Professional Certificate Innovation

The Professional Certificate in Innovation is a three-course sequence designed to spark new thinking for any CMU undergraduate student. All students can benefit from augmenting innovation into their chosen majors and minors to create products and processes that have not existed before. Students experience the process of innovation, examine the development of historical innovations, and take their own innovation from ideation through commercialization in the Maverick Innovation Center.

While not mandated, students are strongly encouraged to complete a minor that is not traditionally seen as being closely aligned with their chosen major in order to broaden their perspective and spark critical thinking. In the book, "The Opposable Mind", Roger Martin notes "innovative thinkers have the capacity to hold two diametrically opposed ideas in their heads. Without panicking or simply setting one alternative or the other, they're able to produce a synthesis that is superior to either opposing idea." Fundamentally this exemplifies the essence of a Liberal Arts education.

In lieu of choosing a minor significantly different from their major, students have the option of working with an innovation advisor in selecting a group of courses that would best augment their integrated pathway.

This certificate may be completed beginning in a student's sophomore year.

For more information on what you can do with this major, visit Career Services’ What to Do with a Major? resource.

All CMU certificate graduates are expected to demonstrate proficiency in critical thinking, communication fluency, quantitative fluency, and specialized knowledge/applied learning. In addition to these campus‐wide student learning outcomes, graduates of this major will be able to: