After my recent lecture at Tennessee Tech., Dr. Payne and Michael Aikens, directors of Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship respectively, led me on a tour of their innovation lab, iCube (imagine, inspire, innovate – check it out here – http://ttuicube.com/). This is truly one of the coolest innovation labs I have ever seen. Located upstairs in the library, it is not restricted to only a handful of select students, anyone at Tennessee Tech. can access it.
From your initial entry into the space, it is clear that it is about inspiration. The idea is to think it, design it and build it. I had the opportunity to try the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset.
Using cross-functional teams of programmers, writers, designers and artists, they are creating virtual reality programs that partner with local firms and other parts of the university. For example, in partnership with the Chattanooga Aquarium, they have a VR program that shows the effects of pollution on rivers. I took a dive into the river and experienced it for myself! Then using a base program created by another university, they have enhanced a program that is used to journey through the body. I personally took a trip through the mouth down into the lungs and then into the heart. Wow, better than any Disney ride!
That experience was amazing, but didn’t allow me to interact with the display. So next I went to the Viscube. This is a small room where using special glasses, I was introduced to a human heart bigger than me!
But more amazing was that I could walk around it and then put my head into it and see all of the detail! And then, a whole human body!
What an amazing training tool for health care professionals! They also showed me an environment where I could walk around, that looked and felt like walking around a castle. I was even up on a high ledge and was able to step off and gently floated to the ground.
My brain directed my feet to “feel” touching the ground as I landed!
From there, we went into the Maker Bot lab. There are projects in progress as far as the eye can see. Robotics and Maker Bot (3D printing) projects dominate the lab. Again, any students or groups of students that wish to can come up with a project and get help designing and building it. Demand for printing projects is so high that the university is developing a 3D printer vending machine where a student can come with their printing project, have it completed and then come back to retrieve the completed print job.
Tennessee Tech. is the Georgia Tech. of Tennessee and leads the state in engineering graduates. But what I saw showed me that they are actively encouraging entrepreneurship across all disciplines. The students are engaged and actively working on projects that will change the future of how we live work and play. I am so thankful to have experienced this and the wonderful instructors and administrators at Tennessee Tech. who are so engaged in our future. What a truly Grounded organization!