INNOVATION @ THE WEISSMAN FOUNDRY
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The Foundry is a
student-centered, open-door design studio
– open to all Babson, Olin and Wellesley (BOW) students, faculty, and staff. It exists to accelerate transdisciplinary collaboration, cutting across entrepreneurship, the humanities, and engineering.
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The Foundry was created to nurture a new “4th culture” – a mash-up of everything that is distinct about each College. Think international waters meets the international space station. It’s an inclusive space where innovators-of-all-kinds can collaborate and create.
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"The Foundry is a creative, interdisciplinary space where I come to meet students from all three colleges."
--Alex Chau, Babson College
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The Foundry identifies itself by the circle/square/triangle mash-up which represents the innovation that comes from transdisciplinary collaboration. Here are the
values
of the Foundry developed jointly by BOW students.
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The Foundry was built
by BOW students
,
for BOW students
with the guidance of Foundry Manager,
Janos Stone
.
Thanks to the dedicated efforts of thirty “SCOUTS” -- student-leaders from Babson, Olin and Wellesley -- the Foundry now offers a diverse range of programming, tool-training, and design and fabrication support.
Need tools and tool-training to make your vision come alive? Sign up for a Foundry
tour and training
.
Want to get engaged and take your entrepreneurial project to the next level? Come to a
Foundry Campfire
!
Have an idea for an amazing BOW-Community event? Share it
here
.
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Zack Davenport
Olin College, majoring in Mechanical Engineering
“My work as a SCOUT is completely different from day to day -- one day I will train students on 3D printers and the laser cutter, the next I'm planning a BOW-event or reconfiguring the different fabrication studios. I love working in a space with so many different people."
I can train you on...
- laser-cutting
- 3D printing
- small electronics
- hand tools
- large format printing
Ask me about...
- mechanical design
- architecture
- cooking good food!
- anything at Olin
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Michaella Park
Wellesley College, concentrating in Architecture and Environmental Studies
"Something I love about being a SCOUT is the opportunity to meet people from each college and helping build the Foundry community. It's amazing to see all the projects and ideas that take form in the space!”
I can train you on...
- prototyping
- coding
- CAD
- laser-cutting
- hand tools
Ask me about...
- design process
- sleep
- Arduino
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Meet all the Foundry SCOUTS
here
. Interested in becoming a SCOUT? Email Foundry Manager,
Janos Stone
.
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Thank you! 63 BOW teams applied for the first
Foundry Fellowships
, with 10 interdisciplinary teams receiving funding. Funded teams which are developing their projects in the Foundry include:
- Team +One: drone-supported avalanche rescue
- Team Roam: cattle-tracking IT
- Team Zine: a BOW zine exploring technology, art and entrepreneurship
- Team STEM-kit: STEM-in-a-box for children in Ghana and Germany
- Team Syrtis: prototype of an athletic earpiece for life on planet Mars
- Dream Team: a documentary about social media and culture
- Team Isomatic: a wearable for bodily awareness feedback
- Team FishSalad: an aquaponics prototype
The
Foundry Fellowship Program is
open to any Babson, Olin or Wellesley student, with priority funding available for BOW collaborations. If your team did not apply this Spring, make sure to apply in Fall 2019!
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Hackathons...
Prototyping events...
Design consults...
Food demonstrations...
Social technology expos...
Apparel shows...
BOW-Community Campfires...
There's a lot going on in the Foundry...
To receive information about events, follow the Foundry on
Instagram
and
Facebook
. N
ew events are added every week!
SPRING HIGHLIGHTS
XBOW Design Workshop:
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XBOW Design Workshop:
The Foundry is organically building a unique
4th culture
--
a mash-up
everything that is distinct about each College.
In order to embrace this opportunity, the Foundry is assembling experts in various creative processes like Thinking Wrong and Ethnographic Design, for a multi-day challenge for interested students from March 7-9th. Click above for more information. Innovate and advance solutions to local or global challenges you want to solve while learning creative techniques you can apply to your own projects.
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BOW-COMMUNITY APPAREL SHOW
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BLEND EVENTS!
Given the success of the first BOW BLEND event, two more have been added. BLEND events are opportunities for BOW students with a shared thematic interest to meet up and share food and thinking in the Foundry.
BLEND ART + DESIGN.
Saturday, April 6, 5:30-6:30pm in the Foundry.
BLEND NATURAL SCIENCES + SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
Saturday, April 13, 5:30-6:30pm in the Foundry.
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AFFORDABLE DESIGN & ENTREPRENEURSHIP (ADE)
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Above:
ADE's Queentech crowdfunding campaign
Now in-residence at the Foundry,
ADE
is a program that unites Olin, Wellesley and Babson undergraduates to launch and scale social ventures across the globe. ADE’s projects and partners span Ghana, India, Vietnam and the U.S., including Mississippi and Boston.
Please consider supporting ADE's "
Queentech Team
" (click above) which is aiming to scale-up a cassava grating and cassava pressing social venture.
To learn more about ADE, join ADE's
Social Venture Showcase
in the Foundry on May 7 at 3:30pm. This event is open to all members of the BOW Community.
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MEET A FOUNDRY FACULTY FELLOW
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“The Foundry is a physical nexus that represents and embodies the collaboration between Babson, Olin, and Wellesley colleges. It's a place for people from all of the campuses to come to work together, to be creative, and to hopefully put something into the world that wasn't there before."
- Prof. Aaron Hoover
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Professor Aaron Hoover is Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Olin College where he teaches courses on topics such as mechatronics, design, and bicycle frame-building. Aaron represents Olin as a member of the Higher Education Makerspaces Initiative which organizes the annual International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces. He is a strong proponent of of experiential, hands-on learning and in his spare time you might find him riding his bicycle or designing and building furniture.
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COLLABORATION OPPORTUNTIES
BOW Faculty Social Mixer/Foundry Open House
: Looking to learn more about the Foundry’s mission and capabilities? Interested in running an audacious course, event or activity in the Foundry that supports BOW collaboration? Come to the BOW Faculty Social Mixer/Foundry Open House on Thursday, April 11, 4:30-6:00pm. The event will include wine and live jazz.
The Ethics of 3D and Visual Representation:
This interdisciplinary event will be held on the Wellesley College campus, March 14, with a showcase 4-5pm and then panel 5-6pm. More information can be found
here
. Organized by Wellesley Media Arts and Sciences, LTS, and the Davis Museum
AI/Machine Learning "FUTURE HACK"
. In Fall 2019, the Foundry will host an AI/Machine Learning "Future Hack" for the BOW-Community, including faculty and students. As part of the event, the Foundry will be turned into a mixed-media installation looking out 5-10 years in the future. Stay tuned for more information!
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The Foundry is collaborating with
Microsoft
and its global network of seven “
Garage
” makerspaces to create and distribute some light-hearted videos on prototyping and maker-culture. Enjoy!
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