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As UIF, our job would be to figure out what groups would most benefit from meeting eachother and then arranging for the actual event. Costs are minimal and the real obstacles lie in convincing student leaders that they have something to learn from working with others accross campus.
= Central Maker Space =
The University of Minnesota currently has several small, dedicated makerspaces spread across the campus (outlined in the campus wiki page). These provide resources to a select few students who utilize them for their coursework or capstone projects. When it comes to prototyping resources available to students who aren't in a class that has access to these creative spaces, finding resources like this is near impossible. What the University of Minnesota is eventually moving towards, in summation of all the different collaborative programs and initiatives at work right now, is a massive, centrally located creativity and maker laboratory.
MN-Drive has this as one of their end-all goals. Many student groups who are jockeying for space see it as a potential relief of the competitive pressure. Students who have ideas that do not align with their coursework see it as an opportunity that a large university such as the UMN SHOULD provide. The space would include a large state-of-the-art prototyping lab, fully staffed by experienced TA's, reservable creative conference rooms for students, dedicated student group rooms for large innovative student groups, faculty offices for those who align with the student innovative initiative, digital liberaries for patent research and further mentorship in the community, and an atmosphere that spurs innovation.
Allocating the resources and finding the right people to get this done is a huge task, but it is a long time coming. As University Innovation Fellows, we hope to connect all the minds and opinions hoping for this already around campus together to make this happen.
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