Rose-Hulman Student Named ‘Innovation Fellow’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology student is part of a national program to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Katelyn Stenger has been named a University Innovation Fellow. She had a role in launching a public online platform recently featured by the White House. November 30, 2013
News Release
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Katelyn Stenger’s interest in social entrepreneurship and sustainability have earned the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology student a prestigious role as a University Innovation Fellow, a national program empowering select engineering student leaders to catalyze more innovative and entrepreneurial activities on their campuses.
Through the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter), this program is supported by the National Science Foundation, Stanford University and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), and has been promoted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
“As hubs of learning, networking, mentorship, and creativity, colleges and universities provide particularly fertile ground for the cultivation of world-changing, entrepreneurial ideas,” said Doug Rand, OSTP’s assistant director for entrepreneurship.
Stenger, one of 22 new University Innovation Fellows, played an essential role in launching a new public online platform, universityinnovation.org, featured recently by the White House. The platform is a tool for students across the country to share information about how to spark an entrepreneurial movement at their institutions. She created several pages on the website and details the entrepreneurial activities at Rose-Hulman.
“Innovation is integrated into the culture of Rose-Hulman while, entrepreneurship is beginning to create an impactful presence on campus,” she stated.
Stenger hopes to accentuate the entrepreneurial movement by promoting and establishing courses, programs and resources that integrate entrepreneurship into the campus’ educational culture. Specifically, she would like to work with administrators and faculty members to establish a Maker Space, a workspace where students could explore, experiment and collaborate on creative and innovative startup enterprises.
“Katelyn is someone who embodies a strong innovative spirit to make a difference through engineering,” said Humera Fasihuddin, who leads the University Innovation Fellows program for Epicenter. “She has the skills to lead others to bring change on her campus, community and world.”
Stenger recently completed training with other University Innovation Fellows from 20 universities across the country, including Ohio State University, University of Texas, Duke University, Texas A&M University, University of California and Clemson University. The group will meet for the first time in March, 2014, when members will attend NCIIA’s 18th annual national conference on entrepreneurship and take part in a design thinking workshop at Google.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to connect with other students and form a network that will be valuable to my goals,” said Stenger, who lists starting a consulting company for environmentally responsible engineers as one of several career objectives.
She is president of the Sustainability Club, a group dedicated to practicing environmental stewardship, improving Rose-Hulman's “green” awareness, and educating sustainable design. She also was among the first student group that participated in Rose-Hulman’s Home for Environmentally Responsible Engineering program, and has taken multiple sustainability courses in the institute’s curriculum.
“I like looking at the big picture, and the role I and other college students can make in creating a better world,” Stenger said. “Engineers have the unique skills and problem-solving mindset to solve the greatest challenges in the world—challenges like bringing clean water, sustainable energy and available medical care to developing countries. I want to play a role in these and many other causes.”
About Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Founded in 1874, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is dedicated to preparing its students with the world’s best undergraduate science, engineering, and mathematics education in an environment infused with innovation, intellectual rigor, and individualized attention. The college, located in Terre Haute, Indiana, has an enrollment of approximately 2,000 undergraduate students and 100 graduate students. For 15 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has rated Rose-Hulman as the top undergraduate engineering college in the nation whose highest degree is a bachelor’s or master’s. Rose-Hulman has also been recognized by The Princeton Review, which cited six of the institute’s professors within their 2012 Best 300 Professors book, the only institution of higher learning in Indiana to be included. Learn more at www.rose-hulman.edu. Source: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology