BOARD
Our Next Monthly Call Speaker
Darsel Keane
Darsel Keane is Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at the University of Auckland. She leads the University’s innovation and entrepreneurship capability platform, developing entrepreneurial capability across students, researchers and staff, and supporting early-stage venture development.
​
Through CIE, Darsel works across faculties, research groups and the wider innovation ecosystem to enable innovation practice, strengthen venture pathways and connect the University to industry, investors and partners.
​
Darsel is currently completing a PhD exploring how entrepreneurial mindset can be developed and measured within tertiary education. She brings prior experience in intellectual property and commercialisation, and has supported early-stage ventures in investment readiness and market validation through roles including The Icehouse.
Solve It: Building Entrepreneurial Mindset at Scale Through Challenge-Based Learning
As economies become increasingly innovation-driven, expectations of universities and the capabilities graduates need to succeed are rapidly evolving. Institutions are being challenged to move beyond traditional teaching models and equip students with the skills to navigate complexity, ambiguity, and real-world problem-solving.
Solve It, a programme delivered by the University of Auckland’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), is designed as an intensive, week-long innovation sprint that connects students with real-world challenges from industry, government, and community partners.
Students work in interdisciplinary teams to tackle complex problems ranging from climate resilience to accessibility and digital innovation developing solutions through design thinking, prototyping, and pitching.
This presentation will explore how Solve It builds entrepreneurial mindset and problem-solving capability at scale, while strengthening university–industry connections. It will share insights from programme design, partner engagement, and student outcomes, and reflect on how challenge-based learning can contribute to more competitive, resilient, and innovation-led economies.