History

To better serve the rapidly changing needs of industry and students, OSU College of Engineering and Fisher College of Business launched a new honors program in spring 2014 combining engineering and business students in a common curriculum. Students recruited for this honors program took part in the pilot for IBE, and began working and studying as a cohort throughout their undergraduate experience. In May 2016, members of the IBE inaugural and second cohorts travelled to CERN in Switzerland to be the first undergraduate group to work in the IdeaSquare lab. While at CERN, students capped a seven week course on interdisciplinary innovation which started in Columbus. This course revolved around creating economically sustainable product solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges including access to clean water, electrification of rural health clinics, food safety and recycling. In May 2017, members of the first cohort were among the first to graduate with Integrated Business and Engineering Honors Distinction. These first alumni are now off to pursue either further education or immersing themselves into industry at places including UC Berkeley, Harvard Law School, Boston Consulting Group, Accenture, EY and Battelle.