Entrepreneurship and Engineering Education: The Multidimensional Approaches of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs are not so different from those of successful engineers. Intelligence, creativity, risk management, tolerance of uncertainty and persistence in achieving an inner directed goal are associated with entrepreneurship, but they are characteristics of anyone, like engineers, who bring about innovation. Educating young people to embrace entrepreneurial traits and behaviors will also help to prepare them for productive careers as leaders in the engineering profession. Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) requirements have recognized that the 21st Century engineer needs both breadth and depth to be prepared for the complexities of the modern technological workplace and the world it serves. At Rose-Hulman, efforts are being made to integrate entrepreneurship into the students’ educational experiences to prepare them for this future. Rose-Hulman has recognized that goals of business and entrepreneurship are different from those of higher education. For example, business encourages secrecy and other protection of new knowledge, while universities have historically favored dissemination. Moreover, education encourages students to make ambitious efforts and learn from failures, while entrepreneurs must be cautious to match their efforts to what markets are ready to accept. Rose-Hulman’s response has been to provide a range of activities with primarily educational focus from entrepreneurship courses and in-class projects aimed at forming e-teams to Engenius Solutions, a unique student-managed organization to promote the commercialization of studentdeveloped ideas. At the other end of the education and business spectrum is Rose- Hulman Ventures where students and faculty work for about two dozen clients who are attempting to launch technology-based businesses. This incubator /new-product development cent! er provides first-hand experience in both technology and entrepreneurship. This paper will describe the objectives and results of Rose-Hulman’s various efforts at technical entrepreneurship and show how together they provide both solid preparation for engineers and the background to launch independent entrepreneurial endeavors

Periodic Atlas of the Metroscape: Lassoing Urban Sprawl

This issue\u27s atlas compares the metroscape with four other metropolitan areas (San Antonio, Columbus, Charlotte, and Orlando). Using 1990 and 2000 census block group data, density classifications were used to show patterns of urban (3 ,000+ persons/ sq.mi .), suburban (1 ,000 to 3,000 persons/sq.mi .), exurban (300 to 1,000 persons/sq .mi.) , and rural (/sq.mi.) growth. While the metroscape experienced significant population growth from 1990 to 2000, compared to the other four, it realized the smallest loss of rural lands and significantly less suburban and exurban style development as well. By comparison, Orlando - the other metro area in the sample using urban containment policies - realized significantly more outward development

Debunking the exurban myth: a comparison of suburban households

Journal ArticleAs American cities spill over their traditional boundaries into 'exurbia', the debate about whether this new growth is substantively different from what preceded is an important one. We disagree with the idea that the counterurbanization the United States is experiencing represents a dramatic break from previous growth patterns. Using parametric and nonparametric analysis, we examine whether or not the behavioral patterns and demographic characteristics of exurbanites differ from those of suburbanites. Is exurbanization really different from suburbanization and are exurbanites really different from suburbanites? Our research shows that the answer is no. Exurbia should not be defined separately from suburbia. Rather, the development on the metropolitan fringe is simply the latest incarnation of the continued suburbanization of American cities

Effectiveness of urban containment regimes in reducing exurban sprawl

Journal ArticleDuring the 1990s, the exurban landscape grew faster and added more people than urban, suburban, and rural landscapes. In many respects, exurbanization is the quintessential representation of urban sprawl and the problems it poses. More than 100 metropolitan areas across the US attempt to manage exurbanization through various forms of urban containment at regional or subregional scales. In this article, we assess the extent to which urban containment is effective in managing exurban sprawl in the 35 largest metropolitan areas in the US. Through simple cross-section analysis, we found that relative to metropolitan areas without urban containment, those pursuing "strong" containment efforts performed best in reducing exurbanization. Strong containment programs are those that direct urban development into areas defined by urban containment boundaries and restrict development outside the boundaries. Metropolitan areas with "natural" containment, i.e., where development is constrained because of oceans, mountains, public ownership, and water supply, did not perform as well but saw less exurbanization than noncontained metropolitan areas. Least effective relative to other forms of containment were metropolitan areas with weak containment efforts, principally because such approaches do not substantially restrict development outside containment boundaries. Strong urban containment appears to be effective in reigning in exurban sprawl but without apparently dampening population growth generally

When Does Inflation Hurt Economic Growth? Different Nonlinearities for Different Economies

We show that the effects of inflation on growth change substantially as the inflation rate rises. Moreover the nonlinearities are quite different for industrial economies than for developing countries. We find that the threshold at which inflation first begins to seriously negatively affect growth is around 8% for industrial economies but 3% or less for developing countries. Marginal growth costs for developing countries then decline significantly above 50% inflation. Failure to account for nonlinearity biases downward the estimated effects of inflation on growth. Mixing industrial and developing economies together also produces unreliable results.inflation; growth; non-linearity

Wright: Comparative Conflict Resolution Procedures in Taxation

A Review of Comparative Conflict Resolution Procedures in Taxation edited by L. Hart Wrigh

Optical nulling apparatus and method for testing an optical surface

An optical nulling apparatus for testing an optical surface includes an aspheric mirror having a reflecting surface for imaging light near or onto the optical surface under test, where the aspheric mirror is configured to reduce spherical aberration of the optical surface under test. The apparatus includes a light source for emitting light toward the aspheric mirror, the light source longitudinally aligned with the aspheric mirror and the optical surface under test. The aspheric mirror is disposed between the light source and the optical surface under test, and the emitted light is reflected off the reflecting surface of the aspheric mirror and imaged near or onto the optical surface under test. An optical measuring device is disposed between the light source and the aspheric mirror, where light reflected from the optical surface under test enters the optical measuring device. An imaging mirror is disposed longitudinally between the light source and the aspheric mirror, and the imaging mirror is configured to again reflect light, which is first reflected from the reflecting surface of the aspheric mirror, onto the optical surface under test

Preferential Myosin Heavy Chain Isoform B Expression May Contribute to the Faster Velocity of Contraction in Veins versus Arteries

Smooth muscle myosin heavy chains occur in 2 isoforms, SMA (slow) and SMB (fast). We hypothesized that the SMB isoform is predominant in the faster-contracting rat vena cava compared to thoracic aorta. We compared the time to half maximal contraction in response to a maximal concentration of endothelin-1 (ET-1; 100 nM), potassium chloride (KCl; 100 mM) and norepinephrine (NE; 10 µM). The time to half maximal contraction was shorter in the vena cava compared to aorta (aorta: ET-1 = 235.8 ± 13.8 s, KCl = 140.0 ± 33.3 s, NE = 19.8 ± 2.7 s; vena cava: ET-1 = 121.8 ± 15.6 s, KCl = 49.5 ± 6.7 s, NE = 9.0 ± 3.3 s). Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction supported the greater expression of SMB in the vena cava compared to aorta. SMB was expressed to a greater extent than SMA in the vessel wall of the vena cava. Western analysis determined that expression of SMB, relative to total smooth muscle myosin heavy chains, was 12.5 ± 4.9-fold higher in the vena cava compared to aorta, while SMA was 4.9 ± 1.2-fold higher in the aorta than vena cava. Thus, the SMB isoform is the predominant form expressed in rat veins, providing one possible mechanism for the faster response of veins to vasoconstrictors

COMMUNICATIONS LINK FOR COMPUTERS

A system is disclosed for a computer to communicate with a selected one of a plurality of other computers through two identical communications links associated with the communicating computers. A single channel connects the two links which operate at a clock rate independent of the computers. Binary digits and clock pulses are combined and converted into a three-level signal for serial transmission over the single channel. Both control messages and data words may be transmitted. Each message and word transmitted is checked for error by the receiving link before it is accepted and the receiving computer is interrupted. If error is found, an error message is automatically transmitted to the originating computer