Some final course takeaways:
Before taking the course, I had some idea of the field of entrepreneurship in design. I have an uncle who put forth his design and construction skills toward an entrepreneurial venture of his own, though he received no architectural education. Additionally, I know of some faculty members who have embarked on a start-up company of their own after earning both BSAS + M.Arch degrees. My objectives for the course involved exposing myself to as many fresh ideas as possible, while allowing the most relevant paths to inspire some ideas of my own.
Now that the course has reached an end, I have been sufficiently exposed to a number of alternate careers that have begun in design. More importantly, though, I have learned about what it takes to find success when one’s future is so uncertain. The character traits of a successful entrepreneur has been thoroughly instilled into me and is something I will always keep in the back of mind as I continue to advance in my education and professional pursuits. – KD
Simply put, the course is all about learning what it actually means to be an entrepreneur in design. And not just within an architectural sense as well, it places even more emphasis on how you can leverage an architectural education to do much more than the traditional practice of architecture.
There are a number of opportunities to study the fundamentals of innovation and entrepreneurship, which involve readings and assignments from a range of sources.
But in addition to these conventional approaches, there are a wide range of opportunities provided to speak with a diverse set of successful entrepreneurs in design. This is where the real strength of the class lies, as I can think of few other courses that provide opportunities as numerous and diverse to speak in-person with individuals that embody the goals and objectives of the course.
As I’ve said before, it is clearly a course where the more you put in, the more you will get out of it. If you dedicate genuine time and effort to your work in the course, you can learn a tremendous amount about entrepreneurship in design and how it can inform your own career path. – AO
I’m planning to pursuit a career in teaching and research and this is a very good way to pass on the knowledge I learned in this course either here or back in my home country Egypt. I think that each and every one of my classmates already has a plan to spread this knowledge to his surrounding circle. I also think that the website is a great way to make this knowledge available to others. Prof. Anthony has already done a very great job guiding our group through the process of generating this knowledge, now I think another article about the course would provide more information about the finding of this specific group of students.
However, I think that the best way any of us can spread the knowledge of this course over a wide spectrum of audiences is by generating their own success story and sharing it with the world. Who knows, may be in a few years one of us will be interviewed by a student in “ARCH 576 ED” as a successful entrepreneur in design. – AH
