S26 has a strong desire to study engineering and start his own company as soon as possible. He’s particularly interested in aeronautical, electrical, and robotics engineering. He has excellent grades, high test scores, and many awards. I’m reaching out for recommendations on engineering programs that could best support his innovative energy. Without considering any other factors at the moment, just looking for the best programs to nurture his potential in these fields.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
If you flip through the bio’s of company founders they represent a wonderful array. Ditto the funders (at the major VC’s). But you will see Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan, Hopkins, and two handfuls of others somewhat over-represented. And not all engineers.
But the discipline matters. Cyber (one of the top programs is Tulsa, believe it or not) is VERY different from Medical devices is very different from Robotics or Aerial Mobility. Domain knowledge really matters. The “entrepreneurial curriculum” is not that different from a traditional business program, and you’ll likely find that a traditional business education is not well represented among company founders. They can hire a CFO. They can hire a head of production/supply chain. They can’t outsource the actual experience/innovation/breakthrough thinking that allowed them to invent something new in the first place… that comes from the founder.
Thank you for the insightful comment! I completely agree that domain knowledge is critical, and the diverse backgrounds of founders play a huge role in their success. It’s interesting to think about how different fields, like Cyber, Medical Devices, and Robotics, each require such specialized expertise. That said, some programs can be so rigorous that students don’t have the time to work on personal projects. Ideally, programs that support independent work or provide lab access to undergrads would be incredibly valuable.
I don’t know of any engineering program that does not have a significant amount of “tinker time” as part of the actual curriculum, and does not have faculty mentors who understand the difference between a big idea which won’t scale or commercialize, or something with significant entrepreneurial potential.
These professors sit on company boards. They are judges at Tech competitions. They advise VC’s on patent and other intellectual property issues. They testify before Congress on anti-trust issues, and help launch companies based on technologies they were instrumental in developing.
This is very possible at Purdue! One of the benefits of going to a school where you can use all your AP/DE credits from HS is that there is a lot of room in the schedule to create a very personal undergraduate experience.
I’d recommend looking up the 4 year plan of study on all the schools that land on your list to be sure that minors or certifications are possible.
My daughter was a chemical engineering major as was able to complete both an outside certification and a minor/concentration within her field. Independent research was considered a concentration.
If your student is accepted to honors college, there is a built in research requirement that can be started as early as freshman year. But even without honors, my daughter knew many people who were able to form connections with professors early and get into their labs.
So just to put my cards on the table, I am one of those people who is pretty skeptical about how much you can really learn about entrepreneurship in college. I think part of what makes for successful entrepreneurs is just being a certain type of person (including being really good at social stuff like networking and pitching), and then another is having the sort of work experience that leads you to having a really clear vision of exactly what some market is lacking and how you might be able to address that need with a new company (often taking some co-workers or other colleagues along with you). I know there are some heroic stories of people starting very successful businesses during or immediately after college, but I think in the real world it normally happens at least a bit after that.
Which doesn’t mean I think it is pointless to learn some business stuff in college. But I really think the key is to start getting the right sorts of experiences through internships and so on, get into the right sort of firm after college, and meanwhile be developing those “soft” social skills that actually tend to be really critical for successful entrepreneurs.
And I think the vast majority of good engineering colleges will provide you will all the experience opportunities you really need. The rest is going to be up to you.
I agree largely with this. That drive isn’t really taught. People have it or they don’t. It can be supported though for those who do. Plus, remember every class dedicated to business or entrepreneurship is one less technical class.
Cal Poly (my son’s alma mater) has a startup incubator. He’d have to choose a lane, either aerospace (they offer aeronautics and astronautics), electrical, or ME with a mechatronics concentration.
And just to be clear, I was definitely NOT suggesting it would be a poor use of time to do such things in college.
I think I was more just suggesting first you need to get the basics right–like, am I going to get a quality engineering education at an affordable price, with good opportunities to do related engineering activities. And also will I like my overall college experience, and in fact would I still be OK being at this college if for some reason my interests evolve in unexpected ways.
But let’s say you address those questions and a Cal Poly emerged as a possible good choice (as of course it very well might, they are cool schools). Could you then see something like that Center as a significant plus factor?
Sure!
The thing I would avoid is thinking you should sacrifice on the basic stuff to get that sort of stuff. Just because of the nature of engineering colleges, I think usually there is in fact some stuff like this. So you shouldn’t really HAVE to sacrifice the basic stuff, you should be able to have it all really.
There are schools that are extremely likely admits to schools that are a reach for all very strong candidates. I suspect that a student might want to find colleges/programs of interest based on other criteria, and then look to see what kind of entrepreneurship support is offered at those institutions, rather than starting at this point, though if the purpose is to develop a very broad list, then this could as good a start point as any.
This is speculation on my part, but I would take a look at the Olin College of Engineering. All seniors do a capstone project, and two of them relate to entrepreneurship (source 1, source 2). There’s a student club on entrepreneurship as well. But because of the close links with Babson and a good deal of VC opportunities in the Boston area, it could be a fruitful part of the world for someone with your kid’s interests.
Thank you all so much for the thoughtful and detailed responses — I truly appreciate the time and insight each of you shared.
I’ll definitely be diving into all the resources mentioned, from Purdue Innovates and the Cal Poly CIE to Lehigh, Texas A&M, Penn State, and Olin. Lots to research!
My son has a strong vision and drive to bring something meaningful to the market, and my goal is to help him find an environment that will not only challenge him academically but also nurture his innovative spirit. Whether that comes from incubators, entrepreneurship minors, or access to research and internships, I’m glad to know that there are multiple paths and schools where that kind of support exists.
I also really appreciate the reminder from several of you to prioritize a strong foundational engineering education and a good college fit overall - especially if his interests evolve over time - important to keep that in mind while building his college list.
Well since everyone is giving their favorite program’s.. Lol. My son did Industrial engineering with one of his minors in entrepreneurship and worked at their school of innovation
Like all major schools there are so many different ways to get involved. Most of the minor classes were taught by CEOs and the projects were business oriented helping to solve current issues from live companies.
But also different club’s and activities to focus.
One extra fact about Olin is that every admitted student is guaranteed a merit scholarship (typically ~half of tuition): Cost of Attendance | Olin College of Engineering regardless of need (but there is also need-based aid in addition for those that require/qualify for it).