What Engineering Degree is Best for Entrepreneurship?

Engineering: a strong foundation for entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship and engineering go hand in hand. The most successful founders often combine technical expertise with an ability to identify problems and turn them into viable solutions.

Engineering programs help you:

• Solve real-world problems using data, design, and experimentation.
• Develop and test ideas through hands-on projects and prototyping.
• Think in systems: understanding how technology, people, and processes connect.
• Collaborate across disciplines, including business, marketing, and operations.
• Turn ideas into solutions that can become products or services.

For example, all first-year Oregon State engineering students take a course called Design Engineering and Problem Solving, which introduces structured approaches to tackling complex challenges. Students learn how to define problems, assess stakeholder needs, generate and evaluate ideas, build prototypes, and test potential solutions through experimentation.

Best engineering degrees for entrepreneurship

While any engineering discipline can lead to entrepreneurial paths, some majors naturally align with building and scaling new ideas.

Industrial engineering

Best for: optimizing processes, building scalable systems, and improving operations.

Industrial engineering focuses on making systems more efficient—whether that’s supply chains, manufacturing processes, or service operations.

At Oregon State, industrial engineers learn how to integrate people, materials, information, and technology to improve how organizations function.

Why it’s great for entrepreneurs:

• Helps you design efficient, scalable business operations.
• Builds skills in data analysis and decision-making.
• Strong foundation for startups focused on logistics, operations, or process innovation.

Additionally, if you pursue your bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering at Oregon State, you’ll have a chance to tailor your program of study with an option in business engineering, which blends technical problem-solving with business strategy.

You’ll learn to integrate marketing, finance, and project management into your engineering toolkit — creating solutions that make organizations more efficient and competitive, and potentially, put you on a path towards starting a company of your own.

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Construction engineering management

Best for: leading projects, managing teams, and building real-world ventures.

Construction engineering management blends engineering with business, project management, and leadership—making it a natural fit for entrepreneurial careers in infrastructure, development, and beyond.

Why it’s great for entrepreneurs:

• Develops leadership and project management skills.
• Focuses on budgeting, scheduling, and execution.
• Prepares you to run large, complex ventures—from construction firms to development startups.

A degree in construction engineering management is especially relevant if you want to start a business tied to the built environment, real estate, or infrastructure.

Alex Park, Oregon State B.S. construction engineering management '18, founded the company DAERO with the vision that construction works best when the people closest to the work are supported, not burdened, by technology. Rather than forcing tradespeople to adapt to office-focused software, DAERO’s tools meet them where they are — on their phones, using photos, voice, and text the way they do in their everyday lives.

As a student, Park immersed himself in leadership roles, industry partnerships, and service projects. As president of the Associated General Contractors student chapter, he helped organize a service trip to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, raising tens of thousands of dollars, coordinating volunteers, and making a positive impact on others far from campus.

“That leadership muscle was built early,” Park said. “It taught me to jump at opportunities — and to expect to fail sometimes.”

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Computer science

Best for: building tech startups, products, and scalable digital solutions.

Many of today’s most recognizable startups are built on software, and computer science is the discipline behind it. While AI is transforming the way software is developed—now writing most of the code itself—companies still need experts who can architect systems, solve complex problems, and guide the responsible use of emerging technologies.

At Oregon State, computer science students develop the skills to design and build software systems that power modern industries, from AI to cybersecurity to mobile apps.

Why it’s great for entrepreneurs:

• Enables you to build your own product (apps, platforms, tools).
• High demand across industries and startup ecosystems.
• Scales easily—software can reach millions of users quickly.

If you’re interested in launching a tech company, this is one of the most direct paths.

William Brendel, Ph.D. computer science ’11, landed roles at Google, Amazon, and Snap before going out on his own to do work that felt more direct and impactful. That’s when he co-found Heali, a nutrition platform for chronic disease management.

He raised $4 million in seed funding and built a platform processing over two billion nutrition data points across over 200 medical conditions. In 2023, he started Crossroads Venture Studio to help early founders with a technical background gain the operational insight he wished he'd had when he started Heali.

Brendel encourages students to learn the foundations, to use AI as an aid but not a replacement for understanding and, above all, to "think for yourself, think critically, and be resilient." These traits, he argues, are what a university education unlocks, and no tool can shortcut the process of acquiring them.

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Can you become an entrepreneur with any engineering degree?

Absolutely.

Entrepreneurship isn’t limited to one major. Engineers across disciplines, from mechanical to environmental to electrical and computer, regularly launch companies, develop new technologies, and bring ideas to market.

What matters most is the mindset:

• Identifying needs and opportunities.
• Designing solutions.
• Testing and iterating.
• Bringing ideas to life.

An engineering education from Oregon State gives you the technical foundation, while experiences like internships, research, and collaboration help you build the relationships and perspective needed to pursue entrepreneurial ideas.

At Oregon State, students work on projects that address real challenges and collaborate with industry partners—helping them turn ideas into solutions that create real-world impact.

That’s what our annual Engineering Expo is all about. Senior engineering students present industry-sponsored projects that tackle challenges in robotics, clean water, nuclear energy, construction innovation, and more.

Oregon State: a culture of entrepreneurship

At Oregon State, entrepreneurship and innovation are nothing new. Many graduates have earned engineering degrees here and gone on to develop innovative companies, products, and solutions that have changed the world for the better.

Jensen Huang, NVIDIA

Ever heard of NVIDIA?

Jensen Huang graduated from Oregon State with his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1984. In 1993, he co-founded NVIDIA, a company that helped pioneer the modern GPU and drives advances in AI, high-performance computing (HPC), gaming, creative design, autonomous vehicles, and robotics. Today, NVIDIA is one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Speaking of Jensen, construction on the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex is almost complete. The complex will be a dynamic home for team-based, transdisciplinary research and teaching. It will bring together driven faculty and students to solve critical global challenges in areas such as climate science, clean energy, and water resources. It will also house one of the nation’s most powerful supercomputers and advance the application of AI in OSU’s areas of strength.

Peter Gassner, Veeva Systems

Peter Gassner, B.S. computer science, ‘89, went on to a 20-year career in the software industry.

Gassner got started in his career as a relational database technology developer for IBM and subsequently held leadership roles at PeopleSoft and salesforce.com. In 2007, he founded Veeva Systems, developer of Cloud-based software for the global life sciences industry.

Through Gassner’s leadership, Veeva Systems has delivered game-changing software solutions for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry, enabling its customers to drive millions of dollars of efficiency to the bottom line. In 2010, Gassner was named to the PharmaVOICE 100, which recognizes the 100 most influential people in the life sciences industry.

Tim Leatherman, Leatherman Tool Group

Tim Leatherman, B.S. mechanical engineering, ‘70, is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. As designer of the original multi-purpose tool, he developed the kernel of an idea into a highly successful business.

His company is based in Portland, Oregon, and has grown to over 500 employees since 1983. There are now several models of Leatherman Tools that are sold in over 8,000 stores in the US and over 90 countries worldwide.