The right stuff: Students put their entrepreneurial skills to the test for the US Department of Defense

To become successful entrepreneurs and industry leaders, WashU students must first become high-level problem solvers. And what better way to do that than to solve problems faced by the US Department of Defense? That is the premise of the class “Innovating for Defense,” where the DoD turns to a select group of 20 WashU students for their ingenuity in addressing a variety of issues.

“Innovating for Defense” is co-taught by Peggy Matson, program director of graduate studies in Engineering Management and Project Management in the McKelvey School of Engineering, and Doug Villhard, professor of practice in entrepreneurship and academic director for entrepreneurship at Olin. Read the full story.

Pictured: C-21 pilot Capt. Chandler Thorpe (left), 458th Airlift Squadron, and Washington University graduate student Kyle Gero go through a pre-flight checklist. Gero is collaborating with Scott’s Elevate innovation team and the squadron on a C-21 cockpit trainer project.