Shaping Future Engineers

Students working with computers and various devices in a lab.

Helping engineering students grow and learn in our modern and rapidly evolving business landscape is what the Kern Family Foundation sought to do recently when it gave a $631,000 grant to fund an assessment project within the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN). The project specifically seeks to develop and improve entrepreneurial tools which include training and coaching for multiple perspectives.

The funded project will be led by Viji Sathy, associate dean for evaluation and assessment in undergraduate education in the College of Arts & Sciences, and a professor in the department of psychology and neuroscience. Her priority with the project is to learn about student programs and educational experiences.

She will work with many other universities that form part of the Engineering Unleashed community – a growing community of more than 3,500 engineering faculty and staff from more than 340 colleges and universities, who have a shared mission to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset.

“This is an exciting opportunity for enhancing engineering education in new ways,” said Heather Dillon, a project partner, and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington Tacoma. “Working to help engineering faculty think about student mindset and how to measure it. By supporting student-centered education, we are empowering the engineers of the future.”

Read the complete Carolina Story

Related Stories


UNC Coach’s Legacy Cemented Forever

A pitch-perfect career

Celebrating a Presidential Day