MSOE students Louisa Essuman, civil engineering major, and Noah Nieberle, software engineering major, recently completed training to join the University Innovation Fellows (UIF), a global program that empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement with design, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

“I wanted to be a University Innovation Fellow because I wanted to improve on my leadership skills,” said Essuman. “I also wanted to experience being in a community where other students cared about entrepreneurship and how it ties into engineering.”

The UIF program helps students to become agents of change at their schools. Fellows work to ensure that all students gain the attitudes, skills and knowledge required to navigate a complex world and build the future. Essuman and Nieberle already have project proposals developed that they will be presenting to stakeholders on Nov. 30 in the Ladish Entrepreneurial Space in the Cove in Viets Tower.

Essuman’s project proposal is to turn room SG-100 in the Allen-Bradley Hall of Science into a construction makerspace. “I am presenting why MSOE should invest in cutting edge technology, such as 3D concrete printing machines. We will share how it’s going to benefit the students in the CAECM Department as well as any concrete or construction enthusiasts,” said Essuman.

Nieberle’s project focuses on enhanced communication. “I have been working on creating more avenues of communication between current students and alumni. I will be presenting my findings from a prototyping phase I have been conducting for a project to make more consistent communication between alumni and students.”

As fellows, Nieberle and Essuman both are on the mission to further entrepreneurial thinking on campus.

“We hope to increase the footprint of UIF this year and involve more students in entrepreneurial thinking,” said Nieberle.

“I am looking forward to advocating for the importance of entrepreneurship on campus and exposing students to how connected engineering can be to the business world,” said Essuman.

The UIF program is run by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). The program has trained more than 3,100 students since its creation, including six cohorts of MSOE students.