Why are the worlds of work and school so different?

That’s a question Justin Joslin asked when he started teaching Introduction to Engineering two years ago. His students, he hoped, could start thinking like engineers if they used the design process to assemble robots, build bridges, or construct water filters. Two years and dozens of cool projects later the course would be considered a success by any measure. Yet Mr. Joslin still felt something was missing.

“My students were developing real world design & build skills, but I also hoped they would could learn about entrepreneurship by raising capital and bringing a product to market.” Joslin says. The project he had in mind was an ambitious one: inspired by the school summer read he wanted his class to construct a working wind turbine and write a book about it.

But how to raise the awareness (and capital) necessary to make the idea reality? The school would have funded the project from the science department budget but what if it were possible to use social media to teach entrepreneurship alongside the engineering curriculum?

Enter Kickstarter, a new way to fund creative projects. Kickstarter is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where anyone can chip in to fund a project but a project must be fully-funded or no money changes hands. Perks or rewards are available to encourage contributors.

Want to find out more about Mr. Joslin’s project, “The Class That Harnessed the Wind?” Head over to their Kickstarter page or follow the tag #NHSEngineering to see tweets from the project. Have questions about the project or how it works? Let us know in the comments!