

Objective KEEN Student Outcomes

• Enterprising Attitude– Attributes: Curiosity, definition, persistence,

resourcefulness, business opportunity identification

• Multidimensional Problem Solving– Ambiguous and complex situations

• Illuminating Communication– Collaboration & understanding

• Resolute Integrity– Ethics and societal awareness & contribution

Overview of Grants FundedYear Amount Objectives

2007 $5,000 Planning Grant

2008 $50,000 • Tech Entrepreneurship Certificate Program• KEEN Innovators – Faculty Proposals

2009 $75,000 • KEEN Innovators – Expanded Program• TE Fellows Program

2011 $736,000 Helping Hands Dense Network (HHDN)• Intrapreneurship End-to-End Education (IE3)• Intercollegiate Design Programs

“Helping Hands” Dense Network (HHDN)

• Individual grants awarded to four KEEN schools with complementary strengths– Intercollegiate Student Design Projects– Intrapreneurship End-to-end Education (IE3)

• Baylor/UDM and Villanova/Dayton formed somewhat independent teams based on cultural alignment – working toward similar objectives

ID Key Competencies• Corporate visits• Engage and understand

culture, stories, examples• Identify key skills

Iship Best Practices• Broad sweep of

universities evaluated• Compile findings• Publish and present

results for feedback

Curricular Recommendations• Ongoing work• Evaluation and

recommendations for curriculum upgrades

•

As part of IE3, HHDN universities conducted Iship study with 16

companies / agencies

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Key competency areas identified in order of importance to companies

• Communication / Value Proposition• Ideation / Innovation• Confidence• Teamwork• Technical competence• Intellectual property• Experimenter / modeler• Anthropologist (cultural awareness)• T-shaped engineer• Cross-pollinator

IE3 – Corporate Intrapreneurship Training• Began with SuperCoach® Entrepreneurship Training from Enable

Ventures in 2005• Developed Corporate Intrapreneurship Training

– Capstone “Technology Entrepreneurship” course– Four-day workshop– i5 international venue

• Focused on commercialization – no design or innovation component

• Transferable curriculum– 22 video segments captured (e.g. IP, comms)– Available for purchase at Udamy.com– Joint project underway with UDM to incorporate

front-end and back-end of innovation• Innovation Engineering (Eureka Ranch) black belt training

and certification underway

Intercollegiate Design Projects• Students from Baylor and UDM joined forces with

UDM nursing students to create designs for handicapped VA patients

• Students meet face-to-face three times– Client visit – requirements definition– Detailed design review– Client presentation

• Students learn:– Communications and team dynamics in a remote setting– Entrepreneurial opportunities– Job-like experience that enhances resume and interview

skills

Standup Wheel Chair / Walker

Designed for disabled veteran at Detroit VA

Bed with Built-In Potty

Click to Watch Video

Even the best ideas and inventions in the world have no value until they have a customer. – Jim Clifton, The Coming

Jobs War

•Skills Components can be taught•Business Analysis•Strategy Development•Customer/Market Insight•Collaboration•Communications

•Mindset Components must be experienced•Pre: The stuff people do who couldn’t handle the math•Post: True appreciation and partnership

• Marker: “If you get the technology right, the rest will fall into place.”

• Evidence: 90% of USTPO patents fail to generate revenue• Strong E-School and B-School collaboration & education

The Baylor Bridge – A Work in Progress

Curriculum• Business Economics and Communications• Technology Entrepreneurship• i5• Certificate Program

BRIC Internships• LAUNCH• Hosted Centers of Expertise• Client Companies

Culture and Investment• Joint Clinical/Development Role• DNA for Undergraduate Education• Research-Fueled Invention

Building the Bridge from Innovationto Value Creation

Engineers are natural innovators. Entrepreneurially minded engineers are marketinformed, solution oriented, and focused on value creation.