Liping Fang, associate dean of student affairs at the faculty of engineering and architectural science. (Courtesy Ryerson)
Enrolment is now open for a new optional program that helps engineering students turn their innovative ideas into realities.
“We obviously have a group of students that are entrepreneurial in the program and want to divvy up new products or services,” said Liping Fang, the associate dean of undergraduate programs and student affairs at the faculty of engineering and architectural science. “That’s the group of students this program is designed for.”
The program, which launches in May, has been in the works since the fall of 2012 and consists of six courses. Half of those will be lecture-based and the half will be practical. The lecture-based courses will be offered in the summer, giving students the chance to participate in the program and still graduate in four years. The practical courses will be offered during the fall and winter terms.
The program will accept about 80 students to start this summer and Fang said he hopes to have 200 students enrolled every year.
Students are encouraged to finish the lecture-based courses before the practicum courses so they are familiar with entrepreneurship theory before they start practicing it.
“I think this is a new, exciting opportunity for students to … get their ideas ready for the market,” Fang said. “Innovation is critical in economic terms.”
Maria Siassina was the arts and life editor at the Ryersonian in the fall of 2013. She graduated from Ryerson's journalism program in the spring of 2014. She has also interned at the National Post in the arts and life section, contributing to the Afterword section with Mark Medley. Her past experiences include interning and writing for Quill & Quire, Canadian Press, This Magazine, and Tightrope Books. She is fluent in Russian and hopes to use this skill in her future as a writer.
