|
Welcome back to campus and let me be one of the first to wish you a happy and innovative new spring semester and new year! Despite the weather in Nashville dipping into the single digits and snow covering the ground, the Wond’ry is buzzing with activity as innovation and entrepreneurial activities abound!
In January alone, the Wond’ry is excited to announce that we are partnering with Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) to host its first VU hackathon on January 19-21st, where participants from across our community will come together to design, create, and build innovative prosthetics and assistive technologies in an effort to help improve mobility and accessibility. Later this month, the Wond’ry in partnership with NashGameDev is hosting the second annual  Global Game Jam video game creation event, where video game designers from across the United States will come to the Wond’ry to partner with Vanderbilt faculty, staff, and students to create interactive video games across all platforms from traditional gaming consoles to Virtual Reality devices.
Also this month, we are excited to announce the launch of the Wond’ry “Heritage Months” series, where the Wond’ry will highlight various innovators, change makers, and thought leaders from across a wide array of disciplines and perspectives. By highlighting their stories, our goal is to further inspire you to develop innovative solutions that improve our world.
Desiring to launch a social venture or new enterprise? We are excited to announce that the Wond’ry in February will be launching its spring cohort of its PreLaunch and PostLaunch pillar programs. Stay tuned to our website for directions on when to apply.
We welcome you to come to the Wond’ry! With our new extended hours, the 2nd floor is now open until 9 pm Monday-Thursday. It’s never been a better time to come explore, make, tinker, and create. Help us make 2018 the “Year of the Innovator!”
Innovate Onward!
-Robert Grajewski
Evans Family Executive Director of the Wond’ry
the Wond’ry Hosts TOM Make-a-thon
TOM:Vanderbilt is a branch of TOM Global, a non-profit organization based in Tel-Aviv that hosts 72 hour make-a-thons around the world to develop specialized assistive technology for individuals living with disabilities. Small teams of Makers and Need Knowers work to create an innovative, low cost assistive technology to help improve the quality of life of the Need Knower. Makers are typically engineers or individuals with advanced technical skill, while Need Knowers can be individuals living with disabilities, caregivers, or professionals in the field.
This year, TOM:Vanderbilt will be hosting our first annual TOM makeathon at the Wond’ry, from January 19-21! There are a ton of ways to get involved, which you can find all across this site. Know someone who loves to tinker? Have apply to be a maker! Have a challenge which you think we could solve? Submit it in the Need Knowers application. Volunteers are also welcome for the event itself. We look forward to a truly amazing 72 hours of innovation and collaboration!
Find out more information here.
Heritage Months Exhibit Highlights Notable Innovators
Wond’ry team collaborates to launch ‘Heritage Months’ project
The Wond’ry is Vanderbilt’s epicenter for equitable, diverse, and inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship.
Each month of the year, the Wond’ry will highlight inventors, change makers, influencers, thought-leaders, and entrepreneurs from across a wide array of disciplines and perspectives. By sharing their stories and experiences, our goal is to inspire thought-provoking insights and action that further spur positive advancement and collaboration in their honor.
Learn about related workshops, seminars, and more on our website.
Global Game Jam: The Hackathon for Gamers
The Global Game Jam is coming to the Wond’ry! It is the world’s largest game jam event that takes place in over 90+ countries. This hackathon for game developers begins with a kickoff presentation with a keynote speech and the unveiling of the secret theme for all 500+ worldwide sites.
In today’s heavily connected world, this event provides a chance for people to come together, be creative, share experiences, and express themselves using video games. In 2017, over 6800 games were created during the weekend event.
During the event, people can find a team, or if they have an idea, they can put together a team. No experience is necessary to participate and this public event is open to anyone 18 and up. It will be hosted on the 3rd floor of the Wond’ry from January 26th to the 28th, at the Wond’ry.
Register now to join the fun!
the Wond’ry Spotlight:
Meet Julia Jane Eskew- Harpeth Hall Intern
 Hi, everyone! I’m Julia Jane Eskew, and I am a senior at the Harpeth Hall School. I am excited to be interning at the Wond’ry, for 3 weeks! I am passionate about art and have experience in a variety of mediums such as printmaking, 3D installation, oil painting, and design. I am excited to join my artistic knowledge with the Wond’ry’s mission of innovation and creativity. I am thrilled to be designing and creating pieces for the Wond’ry. My family moved to Nashville, for me to attend Harpeth Hall and swim competitively for the Nashville Aquatic Club. Next year, I will be attending the University of Virginia, where I will be continuing my swimming career along with a major in Neuroscience at the College of Arts and Sciences.
In my free time, I enjoy yoga, working on my art sketchbook, and baking with my family.
Highlights from Recent Events:
Vanderbilt Community and Guests Enjoy the Emerging Tech Lab
The AR/VR team hosted their first meetup in December. The Vanderbilt community, and invited guests, had an opportunity to try out the AR/VR equipment, and enjoy light refreshments. The Emerging Tech lab will be hosting ongoing events so keep an eye on our social media and event calendar for more details.
Our Pillar Programs:
In the Innovation Garage, an array of corporate and non-profit sponsors partner with Vanderbilt student and faculty teams on cutting-edge research and interdisciplinary projects. The goal of this program is to identify disruptive and innovative solutions that improve industry all while providing unique opportunities for students to build their skills via real-world problem solving.
For aspiring Vanderbilt entrepreneurs, the Wond’ry offers a 6-week PreLaunch program that provides the foundational knowledge needed to successfully identify and assess ideas for a quality for profit or non-profit venture. This program is now a part of Vanderbilt’s I-Corps Site program for STEM entrepreneurs that provides micro-grant funding from the NSF and access to the National I-Corps program. PostLaunch is a 7-week program aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs that have already completed customer discovery and market validation and are ready to learn the steps needed to launch a venture.
The Social Entrepreneurship Program is assisting students with opportunities to develop for-profit social enterprises that tackle important societal problems like food deserts, lack of healthy food options, food waste, and the eradication of poverty through entrepreneurship, which if successful can be adopted into full scale programs and potential partnerships with nonprofit and government organizations
From artist/music exhibits and speaker series to hackathons and business plan competitions, the Wond’ry hosts workshops, speakers and events that cater to an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit.
In the News:
Past Versions of News from the Wond’ry:
To view past versions of News from the Wond’ry, please visit our website:
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/thewondry/newsletter/
| ![the Wond'ry E-Newsletter [Vanderbilt University]](https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/119/2017/08/19151426/Wondry-2017.jpg)
