Innovation business leaders sharing insights

BRINGING LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE FIELD TO STUDENTS EMBARKING ON THEIR CARREERS

In 2011, while operating Light Think Studios, Inc., we were finishing two innovation projects for two very different clients, a Fortune 500 company and Santa Fe Community College (SFCC). 

At SFCC, we saw students engaged in collaborative, hands-on training seeking sustainable sources of energy by growing algae in the Biofuels Lab.

Working for the Fortune 500 company, we asked the VP in-charge of our project why innovation was so challenging? He replied, “It isn’t something we’re taught how to do. Good enough and greater efficiency is what we know, not innovation.”

Experiencing these moments side by side allowed us to see that the only way improve performance and create a competitive edge for businesses, like our Fortune 500 client, we need to disrupt the years of thinking and practice that limit them so that innovation can emerge. 

This is why Light Think University created the Legacy of Innovation Project; hands-on, real-world innovation training for any year college student pursuing any major using the existing built-environment of their college campus.

WHAT THE PROJECT IS:

• an immersive internship
• an opportunity to get real project experience
• an innovation incubator
• a capstone course that is more active and participatory than just writing a paper
• an opportunity to work with professionals and develop a mentor relationship for the life of your career.
• a chance to be exposed to companies with opportunities available to you upon graduation.
• an anthropological experience; you will gain insight in human behavior and how that translates to good design
• a chance to work across majors and areas of study in order to deepen your understanding of innovative problem solving.
• A learning experience that can be customized to  your specific area of interest.
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How is this project funded?

The project is funded from individual donors, foundations, and corporations through our fundraising efforts. 

Our current funding partners are:

Company A (provide link)

Company B (provide link)

Company C (provide link)

What role does the school faculty play?

If we work with a student body from a single higher education institution, we will be partnered with an educator/faculty member from that institution as a part of our team. 

If we build a student team from several different higher education institutions, we will partner with an educator from one of the institutions or from an additional outside partner. 

Whether they are from within a partner institution or from an additional outside partner, we will have an educator to provide that expert level of knowledge imperative to the students growth. They will work alongside the facilitators to guide the education of the students while following the hurly burly innovations' process. 

How are students graded?

Involvement in the Legacy of Innovation Project is akin to a an internship moreso than a classroom experience. While the student is required to participate and produce work (papers, presentations, etc.), they will not receive a grade for sole efforts nor the culmination of all efforts. At the close of the course, the students, professionals and facilitators reflect on challenges, successes, and all the learning moments along the way. It is at this time the students (and professionals) are encouraged to provide positive feedback to themselves and others in order to determine their own progress and if their goals were met. They will be able to reflect on their new skills acquired and their natural and previously learned skills that they've enhanced. They will take these skills with them through their lives and careers. 

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