“As Henry Ford said, ‘success is about creating value’. How do you come up with an idea and take that idea and be successful?”
Dr. Patrick Atkinson, professor of Mechanical Engineering, issued a call to arms to Kettering University faculty and students - “we must use our creativity.”
In a lecture sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Atkinson described the characteristics of an entrepreneurial mindset. The mindset requires each individual to use their natural talent to be clever and ingenious. Beyond creativity, it is made up of three additional “Cs” - curiosity, connections and create value.
“As Henry Ford said, ‘success is about creating value’,” Atkinson said. “How do you come up with an idea and take that idea and be successful?”
Atkinson took this question to heart in his classroom. He desired to design a classroom that was not only creative on its own but also inspired students to perform creatively.
With assistance from the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), Atkinson accomplished this by offering a special introductory bioengineering course that tasks students with solving surgical problems without the benefit of knowing how such problems are typically addressed in the medical field. Atkinson designed a simulated operating room and simulated surgery in class while documenting the learning process with his alter ego Dr. BioEngineering in an online YouTube series titled “Dollar Store Surgery.”
The goal was to create a realistic environment for students to better understand the needs of all stakeholders involved, from the patient to the surgeon.
“The status quo - break it apart. Make it better,” Atkinson said. “Question the existing paradigms.”
Atkinson will also be presenting the findings from his introductory bioengineering course and how it relates to entrepreneurship on a KEEN Webinar titled “Dollar Store Surgery: How to Spur Opportunity Ideation for Highly Regulated Products” on Thursday, December 11 at 11 a.m. EST.