Innovation Certificate

Meet some of our Innovation Certificate Students!

THE APPLICATION WINDOW FOR THE 2012-13 SCHOOL YEAR IS CLOSED.
Congratulations to the 27 students that were accepted for our inaugural year!

What is the iFoundry Innovation Certificate?

The iFoundry Innovation Certificate (IC) is iFoundry’s first certificate program and welcomes applications from all first-year students. First-year engineering students who are passionate about becoming entrepreneurs, innovative product designers, and transformative technical developers are especially encouraged to apply.

iFoundry has designed a small set of special courses, coaching opportunities, and community that will help IC students develop their creative and innovative capabilities, and be successful in applying their engineering knowledge and talents to society in their lives as engineers and engaged citizens. We expect that the IC will open doors for the engineering students who pursue this program.
 

It’s easy to fit into your class schedule

iFoundry IC students will pursue a set of courses designed to help engineers become more innovative and to generate ideas that have the potential to be breakthrough new products. These courses, 14 hours total, can easily be integrated into the typical engineering students’ curriculum.

The courses and experiences for the IC Students will include:
• An in-depth course on finding and understanding customer problems and creating solutions to meet those needs
• A course in understanding change and leading others to accept new ideas
• Various engineering projects with a clear deliverable that solve a real customer problem
• Extensive coaching, support, encouragement and personal attention for the iFoundry IC community of students to help them develop problem-solving, modeling and prototyping, and other business leadership skills

You’ll be coached by phenomenal people

Every student accepted into this special program will meet with a faculty/staff coach individually at least once every semester to explore their ideas and progress to identify their individual focus, and to help them achieve their personal goals. In addition the program will offer some group coaching and discussion sessions to build participants’ personal development, leadership, creativity and innovation.

You'll share your work and ideas with the best innovators

Structured sessions will focus on aspirations, innovative ideas, and personal challenges. The program will build a warm and supportive community and students will learn and teach one another as the IC community grows. The initial year will offer structured experiences, and we expect that the students will take the initiative to collaborate in the second and third years in the program.

At the end of each academic year, all IC students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their ideas to companies, innovators, entrepreneurs, professors and colleagues.

Industry involvement will be extensive

The IC has vital out-of-classroom experiences to supplement course work, collaborations with established innovators, product dissection experiences, and internships and experiences with creative and innovative groups in companies that will enrich and extend the in-classroom work.
Companies that will participate with and support the IC include Advanced Micro Devices, Allstate, Autodesk, Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, IBM, Inventables, Procter & Gamble, State Farm, and others.

Sample Innovation Certificate Course Schedule (12-15 hr. certificate)

FRESHMAN FALL
Application

FRESHMAN SPRING
Acceptance

FRESHMAN SUMMER
Reading and Idea Generation

SOPHOMORE FALL
User Oriented Collaborative Design*
+ Innovation Coaching

SOPHOMORE SPRING
Learning in Community (LINC)* + Innovation
Coaching

SOPHOMORE SUMMER
Internships or stipends to pursue ideas

JUNIOR FALL
Creativity* + Innovation Coaching

JUNIOR SPRING
Leading Sustainable Change* +
Innovation Coaching

JUNIOR SUMMER
Internships or stipends to pursue ideas

SENIOR FALL
Interdisciplinary Senior Design* +
Innovation Coaching

SENIOR SPRING
Innovation Coaching and Product
Demonstration

SENIOR SUMMER
Pursue employment in companies or as
entrepreneurs

* Designates For-Credit Courses