Engineering Entrepreneur to Entrepreneurial Engineer

- A Changing Paradigm
B. Satish Kumar
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, SR Engineering College
Dr. G. Surendar
Assistant Professor, Department of Business Management, SR Engineering College

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is the act of building a business by an individual through innovation or the

taking of an initiative beyond the scope of described job duties. In the business world and in the
field of engineering, this requires a combination of skill, intelligence, and ambition. With start-
ups becoming commonplace in today’s market, an individual’s ability to think entrepreneurially
can play even more of a role in determining success than technical ability. With the
globalization of business and the uncertain economy, there are plenty of opportunities to
evaluate and pursue. So, the global economy, with its chaos and disarray, is actually a target-
rich environment for technology-based entrepreneurs. Recognizing and vetting these
opportunities, often within constrained timeframes, are challenges more easily handled by
entrepreneurial engineers. This is paper presents weaknesses of the Engineering Entrepreneur
and need and the attributes of Entrepreneurial Engineering.

Key Words: Engineer, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial Engineering and its attributes

Introduction:
Engineering is valuable in solving technical problems. Problem solving alone, however,
is insufficient to create new-to-the-world products. Engineering leverages the knowledge of
technology and is able to bring real value to the global marketplace, especially in the areas of
new or disruptive technology capable of improving the lives of others in a global marketplace.
New product creation generates both jobs and revenue for companies in which engineers work; it
is also the engine that maintains a country’s leadership position in the world’s economy.
Engineering education, therefore, must teach engineers-to-be how to be entrepreneurially minded
so they can be key influencers in creating new products. This new educational paradigm must
include not only instruction in the technical fundamentals of engineering, but also incorporate
insight into the importance of customer awareness, an introduction to business principles, as well
as a focus on societal needs and values. These precepts need to be integrated into curricular as
well as co- and extra-curricular activities.

“Two highly valued strengths of engineers—intelligence and precision—can actually become

weaknesses when it comes to being an entrepreneur.”
Steven L. Reid, contract manufacturer
 Two highly valued strengths of engineers can actually become weaknesses; intelligence
and precision. Engineers are highly intelligent and can become frustrated when others with
whom they interact are not as knowledgeable about their subject (entrepreneurs need to be
flexible and patient). Engineers also value precise solutions that sometimes may not be worth the
effort, time, or money necessary to complete (entrepreneurs sometimes need to make quick
decisions and can't wait for precise solutions). Engineers also tend to devalue soft skills or
visionary thinking. They may also resist change once on a given path—they want to finish
something, even if it adds no more value.

Key aspects to being entrepreneurial are vision and opportunity. Being entrepreneurial
allows an engineer to be more strategic in a project or in an organization. This means he or she
can wear different hats and contribute in multiple ways. Being involved at multiple, cross-
disciplinary levels can give an engineer a broader perspective on the end result of the project,
sometimes resulting in engineering insights and decisions that improve the final product.

Although an entrepreneur is generally defined as an individual, a group or an

organization can also be entrepreneurial. Just as an individual can add other disciplines to his/her
technical base, groups can do the same. When individuals of different skills come together and
collaborate to pursue a common goal, the team can be entrepreneurial.

Engineering, as a field, requires a future-orientation and now incorporates more right-

brain creativity and function. Engineers will need to work with and speak the language of their
business partners. Each problem will have many potential solutions, none of which has been
successfully attempted before; therefore there is a need for entrepreneurial engineers.

An entrepreneurial engineer will want to examine problems in the context of the past, yet
forge ahead with the mindset of problems as opportunities, in spite of being told “it can’t be
done.” Problems are opportunities for innovation because if solutions were obvious, then the
problems would already have been resolved. Further, since many potential solutions may exist,
one solution may take a leadership position in the marketplace compared with another solution.
Entrepreneurial opportunities require prescient wisdom in order to take customers to where they
want to be, though customers themselves may not yet know where they want to go (Hamel and
Prahalad, 1994). The NAE’s report reinforces this concept, asserting “engineering will only
contribute to the success of our country if it’s able to continue to adapt to new trends and educate
the next generation of students so as to arm them with tools needed for the world as it will be,
not as it is today” (National Academy of Engineering, 2004).

Although many colleges offer course curricula focusing on innovation and

entrepreneurship, these are often limited in scope to business creation and reach a limited portion
of the student body. And while traditionally these types of courses have been housed in the
business school, recent efforts across the country have spread entrepreneurship education to
more students outside of the business school. Still, engineers have a unique perspective on
leveraging technology; therefore, a consistent emphasis on entrepreneurial engineering is
desperately needed.
Entrepreneurial Engineering:

Entrepreneurial Engineering is not Engineering Entrepreneurship. It is imperative to

distinguish between teaching entrepreneurship and instilling the entrepreneurial mindset into
engineering education. Entrepreneurship is self-employment through business ownership, which
has significant elements of risk, control and reward. (This definition of entrepreneurship was
coined by John Hughes, the Coleman Foundation's Chairman Emeritus.)

An entrepreneurially minded engineer (i.e. an engineer instilled with the entrepreneurial

mindset) places product benefits before design features and leverages technology to fill unmet
customer needs. The purpose of entrepreneurial engineering is to design value-added products
and processes that create demand through innovation, resulting in positive cash flow, revenue,
and regenerative profits for the enterprise producing the product.

Attributes characteristic of an entrepreneurial engineer include integrity, tenacity, ethics,

creativity, intuition, a deep knowledge of engineering fundamentals, the ability to engineer
products for commercialization, a penchant for lifelong learning, an ability to see how his or her
ideas fit into the larger context of society, and proficiency in communicating his or her ideas.

Entrepreneurially minded engineers are able to fill both the roles of traditional staff
engineers, as well as fill the position of entrepreneurial engineers, those who take leadership
roles within companies and define, design, create and produce incremental improvements to
products intended to retain and/or capture market share in order to stay ahead of competitive
products or meet the needs of changing markets. Entrepreneurially minded engineers can also be
engineers who are entrepreneurs, those having a personal financial investment in the firms in
which they work.

The Attributes of an Entrepreneurial Mindset:

In no particular order, the attributes, skills and proficiencies indicative of an
entrepreneurial mindset include, but are not limited to their abilities in the following four areas:

Business Acumen:
Entrepreneurial engineers need to be able to tell their new-product story in business
terms. They need to be able to negotiate organizational management obstacles by effectively
collaborating in a team setting. They need to effectively manage projects and apply the
commercialization process.

Understanding Customer Needs:

Entrepreneurial engineers need to be able to recognize opportunities that have a technical
solution. They need to construct and effectively communicate a customer-appropriate value
proposition. They need to apply critical and creative thinking to solving ambiguous problems.

Societal Values:
Entrepreneurial engineers need to be able to see the value of their work as it affects
society, preserves freedom and liberty and maintains a standard of living which far too many of
us simply take for granted. They need to demonstrate voluntary social responsibility.
Technical Depth:
Entrepreneurial engineers will not only be good by the book in knowing the theory of
engineering, but they will be able to practice the art and science of engineering. They will work
judiciously to make products designed and tested for commercialization. They will persist
through failure to do what is needed to succeed.

Conclusions:
In conclusion, entrepreneurial engineering is suggested as a career that should be payed
serious consideration due to its broad macro-economic implications. The development of an
entrepreneurial engineering culture within the engineering community will contribute to job
creation, personal wealth creation and financial independence, increased competition, increased
creativity and innovation, greater national self-reliance on products and services (and hence
increased immunity to economic variations associated with importing these) and a greater
potential to compete globally. This culture may be achieved through the marketing of this
concept, the development of entrepreneurial education within the academic curricula of
engineering programs, the initiative of government and engineering bodies to develop
entrepreneurial engineering within the science and technology areas (e.g. by holding workshops
and seminars that train and develop this culture) and finally, by the decision to embark on an
entrepreneurial engineering career by the individual engineer. The identification of
entrepreneurial engineering characteristics has led to the proposal of a useful structured approach
to career path development for entrepreneurial engineers.

References:
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[2] Mark Crawford, From Engineer to Entrepreneur, ASME.org November 2012
[3] A. A. Refaat, The Necessity of Engineering Entrepreneurship Education for Developing
Economies, International Journal Of Education And Information Technologies Issue 2, Volume
3, 2009
[4] Irfaan A. Khota, A Perspective on the Development of Entrepreneurial Engineering,
http://sajie.journals.ac.za
[4] Anthony J. Marchese, John L. Schmalzel, John C. Chen and K. Mark Weaver, Creating an
Entrepreneurial Culture at a Startup Engineering Program, Proceedings - Teaching
Entrepreneurship to Engineering Students, Monterrey, CA, January 12-16, 2003