Assessing transversal competences as decisive for project management

Abstract In the process of designing and solving problems related to engineering, the ability to find innovative solutions is becoming more and more relevant. Following this principle, engineers should acquire transversal competences through courses such as Project Evaluation and Risk Management , in which they learn to solve current problems through innovation. The project evaluation supposes an approach to the real world, since an idea is evaluated in the different phases of the logical cycle of a project, culminating with its techno-economic analysis and investment. Following the analogy, engineers develop and evaluate their ideas and present them to a group of professors and professionals posing as investors. The results present a holistic approach to the evaluation of ideas and the capacity of a team to develop engineering projects. The study performs an assessment methodology for an open-innovation concept, and the investor’s exercise may contribute to practical strategies to foster creative engineers.