Engineering Entrepreneurship

This subject is not offered in 2013.

120 hours

100 points of study or equivalent advanced standing within the Masters of Engineering

None

Skills in teamwork, report writing, oral presentation, creative problem solving

None

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

The aim of this subject is to examine the nature of entrepreneurial behaviour and its role in both small and large organisations within an engineering context. Students will learn various processes by which successful new ventures are created by developing their own enterprise proposal within small groups

At the conclusion of this subject students should be able to:

• Describe and discuss the theoretical frameworks and concepts which have been developed to explain entrepreneurial behaviour
• Identify the characteristics of entrepreneurial people who operate in small and large organisations
• Use various techniques for creating business opportunities
• Prepare and present a business plan for a new venture
• Discuss the sources of finance for new ventures and the ways financiers and large corporations evaluate business plans and proposals for new ventures and be able to sell the business concept to potential funding sources
• Describe how to work on the business and not just in the business and thus become value creators

• Research essay (20%; 2,000 words; week 5; individual)
• Business plan (60%; 5,000 words; week 12; group)
• Participation and learning journal (20%; 2,000 words; week 12; individual).

Timmons J & Spinelli S, New Venture Creation; Entrepreneurship in the 21 st Century, 9th Edition 2011, McGraw-Hill Irwin, N.Y.

Osterwalder & Pigneur, Business Model Generation, 2010, Wiley

Chris Anderson, Free: the future of a radical price, 2009, Hyperion

Eric Ries, The Lean Startup, 2011, Crown Business

Tim Brown, Change by Design, 2009, Harper

Steve Blank, The Startup Owner’s Manual, 2012, K&S Ranch Inc.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students will get practice in and be able to further develop their:

• Awareness of the fundamentals of business planning and financial management
• Capacity for creativity and innovation
• Ability to use a systems approach to complex problems
• Ability to communicate effectively, with the engineering team and with the community at large
• Ability to manage information and documentation
• Ability to function effectively as an individual and in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams
• Capacity for lifelong learning and professional development