Abstract:
Innovation and commercialization are viewed as key drivers of any country’s economy. Individuals normally start commercial enterprises
with an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset. Universities worldwide are regarded as centers of knowledge creation and are expected
to play a key role in the industrialization of a country’s economy. For undergraduate engineering students, the capstone ‘design and make’
research module is best placed to unlock their innovative and commercialization potential. Capstone modules are typically about applying
what the student has learned during the entire course of studies, thereby presenting a rich setting for innovation and entrepreneurial skills
learning. In Zimbabwean universities, the final year capstone project is offered where the student fabricates a product as a possible solution
to a problem in industry. However, very few of the ideas from the module have found their way into the real world as goods or services.
The study’s main question was to establish the extent of the impact of the projects module on agricultural engineering undergraduate
students’ innovative and commercial-mindedness. Using the case study research design, data were collected on implementing the capstone
module at the Chinhoyi University of Technology’s Department of Agricultural Engineering. Data were collected on the parameters
potentially impacting the student’s innovativeness and commercial mindedness. The study findings showed that in its present form, the
research project module improves the students’ design and innovative skills. All the same, equipping the same scholars with
entrepreneurial skills is inadequate.
