Two UP students named University Innovation Fellows by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation

Engineering

Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement

November 17, 2015

Two University of Portland engineering students have been named University Innovation Fellows by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation. Students Ryan Cebula ’16 and Katie Heitkemper ’17 have completed training to join the national program that empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement with innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and design thinking.

Cebula and Heitkemper are two out of 150 students from 52 U.S. higher education institutions who were accepted into the program. The new fellows join three UP alumni from previous cohorts: Taylor Hendricks, Cole Preece and Kevin Bastien.

The University Innovation Fellows program is run by Epicenter, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and directed by Stanford University and VentureWell. Students in the program advocate for lasting institutional change and create opportunities for students to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity at their schools. Fellows design innovation spaces, start entrepreneurship organizations, host experiential learning events and work with faculty to develop new courses. Fellows who joined the program in the 2014-15 academic year held 112 events and established 35 spaces at their schools.

For more information about the Cebula and Heitkemper’s strategic priorities for the program, please go here.