Advances in Engineering Education - Winter 2016 - An Educational and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to Actualize Technology-Based Social Ventures

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky

The Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) Program at Penn State supports students and faculty in research, design, field-testing, and launching technology-based social enterprises targeting global development challenges. HESE work is embedded across five courses that unite learning, research, and entrepreneurial engagement to build globally engaged problem solvers. The article presents the program’s origins, philosophies, learning outcomes, and course mechanics, including the eplum model and its mixed-method evaluation of impacts on global awareness, teamwork, and entrepreneurship education.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages38

Reading Time1 h 36 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The Engineer of 2020 and engineering education demands

Addressing global development needs

HESE program overview and philosophies

Sustainability and the co-creation approach

| | Ad | vances in Engineering Edu | cation | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | WINTER 2016 An Educational and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to Actualize Technology-Based Social Ventures KHANJAN MEHTA Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) Program SARAH ZAPPE AND MARY LYNN BRANNON Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education AND YU ZHAO Department of Educational Psychology The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA ABSTRACT The Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) Program engages students and faculty across Penn State in the rigorous research, design, field-testing, and launch of technologybased social enterprises that address global development challenges. HESE ventures are embedded in a series of five courses that integrate learning, research, and entrepreneurial engagement. The goal is to educate globally-engaged problem solvers who can create sustainable and scalable value for partnering communities, while simultaneously generating and disseminating new knowledge and lessons learned. This article describes the genesis, foundational philosophies, programmatic learning outcomes, and course mechanics of the HESE Program. The eplum model of student engagement, which embeds HESE sub-projects into regular credit classes and provides rigorous yet non-travelbased experiences to a cross section of students, is discussed. A mixed methods approach is utilized to examine the effectiveness and impact of the eplum curricular model on student learning, specifically in the areas of global awareness, multidisciplinary teamwork, and entrepreneurship education. The entrepreneurial and research outcomes of the program are summarized with a culminating discussion on the emergence of an educational and entrepreneurial ecosystem that has proved pivotal to actualize the ventures and achieve sustainable impact. WINTER 2016 1 ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION An Educational and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to Actualize Technology-Based Social Ventures Key Words: Humanitarian Engineering, Social Entrepreneurship, Service Learning, International Development, Social Innovation INTRODUCTION The Engineer of 2020, as described by The National Academy of Engineering, is a leader in the movement towards informed and economically sustainable development [1] . Engineering educators are charged with the task of preparing students with a strong foundation and knowledge of innovative technologies that advance society. In response, engineering education has increasingly emphasized experiential education and professional skill development. Upon entering the workplace, graduates are expected to be technically proficient as well as educated citizens at home with societal concerns. Hence, universities are integrating concepts of entrepreneurship, societal implications, global contextualization, ethics, cultural sensitivity, multidisciplinary teamwork, and engaged scholarship into regular coursework. At the same time, almost half the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 per day and millions of people lack access to food, clean water, sanitation, energy, and basic healthcare. Paul Polak, the founder of International Development Enterprises, estimates that 90% of the design efforts in the world are directed towards 10% of the world’s population. Several academic programs and cocurricular student clubs have emerged to reverse this trend by addressing the needs of developing communities in the United States and abroad. Academic programs of this type include Humanitarian Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, Global Resolve at Arizona State University, D-Labat MIT, Design for Extreme Affordability at Stanford University, Development Engineering program at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Extra-curricul

FAQs

What does the HESE Program do to support technology-based social ventures?

HESE engages students and faculty in rigorous research, design, field-testing, and launch activities for technology-based social enterprises addressing global development challenges.

How are HESE activities integrated into coursework?

HESE ventures are embedded in a series of five courses that integrate learning, research, and entrepreneurial engagement, using a curricular model described as eplum.

What philosophies guide the HESE approach?

HESE is grounded in the philosophies of Empathy, Equity, and Ecosystems to help students, faculty, and partners collaboratively develop sustainable and scalable solutions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rizky