The University of Delaware Horn Program in Entrepreneurship recently awarded nine grants to 13 UD faculty members to integrate the principles of entrepreneurship into their classrooms.

Horn Faculty Fellows challenges faculty to develop new cross-disciplinary and discipline-specific courses or redevelop existing courses with a focus on creativity, design, leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The College of Engineering received four of the grants awarded this year. Those who received a grant within this college include:

• Sujata Bhatia and Yushan Yan, who will create the chemical and biomolecular engineering course “Acceptance and Resistance to Innovation.”

• Andy Novocin, who will create the electrical and computer engineering program “Vertically Integrated Projects.”

• Dustyn Roberts and Jenni Buckley, who will revise their preexisting mechanical engineering course, “Prototype to Product.”

• Jeannie Stephens and Kim Bothi, who will create the biomedical engineering course “Designing Innovative Solutions to Grand Challenges.”

Within the College of Heath Sciences grant recipients are:

• Susan Conaty-Buck and Katie Gifford, who will develop the course “Healthcare Infomatics” within the School of Nursing.

• Mike MacKenzie, who will create the behavioral health and nutrition course “Mindfulness for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship.”

College of Arts and Sciences recipients include:

• Barret Michalec, who will create the sociology and criminal justice course “Interdisciplinary Training in Empathy and Affect Recognition.”

• Ashley Pigford, who will revise his art and design course “Artist’s Machine.”

One grant went to a team with affiliation to the College of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences:

• Troy Richards and Dustyn Roberts, who will revise an art and design course called “Artgineering.”

“The entrepreneurial mindset is so critical to develop in the engineering students I primarily teach,” said Roberts, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “The incentives offered by Horn Entrepreneurship through this fellowship encourage collaboration between my engineering colleagues and me in addition to colleagues in art and design and me. It is great to be part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at UD.”

Roberts is working on two projects with colleagues that will revise existing courses.

MacKenzie is creating a mindfulness course to develop entrepreneurial skills in UD students.

“This interdisciplinary endeavor highlights the University of Delaware’s ability to impact student’s academic lives, health and wellbeing, and foster the skills our students require to be successful as lifelong learners, creators and innovators,” said MacKenzie.

An interdisciplinary team of faculty with relevant expertise evaluated each application and made funding recommendations based on a variety of criteria including the number of students that will be positively impacted by the course as well as the magnitude of this impact.

All full-time UD faculty who will hold undergraduate teaching appointments during the 2017-18 academic year were eligible to apply for funding from the total $100,000 award pool.

About the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship

The Horn Program in Entrepreneurship ignites imaginations and empowers world changers through educational offerings that emphasize experiential learning, evidence-based entrepreneurship and active engagement with entrepreneurs and other members of the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Through participation in Horn Program offerings, students gain the knowledge, skills, personal capacities, experiences, connections and access to resources needed to successfully manifest innovation and thrive in the rapidly changing world.