Academics

Bio-tech cluster added to Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor program

Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor now has a tenth cluster with the latest addition of the bio-tech option.

Offered through the Eberly College of Science, the newest cluster in the entrepreneurship and innovation minor (ENTI) is available to all students. Any student with an interest in science and a passion for solving current human, animal and environmental challenges using biotechnology may be interested in the bio-tech option of the ENTI minor. 

The goal of the specialization is to prepare students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and apply innovative strategies to find solutions that benefit humans, animals and the environment. Students also have the opportunity to develop unique skills in career readiness such as teamwork, leadership and communication and can gain knowledge of an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems through biotechnology.

Beatrice Sirakaya, assistant teaching professor and Biotechnology Training Program Technologist at the Eberly College of Science, will be the new bio-tech cluster director.

Starting her career in marketing and management before becoming fascinated by STEM education, Sirakaya said her true passion lies in engaging students in the STEM fields and providing them with additional value to their course work. An underlying teaching philosophy in her biotechnology courses is to give students the opportunity to develop interpersonal skills along with their formal study of the sciences.

“The combination of hard skills in the natural and physical sciences along with the interpersonal skills will give students the opportunity to be better prepared for future careers,” she said. 

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Intercollege minor was first launched in 2012 with seven “clusters,” but has now grown to 10 with addition of the bio-tech cluster. More than 600 students have earned an ENTI minor since 2013. The ENTI minor gives students the opportunity to learn the necessary skills for success in a wide variety of entrepreneurial fields: innovative thinking, leadership skills and management and planning tools. 

All students in the ENTI minor take three core courses: MGMT 215 Entrepreneurial Mindset, ENGR 310 Entrepreneurial Leadership, and MGMT 425/ENGR 425/IST 425 New Venture Creation. Each cluster requires nine or more other credits.

Students are able to declare the minor in their third semester. Since there are no special entrance requirements for the ENTI minor, students can declare the minor themselves through LionPATH. After declaring the minor, students should contact the director of their cluster for an advising session.

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor is a part of the Center for Penn State Student Entrepreneurship, which is housed in Penn State Undergraduate Education, the academic administrative unit that provides leadership and coordination for University-wide programs and initiatives in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State. Learn more about Undergraduate Education at undergrad.psu.edu.
 

Last Updated March 27, 2020