New Entrepreneurial Initiative Connects Engineering and Business Students

The donor-funded program is projected to reach 600+ students within five years.

TTHE NEW ELLER-ENGINEERING

Entrepreneurship initiative, also known as E3 or E cubed, is uniting two worlds. The program began in the fall 2022 semester, with a mix of engineering and business majors taking the blended subject course.

The 200-level class offering is the first step in a plan that encompasses an additional 300-level class, student internships, and a joint capstone experience intended to encourage business and engineering collaboration. The program was made possible through a substantial gift from the Muzzy family, which is headed by UA alumni couple Jim and Pamela Muzzy.

Program leaders and the Muzzys project that in the fifth year, the program will involve more than 600 students. Benefits are expected to go beyond the program to boost rankings and enrollment for both colleges, position the university as an entrepreneurial powerhouse, and increase opportunity for students in underrepresented groups, ultimately diversifying the top levels of the workforce.

Both colleges are also contributing financially to help make the program a success.

Blending Cultures

The course is co-taught by Mark Van Dyke and Mark Peterson. Van Dyke is associate dean of research for the College of Engineering and a professor of biomedical engineering. Peterson is a senior lecturer in entrepreneurship and innovation for the Eller College of Management.

Along with others from Engineering and Eller, Van Dyke was a key player in forming the E3 concept and proposing it to the Muzzys. Pairing future engineers with business students can help them develop viable paths to success, while the business students can benefit from learning how engineers think and applying that knowledge to the identification of market opportunities, Van Dyke said.

“By blending those two cultures at this stage, it’s easier for them to have conversations, rather than being on these paths where they graduate with very different mindsets and degrees and skill sets,” he said.

Oliver McClean is an Eller College student majoring in operations and supply chain management who took the inaugural class.

The program is part of a continuing effort by both schools to promote real world entrepreneurial experience. Engineering students design products as part of the Craig M. Berge Design Program. Both engineering and Eller students have the opportunity to enter the McGuire New Venture Development Program, a yearlong, team-based program that helps students build companies from the ground up. NVD teams compete in annual events for cash prizes.

The E3 vision is for students to engage in one or both of the program’s classes, complete internships as early as the second year of university and bring viable ideas to the engineering senior capstone project or the McGuire NVD program.

Thanks to the Muzzys’ gift, students will be able to do meaningful paid work for companies that normally might be unable to compensate interns. The family’s gift also funds technology support, faculty education and salaries, student projects and curriculum development.

“A lot of what I’ve personally taken from the class is what not to do when starting a business – like, why do so many small businesses fail? Because they’re missing certain aspects on both the business and engineering side,” said McClean, who hopes to start his own business one day.