The final episode of "Mythbusters" will air March 5 on the Discovery Channel after 14 seasons, 248 episodes and 2,950 experiments. The program has been one of cable's most beloved and longest-running TV series. What compelled viewers to tune in every week?

Curiosity.

"Mythbusters" and its debunking efforts have always involved experiments, from cement truck explosions to improvised parachutes. These experiments fascinated and entertained viewers, but more fundamentally, they engaged their curiosity. The experiments themselves embodied curiosity in action.

Curiosity is a powerful, undervalued and uniquely human capability that drives discovery. Curiosity leads us to explore, create and innovate. A brief look at some of the most important inventions and scientific discoveries of the past 150 years will reveal curiosity as their common source for inspiration. Albert Einstein famously said: "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." Curiosity sets young people on their path to discovery and creativity.

Technical skills and STEM education programs are often mentioned as solutions for developing the next generation of American innovators. Developing a future workforce with the tools and skill sets necessary for technology advancement is undoubtedly an important part of the answer. But it took more than technical skills to inspire Einstein, the Wright brothers and Alexander Graham Bell.

Host Jamie Hyneman makes the boulder used in the opening sequence of a "Mythbusters" episode. Discovery Channel

The key to educating the next generation is instilling in them an entrepreneurial mindset. That process begins with nurturing their intrinsic motivation to make a positive difference in the world – whether or not it has anything to do with technology or "things." After they feel driven to improve the human condition, they have a purpose that drives their curiosity in all things – including technology.

Curiosity does not automatically manifest itself equally in everyone; it requires active awareness, deliberate inquiry and intentional pursuit. Curiosity thrives when it is nurtured, cultivated and exercised in an educational ecosystem that supports it. To go one step further, when curiosity is combined with a sense of purpose in a young person, he or she becomes a force for meaningful innovation and change in the world.

Both of our institutions, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Villanova University, are partners of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), a collaboration of hundreds of engineering faculty at colleges and universities across the nation educating undergraduates with an entrepreneurial mindset as well as an engineering skill set. We encourage our students to tackle the grand challenges of the 21st century from sustainability to cyber security. If we can feed their passion to help people – and thereby spark their curiosity – we will have succeeded as educators.

Engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset are focused on curiosity, connections and creating value for society. They are always curious about our changing world, connect and integrate information from many sources to gain insight, and create value from unexpected opportunities, learning quickly from failure. Graduates equipped with this mindset, combined with technical knowledge, are versatile and adept at adjusting to changing conditions and have the potential to develop inventive solutions.

It is precisely this kind of 21st century workforce professional who will contribute to economic growth, U.S. global competitiveness, and solving our greatest global challenges. Benevolent purpose and curiosity cannot be experienced by a computer or a robot, and it cannot be outsourced. America needs to provide more educational experiences for students that foster curiosity and give young people the opportunity to exercise it.

We will greatly miss the opportunity to tune in each week to watch new episodes of "Mythbusters" and see what amazing experiment the group would take on next. For young college students on our campuses, "Mythbusters" has been on the air for as long as they can remember. The show has served as an influential force to help inspire their intellectual curiosity, prompting many to become engineers. It is now our responsibility as engineering educators to continue the show's legacy by instilling within our students a mindset that inspires them to be the next generation of innovators that can create real value for the world they will inherit.