Undergraduate minor
Minor in brewing innovation at Oregon
The brewing innovation minor leverages science and engineering, history, and storytelling to teach the craft and science of brewing. This immersive, hands-on program uses brewing as a backdrop for learning through creative problem-solving. Students will identify customer needs and practice innovation strategies in a rich, interdisciplinary setting.
The minor uses design thinking to guide students through understanding customer needs, generating ideas, prototyping, collecting and utilizing feedback, and evaluating solutions. Along the way, students explore the historical context of brewing, develop technical skills, engage deeply in the innovation process, and learn to communicate their ideas to broad audiences.
Curriculum overview
- Immersive experience focused on building innovation skills
- Innovation is a versatile, in-demand skill across careers and disciplines
- Interdisciplinary learning through science, engineering, history, and storytelling
- Brewing as a hands-on platform for experiential learning in innovation
- Provides students an awesome opportunity to apply their expertise in science, communication, history, entrepreneurship, or design in real-world, collaborative contexts
Careers in brewing innovation
What students learn about innovation—such as the practice of design thinking—will serve them throughout their lives and careers. While the minor may open doors to roles in the brewing industry, its focus is not on training professional brewers. Instead, students will gain advanced brewing knowledge and learn how to drive innovation. The goal is to develop creative, adaptable problem-solvers by using beer and brewing as a platform to build their innovation skills.