Quinnipiac University will create new innovation hubs in the School of Business to inspire students and faculty to expand their ideas and learn new techniques.
“There have been good changes at Quinnipiac with the emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Patrice Luoma, professor of entrepreneurship & strategy. “We wanted to create a physical place where it reflects that.”
The first innovation hub that was introduced to the Quinnipiac community was the podcasting studio in the School of Communications. Since its creation in 2020, students and faculty have been able to create their own podcasts to be shared across campus.
“Just kind of thinking of where I come from, the School of Communication, like the podcasting studio and the classes they started last year,” said Luca Triant, a senior journalism major. “It helped me just go beyond the TV journalism that I had come for at the university for. It really helped me branch out and expand my learning and what I could do in the future.”
In the School of Business, students and faculty will have access to the business innovation hub collaboration and co-working space in rooms SB 109 and 110. Room 109 will have whiteboards and computers for students to design and create ideas for a business. Room 110 will be a sales training ground for students and faculty to experience what it is like being in an office setting.
“It will be set up like an office where someone comes in and they want to practice pretending to sell something to someone,” Luoma said. “They’ll be cameras and the ability to record how you do and practice that. That room could also be used to practice pitches for anything, a marketing plan, an entrepreneurship competition, and so on.”
In the School of Engineering, students and faculty will be able to have access to three 3D-printers, four mini 3D-printers, a laser cutter and an embroidered compressor. With the printer, students can create prototypes of innovative products or to create important items like mugs or toothbrush holders.
“There are a lot of ways students can be creative,” said Lynn Byers, the interim dean of the School of Engineering. “This is built for Quinnipiac students to use for really whatever they want, obviously within reason.”
Byers and other faculty members have submitted course requests for students to learn how to use the tools offered.
“Introduction to solid modeling and 3D printing, it will be a 100-level class that will be open to anyone on campus,” Byers said. “[Students] will learn how to create models on the computer and then 3D print them.”
The university is also looking to create more innovation hubs in the other schools on campus.
“We are in planning of what other investments in academic spaces we need,” Provost Debra Liebowitz said. “There’s more need, there’s more classroom space, more collaborative classroom space, other kinds of things that we also need to invest in. So we’re working on the plans about those things.”
The hubs will be open to the Quinnipiac community at the beginning of the spring 2022 semester.