‘24 hours of Innovation’ - A report on students' and teachers' perspectives as a way to foster entrepreneurship competences in Engineering

At University level, particularly in Engineering fields, the academe shows significant enthusiasm for the development of various competencies concerning entrepreneurship and innovation, focusing on the promotion of opportunities and the strengthening of the existing connection between the University and the Software Industry. One of the main challenges in Engineering is finding a proper answer to the following research question: Which entrepreneurial competencies should we foster in our students if they are to emerge from the Educational system to the International Software Industry? This paper presents a group of students' and their mentor's perspectives on their perception of innovation and entrepreneurial concepts after their participation in the ‘24 hours of innovation’ challenge. The surveyed group (Software Engineering freshmen) won the first place amongst 200 students, businessmen and professionals. All survey participants mentioned that this kind of events foster several competencies such as: communication, teamwork and leadership.