UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has joined the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), a partnership of more than 65 U.S. colleges and universities with the mission of instilling an entrepreneurial mindset in engineering students.  

The partnership was facilitated by the Penn State College of Engineering’s Leonhard Center for Enhancement of Engineering Education, which supports teaching, learning and assessment processes in the college.   

“This new partnership with KEEN will open up many new opportunities for faculty to enhance engineering education at Penn State,” said Sarah Zappe, director of the Leonhard Center and assistant dean for teaching and learning in the College of Engineering. “Incorporating the entrepreneurial mindset into engineering courses will enhance our students' education and experiences in engineering. The Leonhard Center is well positioned to be a leader in this new initiative, and we are excited to get started.”   

KEEN partners build shared curriculum resources, implement programs on campus and commit to advancing KEEN principles based on entrepreneurial thinking and innovation to the broader engineering education community, according to the organization.  

“Engineering is at a critical junction globally, and our students need to be prepared to face a vast array of challenges and opportunities in the future,” said Tonya L. Peeples, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering.  “Supporting students' development of the entrepreneurial mindset — through encouraging curiosity, making connections among diverse sets of ideas and disciplines and creating value in their work to impact others — is critical.” 

In addition to collaborating with engineering educators at other universities, the Penn State College of Engineering plans to incorporate the entrepreneurial mindset that KEEN helps foster into existing programs and courses, such as Engineering Design 100 — a first-year cornerstone course that most engineering students take as an introduction to the field and to engineering design — as well as potentially creating new programming and materials. The vision of leveraging the KEEN network and resources into spurring innovative thought in engineering applies to both educators and students, according to Zappe.  

The partnership also will provide opportunities for engineering disciplines housed outside of the College of Engineering, as well as programs at the Commonwealth Campuses.  

"Penn State’s dedication to transforming the undergraduate engineering experience is evident through initiatives like the Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education and the Entrepreneurial Mindset for Innovative Teaching (EMIT) Academy,” said Ranen McLanahan, program director at the Kern Family Foundation. “With over 100 faculty and staff committed to reaching students through the entrepreneurial mindset, and more than half a dozen avenues identified to do so, Penn State is well-positioned to inspire the next generation of engineers. We are excited to see how these efforts will enrich our community and drive meaningful change in STEM education." 

A kick-off event to celebrate the launch of the partnership will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Oct. 9 in the new Engineering Collaborative Research and Education Building at University Park. All engineering faculty and staff are welcome to attend. For more information on the partnership and how to get involved at Penn State, contact Zappe at ser163@psu.edu.