Western Carolina University (WCU), a regional comprehensive institution founded in 1889 with a distinguished history of teaching and learning for western North Carolina has begun the process of alignment with a new focus on innovation. WCU has launched an initiative to engage the resources of the university, its faculty, students, and facilities in the economic growth of the region. At a regional summit held at Cullowhee, NC in February 2003, the university was asked to explore engagement in non-traditional and creative ways. Since that time, numerous initiatives have been launched to stimulate this engagement in new product development, in broadband communications, in adaptive devices, and in rapid prototyping. The conditions are primed for innovative initiatives to convert this enthusiasm into reality. The Center for Rapid Product Realization, (CRPR) and the Department of Engineering and Technology have played a leading role in this engagement initiative. The CRPR was created to form a bridge and connect the resources of the Department of Engineering and Technology and the Kimmel School to the external community. Furthermore, a new capstone curricular sequence was developed, which combines project management, new product development, and interdisciplinary student teams. Our purpose was to produce engineering and technology graduates who are open to the injection of new ideas, comfortable in an environment that will nurture new product ideas from diverse disciplines and can mature promising ideas into actual business propositions.
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