Work in progress - The Great Race Innovation Chase

As one of the fourteen member universities of the Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN), Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is striving to make our engineering and technology undergraduates more innovative, entrepreneurial and action-oriented. To accomplish these added goals, we have created new courses in entrepreneurship and innovation. But how do we address the problem of encouraging students to add these courses to their already ambitious engineering studies? We decided to create a high-profile, showcase event that makes the learning fun. The Great Race Innovation Chase is a one-day event that requires students to think and act in creative, innovative and entrepreneurial ways; to work in teams to complete tasks, accumulate points, satisfy judges and compete for cash prizes. Along the way, the value of multi-talented, interdisciplinary teams will become apparent to both students and their faculty mentors as they work together to solve real-world problems posed by nationally recognized companies, with brand-name products, under unbelievably tight time constraints.