Sustainable Innovation and Student Entrepreneurship in Engineering

Abstract

The research described in this paper investigates the impact of engineering programs, with a sustainability component, on student entrepreneurship. Educating future engineers on sustainable technologies and encouraging sustainable innovations and student entrepreneurship is a critical and growing need. Historically, engineering student entrepreneurship and subsequent licensing and startups have been encouraged and supported in several ways, including technology transfer offices and community engagement. The question this study attempts to answer is whether more student entrepreneurship resources and programming should be allocated to engineering programs that include sustainability content, courses, or programs.

Introduction

• Sustainable innovation has evolved from a focus on technology to a human-centered approach.

• Universities play a critical role through research, education, and community outreach.

• There is growing interest in how universities support sustainable innovation and technology transfer to society.

• Key question: Should universities target entrepreneurship resources toward students in sustainability-related engineering programs?

2. Types of Sustainable Innovation

According to the Oslo Manual, sustainable innovations fall into four categories:

1. Product innovations

2. Process innovations

3. Marketing innovations

4. Organizational innovations

Success factors for supporting these include:

• Resources and capabilities

• Structures and processes

• Organizational culture

• Leadership and commitment

3. University Examples

• University of Wisconsin–Madison: Promotes Department of Energy funding via its Tech Entrepreneurship Office.

• University of Kentucky: Offers webinars on social innovation.

• University of Calgary: Hosts multiple innovation hubs, including a social innovation hub with programs and funding.

4. Engineering & Entrepreneurship

• A 2010 study showed that over 50% of engineering schools offered entrepreneurship education, with about 25% providing more formal programs.

• These efforts are often joint initiatives between engineering and business schools.

5. Methodology

• Researchers surveyed 15 universities with engineering programs and technology transfer offices.

• The survey aimed to understand how universities handle student-led sustainable innovations.

• Survey questions addressed invention disclosures, student involvement, and outcomes like licensing or startups.

6. Key Findings

• 4 universities responded to the survey.

• All had engineering programs; 3 out of 4 confirmed they offer sustainability-focused courses.

• All reported receiving 21–50+ invention disclosures annually.

• 1% to over 30% of disclosures came from students.

• All 4 schools received student-led sustainable technology disclosures in the past 5 years.

• 1 school reported at least one student innovation resulting in a license.

• 3 schools reported that student innovations led to startups.

Conclusion

Based on the literature review, teaching entrepreneurship in engineering education or exposing engineering students to entrepreneurship has been growing for at least the past 17 years. The exposure ranges from introducing entrepreneurial concepts in engineering courses to more structured programs such as an entrepreneurship minor. The literature also recognizes several colleges and universities target social innovation and social entrepreneurship. However, the literature review does not suggest any schools align entrepreneurship resources to engineering students specifically in sustainability related courses and programs. The research conducted in this study of technology transfer offices at schools with engineering programs confirms that engineering students are submitting invention disclosures to their respective technology transfer offices and a percentage of those involve sustainable technologies. Interestingly, some of those invention disclosures resulted in licenses and student-led startups. Based on the written responses collected, it would be valuable to provide targeted entrepreneurial education and resources to students in sustainability-related engineering courses and/or programs. The additional comments from respondents indicated that many of the student inventors were graduate students or post-doctoral students and generally not interested in starting a business. Many graduate students are international students which present visa challenges. However, while those issues are challenging, there are ways to solve them. It is recommended that this study be continued to provide more robust data, results, and conclusions. For example, continuing the literature review would be beneficial. Also, continuing to review how engineering entrepreneurship is related to sustainable technology education at more engineering schools will be beneficial to the study. Finally, increasing the total number of survey responses by utilizing mailing lists from organizations such as AUTM or others would be helpful.

References

[1] Taneja, A., Goyal, V., & Malik, K. (2024). Conceptual Framework of Factors Enhancing Sustainability-oriented Innovations. Abhigyan (New Delhi), 42(3), 306–330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0970238524125777 [2] Gonzalez-Urango, H., Mu, E., & Corona-Sobrino, C. (2025). An integration-monitoring approach to the development of sustainable technology and innovation: The case of University Technology Transfer Offices. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 73, Article 104118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2024.10411 [3] Oslo Manual. (2005). Proposed guidelines for collecting and interpreting technological innovation data. OECD Publishing [4] https://teo.wisc.edu/clean-energy-tech-transfer/ [5] https://innovatecalgary.com/social-innovation/programs-funding/ [6] Shartrand, A., Weilerstein, P., Besterfield-Sacre, M., & Golding, K.. (2010). Technology entrepreneurship programs in U.S. engineering schools: Course and program characteristics at the undergraduate level. American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition. 6. 4527-4536.

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Prof. Philip Rufe. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.