NDSU junior Andrew Dalman has been selected for the prestigious University Innovation Fellow program through the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation. Dalman, son of John and Mary Ellen Dalman of Minneapolis, is majoring in manufacturing engineering.
“This is a great honor and you are in an exclusive league of student change-makers who are leading a movement on their campuses,” wrote Humera Fasihuddin, senior program officer, in a letter to Dalman. “Together, we aim to expose more engineering students and their peers to opportunities in innovation and entrepreneurship … and ultimately lead to a tipping point with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduates leading economic prosperity for our nation.”
Dalman participated in a six-week training program with the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation at Stanford University and officially received fellow status this month. “It’s something I’ve worked hard toward, so it’s a nice feeling of accomplishment,” Dalman said. “It validates the work I’ve been doing.”
Dalman’s team took the top prize during NDSU’s Innovation Challenge ’12, and a group he is associated with won its category during Innovation Challenge ’13. He has served on the NDSU Innovation Week advisory council, and he has conducted research for the Bison Microventure innovation team for nearly three years.
“Everybody has awesome ideas, but not everyone thinks they can do it,” Dalman said. “My goal, my platform for the fellowship is to help people who may think their idea is valid to find the resources and drive to actually make it real.”
David Wells, professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, said Dalman is the leader of his Bison Microventure research group, lead inventor on a patent filed last spring and recently founded his first company.
“Andy is an uncommonly insightful young man,” Wells said. “He is a veteran innovator and a fledgling inventor and entrepreneur, in addition to being an excellent student. His is the sort of creative spirit that we hope will become widespread throughout the NDSU community. We are excited for this opportunity for Andy and the NDSU campus. We are proud he is a Bison.”
Dalman is expected to maintain a wiki page at www.universityinnovation.org that will include information about his fellowship and the impact he is making on the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of the NDSU campus.
The University Innovation Fellows are part of a national effort to ensure students gain necessary skills and knowledge to compete in the changing economic landscape. The fellows come from schools around the country, and they work to create greater levels of innovation and venture activity on their home campuses. Consisting mostly of undergraduate engineering majors, the program also includes students majoring in biotechnology, biochemistry, business, entrepreneurship and child psychology.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.