Colorado School of Mines is excited to announce that the university is now an official partner of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN). KEEN is a growing network of 30+ undergraduate engineering programs around the United States, including institutions such as Arizona State University, Santa Clara University and Villanova University. The network’s mission is to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset who can create personal, economic, and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work.
As a KEEN partner, Mines will have access to exclusive benefits aimed at helping to expand and improve entrepreneurial education on campus. Benefits include faculty development opportunities, curriculum resources and grants and funding for aligned initiatives, such as support for the University Innovation Fellows program.
Advocating for expanding the entrepreneurial mindset – which encompasses student attitudes, motivations and dispositions – is critical in today’s dynamic and interconnected world. KEEN helps students to develop this mindset through a framework of the “3C’s:”
- Curiosity: “An inquisitiveness marked by an insatiable desire to learn about our changing world”
- Connections: “The ability to integrate information from many different sources to gain insight”
- Creating Value: “Finding unexpected opportunities to create value for others”
Mines hopes to use the resources provided by KEEN to develop new programs and to equip faculty with the tools needed to incorporate these concepts into initiatives and curriculum at Mines so that students are best prepared to find success upon entering the workforce.
About Colorado School of Mines
Colorado School of Mines is known globally for the quality of its distinctive graduates, the success of its alumni and its unique expertise in topics related to earth, energy and the environment. Mines produces industry-ready scientists and engineers known for their work ethic, problem-solving ability and teamwork focus. Mines graduates are in great demand by companies and government entities around the world and are involved in solving major technical and societal challenges of our times.
About The Kern Family Foundation
The Kern Family Foundation invests in the rising generation of Americans, equipping them to become tomorrow's leaders and innovators. Established in 1999, The Kern Family Foundation is a prominent, strategic foundation based in Wisconsin that invests in the rising generation of leaders. The Foundation aims to effect systemic change through partnerships to preserve the tradition of private enterprise, which enables the United States to thrive intellectually and economically. Its three program areas are Education and Character, Faith, Work and Economics, and Entrepreneurial Engineering. The Foundation has a national vision for its strategic initiatives, but does not accept unsolicited applications.
CONTACT
Lexie Mitchell, Assistant Director, Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation | lexiemitchell@mines.edu
Emilie Rusch, Public Information Specialist, Colorado School of Mines | 303-273-3361 | erusch@mines.edu
