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ARCHIVED NEWSEntrepreneurial engineering course fosters creativity
“It’s a winner!” exclaimed Tim Hawthorne, an infomercial producer who was part of a panel of experts judging the final class presentations in January for the course “Entrepreneurial Engineering” (MAE435). Hawthorne was commenting on the WetterVac, a vacuum cleaner attachment that picks up wet household spills. And indeed it was a winner. The student team who invented the WetterVac signed a licensing deal in March with A.J. Khubani, the CEO of Telebrands, a direct-marketing company. Khubani co-taught the course with Daniel Nosenchuck, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Half of the students in the course were from outside the Engineering School. “We had teams of students with a mix of backgrounds, skills and interests,” Nosenchuck said. “Those kinds of collaborations mirror what happens in the real world.” The WetterVac was dreamed up by Lawrence Azzaretti, a history of science major, who teamed up with fellow seniors Jonathan Brosterman (ORFE), Robert Gonzales, (politics), Robert Moore, (ORFE) and Sameer Shariff (EE). The students spent their spring break in China, at Khubani’s expense, touring a manufacturing plant that will likely produce the WetterVac. They are all listed as co-inventors on a patent application for the invention. The class was supervised by an Industrial Directors Board whose members guest-lectured to the class and provided expert advice. Board members included Mitchell Modell, CEO of Modell’s Sporting Goods, and Jane Dyer, the director of home division merchan-dising for the Home Shopping Network. Two other teams gave final presentations. Andrew Dayton (politics), Edward Wieser (MAE), Mark Daniels (astrophysics) and Christopher Bosco (MAE) teamed up to pitch their hair-straightening invention. Nikki Laffel (Woodrow Wilson School), Meka Asonye, (economics), Paul Rosa (MAE) and Pete Galie (MAE) worked together to develop a plastic window insulation system. “This wasn’t like every other course where you’re doing problem sets each day,” said Asonye. “It was great to have to an opportunity to be very creative in a traditional academic setting.” —TR |
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