Villanova University’s College of Engineering is committed to an educational program that emphasizes technical excellence and a liberal education within the framework of the University’s Augustinian and Catholic traditions. As a community of scholars, we seek to educate students to pursue both knowledge and wisdom, and to aspire to ethical and moral leadership within their chosen careers, their community, and the world.

Why We're in KEEN
We at Villanova truly enjoy partnering with other KEEN universities to amplify resources. In the network, there are hundreds of professors, staff members and students interested in learning and applying the EML principles to the development of a mindset. They share, give, and most of all, collaborate. KEEN helps put all of Villanova’s great work — to work.

Engineering Entrepreneurship Summer Institute Abroad
This summer we are taking our Engineering Entrepreneurship Summer Institute (E2SI) abroad to Panama, integrating service learning into our successful summer program. E2SI, modeled on our academic year minor, immerses students an eight-week experiential entrepreneurial accelerator. Focused on the KEEN three C's of Curiosity, Connection, and Value Creation the program blends classroom learning with hands-on entrepreneurial projects. This summer in Panama, student will explore the entrepreneurial mindset through Panama's rich cultural and environmental landscape, sparking curiosity and fostering cross-cultural connections. Through collaboration with local communities, they will identify pressing challenges and co-create innovative solutions, emphasizing value creation across Panamanian stakeholders. This holistic approach not only cultivates the entrepreneurial mindset and technical skills but also instills a sense of global corporate citizenship. Participants leave empowered to drive positive change while gaining an invaluable international perspective.

Current Work

• Graduate Program Certificate Development: Based upon our highly successful Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor developed through funding from the Kern Family Foundation, we are expanding into the engineering graduate program with three 10 credit-hour Graduate Engineering Certificates. Each certificate will leverage the entrepreneurial mindset and the three C’s to provide advanced knowledge in business principles, innovation strategies, and entrepreneurial thinking. The first of these, the Technology Commercialization Certificate, equips engineers with skills to develop innovative entrepreneurial solutions from technology research. Our first course in this certificate, Research Driven Innovation, will launch Fall of 2024. Research Driven Innovation offers an immersive, inquiry-based learning experience of the customer discovery process, essential to value creation for the customer. Subsequent courses in the Technology Commercialization Certificate will include Business Model Innovation and Technology Commercialization Management.


• Undergraduate Program Expansion: We are currently expanding our undergraduate Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor through building a relationship with our law school. An Intellectual Property Clinic recently opened in our Charles Widger School of Law, and we are teaming up with the Director of the Clinic to offer an undergraduate course in Intellectual Property Management for Engineers. The course will focus on value creation from student entrepreneurially minded innovation.


• Faculty Prototyping Workshop: Villanova will launch its first Maker Space Fall of 2024. In preparation for faculty and student use of the Maker Space we are holding a Faculty Prototyping Workshop this spring. Ten faculty participants have been chosen from each department. Upon completion of the workshop each faculty participant will be invited to submit an Engineering Unleashed card.

Previous Work
In the Fall of 2023, we held our second KEEN Innovation Challenge - Generative AI for Sustainable Innovation. Twenty-four students from across the university participated in the development of creative solutions addressing pressing environmental challenges. Teams leveraged Generative AI language generation capabilities to ideate, prototype, and present sustainable innovations. Judging criteria included: value creation, impact through connection, and originality. Winners received recognition and support to implement their ideas for real-world impact.