Visualization in Design and Entrepreneurial Endeavors

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2008 - $6,500.00

This project builds upon a well established, entrepreneurial-focused engineering program at RPI. Specifically, the grant supports the creation of teaching modules will take students' visualization skills to a professional level, enhancing their ability to communicate complex ideas. These advanced visualization skills are critical to innovation because they (1) increase creativity in problem solving by allowing students to visualize various solutions, and (2) improve communication of design ideas, especially to external sponsors.

While RPI has a solid reputation of harvesting students with strong vision and technical skills, the students' visual skills are generally less sophisticated compared to professionals. The teaching modules will bring students' visualization skills in line with their aptitude for creative thinking, engineering, social analysis, and entrepreneurial planning. With professional-level visualization skills, RPI students will be able to compete with the best, allowing them to communicate their innovations to a wider audience.