Arkansas Regional INNOVATION Hub | The IN Place
January 14, 2014

The year 2014 may have just begun, but it is off to a fast and fantastic start here at The IN Place -- the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub! Below you can read about our latest partnership, which guarantees that our STEAM Room will be a hot attraction for techies of all ages. We have more exciting news and events to announce as well, so keep reading -- we're pretty sure you'll find something that sparks your INterest!
News IN The Hub

Partnership produces The Steam Room  

 

The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub and the EAST Initiative are joining together to create The STEAM Room, which will literally form the heart of the Hub's Argenta Innovation Center as it will connect The Launch Pad, The Silver Mine and Art Connection with its classroom/lab/hangout space.

 

By addiing a focus on arts (the "A" in STEAM) to the EAST Initiative's expertise in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), The STEAM Room will offer an exciting educational environment for youth and adults.

 

Examples of training and programs to be offered in The STEAM Room include coding, programming, 3-D design, animation, videography, graphic design and more.

 

The STEAM Room offers the first opportunity for access to the EAST model outside of the school setting, so adults will be able to benefit from its programming for the first time ever.  

 

"STEAM skills are critical for workforce preparation in the 21st-century economy," Innovation Hub executive director Warwick Sabin said. "EAST's proven curricula will be a perfect fit with the entrepreneurship, manufacturing and arts programming that will also be offered at the Innovation Center."  

 

 

What's the Hub-UB all about?
You first heard about it here last month...now we'll fill in the rest of the details.

Starting Tuesday, Feb. 4, the Innovation Hub is introducing monthly Hub-UBs, casual presentations and dialog (think TED Talks) on a wide range of topics under the themes of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Joel Gordon, director of The Launch Pad, will present the first Hub-UB from 6 to 7 p.m., Feb. 4, at The Joint, 301 Main Street, North Little Rock.  He'll kick off a conversation about "The Make Movement and the Maker's Mindset."

"If you are a Maker, Hacker, Modder or DIYer, if you are a person who would rather fix it than throw it away, if you have a remote controlled lawn-mower or a Tesla Coil in your garage, YOU need to come to the inaugural Hub-UB," Joel says. "Bring yourself, bring a friend and bring your home-built robot! "

Future Hub-UBs will occur at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month  at The Joint.

Want to know more? Email Joel at jgordon@arhub.org.

 

Arkansas Business highlights Innovation Hub 
In case you missed it, you can go here to read this week's Arkansas Business' Exec Q&A, which features Innovation Hub Executive Director Warwick Sabin. Warwick talks about the steps being taken to make the Innovation Hub a dynamic, economic force for the region and his hopes for collaboration throughout central Arkansas to provide improved opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs.

Spoke Spotlight

Boy, are we glad to be partnering with the EAST Initiative, as our goals, hopes and dreams are so incredibly aligned.   

  

EAST Initiative is an educational model focusing on student-driven service projects accomplished by using teamwork and cutting-edge technology.  

 

EAST classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art workstations, servers, software and accessories, including GPS/GIS mapping tools, architectural and CAD design software, 3D animation suites, virtual reality development and more.

 

Students identify problems in their local communities and then use these tools to develop solutions, collaborating with civic and other groups in the process.  

 

The EAST method has been named a model by the United States Departments of Education and Labor and has proven, research-based results.

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You're INvited!
Watch Joel Gordon on KATV's Good Morning, Arkansas every other Thursday starting Jan. 16 to learn more about the kinds of things that will be happening at The Launch Pad.

INfo Alert 
Do you know a high school student who'd love to hang out with other kids who like to program computers? The Innovation Hub will soon be offering a site for a club -- complete with Intro to Programming classes -- a couple of afternoons a week. For more information about time, place, cost and other need-to-know INfo, email Joel Gordon.

And More
INfo  
Here's a cool investment opportunity on Indiegogo for Hub friend Josh Moody, the young, INnovative CEO of Overwatch -- is the next generation in interactive and social gaming.  Read all about it here. Contributions are being collected through Jan. 26.
Stay IN Touch!
Warwick Sabin
Executive Director
Innovation Hub

 Joel Gordon
Director
The Launch Pad

Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub
info@arhub.org  | www.arhub.org
419 Main Street
North Little Rock, AR 72114

Arkansas Regional INNOVATION Hub | The IN Place

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