Ideas Challenge courses are a network of experiential classes being developed at UWM to integrate entrepreneurial thinking into the existing curriculum and strengthen themes of creativity and innovation.
Our Ideas Challenge Faculty Fellows are just some of UWM’s most innovative instructors helping transform the educational experience for UWM students. Check out course offerings below:
Taking your major (whether it is in Arts, IT, Engineering, or Health Sciences) to the next step into a consulting company or a professional practice is a skill honed in this class. Writing your “Launch Playbook” as part of this course, you’ll acquire the skills needed to Launch, Grow, and Sustain a Professional Practice or Consulting Company.
ART-524 / Professional Practice / J. Dietenberger
Product Realization courses teach students how to design, test, and produce prototypes for companies that offer mentorship and funding. Industries like Aurora Healthcare, Eaton Corporation, and Biz-starts, are just some of the local industries that have participated in the course.
For more information, visit the website.
ART-405
COMPSCI-678
IND ENG-405
MECH ENG-405
Design Thinking teaches students how to navigate ambiguity, learn from others, synthesize information, and experiment rapidly between concrete and the abstract. Students will learn how to build and craft prototypes as well as communicate deliberately through the design process and work.
ME-809
Computer Aided Engineering Lab incorporates state-of-the-art CADD, kinematics, and FEA computer tools to build upon mechanical design and analysis skills from previous classes with the goal of designing a product that can be brought to market.
ME 101
Scientist Career Transitions is designed to enlighten science undergraduates as they transition to employment in science-oriented industries by exploring topics that help translate academic learning to initial employment, job success, and career development.
CHEM 690
Design and Visual Communication focuses on the creative process through an entrepreneurial, professional, and cross-disciplinary practice in design and related fields. The curriculum includes coursework in strategy and design process, design methodologies and research, portfolio development, web and multimedia design, and design entrepreneurship.
For more information, visit the website.
ART-422
Performing Communities explores the development of communities through cultural and performing practices by creating community-based work in the arts. This course teaches students how to collaborate with community partners in order to identify social change goals and learn skills to facilitate change.
THEATRE-320
This production class focuses on technologies and aesthetics that incorporate electronics, sensors, motors, physical animation, and other devices into contemporary art and design projects. Students learn programming, kinetics, analog and digital input and output, and communication between computers and micro-controllers.
ART-318(undergrad)/418(grad)
This course introduces students to the history, depth, and breadth of assistive technology and universal design through a combination of direct instruction and individual exploration.
OCCTHPY-220
This course provides students with the skills and knowledge to identify potential business ideas centered on information while developing business plans to secure funding.
INFOST-691
Students focus on the basics of innovation and commercialization as well as “Lean Launch” methodologies that are used in early stage business formation to help develop specific skills that are useful in engineering and technology ventures.
CIV ENG 691
COMPSCI 657
ELECENG 490
IND ENG 590
MATL ENG 690
MECH ENG 490
Entrepreneurship for Healthcare Professionals teaches entrepreneurial thinking skills that are necessary for healthcare managers while receiving hands-on experiences through developing business ideas into marketable products.
Study the creation, growth, or acquisition of business through entrepreneurial efforts. Students develop their own ideas into effective business models and strategies that ultimately lead to increased management skills and positive management succession. Topics include methods of financing, venture capital, leveraged buy-outs, and acquisitions.
BUS ADM-447