In architecture, design, and engineering, a good idea is only the beginning. Bringing it to life requires understanding a problem, testing possible solutions, responding to feedback, communicating a vision, and figuring out how to make that vision work in the real world. Those are also the skills needed to build a business.
At Jefferson’s College of Architecture, Design, and Engineering (CADE), students across architecture, design, engineering, construction management, interior architecture, and more learn in an environment that encourages them to cross disciplines and apply their skills to real-world challenges.
“Innovation and entrepreneurship grow naturally out of the way we teach,” says CADE Dean Barbara Klinkhammer. “Our curricula are grounded in human-centered design, interdisciplinary collaboration, and applied learning, encouraging students to identify real-world challenges and develop innovative solutions that create meaningful value for individuals, communities, and industries.”
That entrepreneurial mindset can take many forms. Alumni have launched architecture firms and technology companies, while some students aren’t even waiting until graduation to put their ideas into practice.
Learning to think like an entrepreneur
Fifth-year Bachelor of Architecture students Christopher Sabatino and Jack Logue started Logue and Sabatino Design Concepts while still at Jefferson, helping clients transform ideas into plans, renderings, and concept presentations before beginning the formal architecture and engineering process.
From the Jefferson Studio to Startup
How the College of Architecture, Design, and Engineering prepares students to become entrepreneurs
MS in User Experience and Interaction Design alumnus Fredric V. Freeman co-founded OnXR Immersive, which uses immersive technology to address challenges in the life sciences. Photo/Teresa McCullough
Architecture students (l-r) Christopher Sabatino and Jack Logue help clients transform ideas into plans, renderings, and concept presentations before beginning the formal architecture and engineering process.
“We were already developing these skills through our coursework, internships, professional experience, and personal projects,” Sabatino says. “Instead of waiting until after graduation, we felt there was value in gaining real-world experience while we were still learning.”
CADE students can also tailor their education through minors, concentrations, and accelerated dual-degree programs, combining their primary area of study or major with areas such as business, real estate development, sustainability, and technology.
For Sabatino and Logue, that approach is already influencing their business. Sabatino is pursuing a minor in Real Estate Development, while Logue is minoring in Landscape Architecture.
“Architecture gives us the foundation for designing buildings and spaces,” Logue says. “Landscape Architecture pushes us to see design as part of a living system, working with natural processes like water flow, ecological growth, and the evolving landscape. Real Estate Development adds an understanding of the business and feasibility behind a project.”
Some of their most useful entrepreneurial preparation has also come from a fundamental part of architecture school: presenting their work.
Architecture alumna Karen Blanchard co-founded SITIO architecture + urbanism. Her practice focuses on context-sensitive development, placemaking, sustainability, and design.
“Jefferson has taught us how to present an idea, defend our decisions, listen to criticism, and adjust our work based on feedback,” Sabatino says. “In business, you can have a great design, but if you cannot clearly communicate it to a client, it becomes much harder to move the project forward.”
Charting your own course
Karen Blanchard, principal at Philadelphia-based SITIO architecture + urbanism, sees a similar connection between design education and entrepreneurship. The Class of 1998 architecture alumna co-founded SITIO with longtime collaborator and mentor Antonio Fiol-Silva. The practice focuses on context-sensitive development, placemaking, sustainability, and design.
At Jefferson, faculty encouraged her to develop her own point of view, Blanchard says. “My professors always gave me the confidence and encouragement to pursue my own path and chart new territory. I think the school’s smaller, more personal environment is one of its greatest strengths because it allows you to form real connections across the entire program on a much deeper level.”
Her Bachelor of Architecture program culminated in a thesis that required her to take an idea from research through design over two semesters.
“You’re essentially charting your course and directing the outcome in a deep, comprehensive way,” Blanchard says. “It really gave me confidence in developing creatively and changed the way I approached projects going forward.”
Through Jefferson’s studios, faculty encourage students to identify real-world challenges and develop innovative solutions that create meaningful value for individuals, communities, and industries.
Architecture critiques and reviews provided another lesson that would eventually prove useful in running a firm: learning to persuade others. “These experiences push you to think independently and work collaboratively while learning how to manage time and priorities,” she says. “In many ways, they help build leadership skills.”
When research becomes a business
For Fredric V. Freeman, the path to entrepreneurship traveled through virtual reality, user experience (UX) design, and healthcare. Freeman earned his BS in Digital Design in 2008 and returned to Jefferson for his MS in User Experience and Interaction Design in 2020. Today, he’s co-founder of OnXR Immersive, which uses immersive technology to address challenges in the life sciences.
Among its projects is CyberCell VR: Sickle Cell Edition, a virtual reality experience that helps people explore sickle cell disease and disease-modifying therapies. Developed in collaboration with researchers at Nemours Children’s Hospital, the experience is currently being used in a clinical trial.
The roots of Freeman’s work stretch back to his graduate experience at Jefferson. “Working on my thesis in the UX program and my previous experience in the healthcare technology space really inspired me to start something new,” he says. “I’m focusing on how we can use technology to help solve real-world problems.”
Jefferson’s interdisciplinary environment gave him opportunities to exchange ideas with students and faculty across UX, textiles, industrial design, and architecture. “There was a lot of freedom to collaborate at TJU,” Freeman says.
Asked about one skill he developed at Jefferson that has become unexpectedly valuable as an entrepreneur, Freeman has a simpler answer: “Meeting people for coffee.” Those relationships and conversations can be particularly important when an idea changes direction.
“Innovation and entrepreneurship grow naturally out of the way we teach,” says CADE Dean Barbara Klinkhammer.
Entrepreneurship has also taught him to see setbacks differently. “Failure is as valid as success,” Freeman says. “As long as you can use it to adjust and pivot, then it becomes just another steppingstone on the journey.”
Turning ideas into impact
Learning to experiment, accept feedback, and adapt is familiar territory for CADE students. Through studio work, applied research, faculty mentorship, and connections with industry and community partners, students often encounter the kinds of real-world constraints they’ll face after graduation.
“We believe entrepreneurial thinking thrives at the intersection of disciplines,” Klinkhammer says. “Students learn to approach challenges from multiple perspectives, communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders, and transform ideas into actionable solutions.”
For some, that leads to launching an architecture firm or a technology startup. For others, it means creating a new product, pursuing real estate development, or driving innovation within an existing organization.
Sabatino and Logue are already discovering that entrepreneurship requires skills extending well beyond design. “One of the biggest surprises was realizing how much of running a design business happens outside of actually designing,” Logue says. “You quickly learn that being talented at design is only one part of building a successful practice.”
It’s a lesson they’re learning while still in the studio, putting Jefferson’s approach to entrepreneurship into practice before they’ve even graduated.