Featured Upcoming Events:
Each year, the Global Game Jam organization gives a keynote and issues a theme for hundreds of locations across the globe to take part in. Participants form teams and work together to create their own games inspired by the theme. At the end, participants gather to present their games onstage. Friendships are forged, collaborations are fostered, and games are made!
January 31-February 2, at the Wond’ry.
The Vanderbilt Green Fund is a $150,000 fund that Vanderbilt sets aside every year to support students’ ideas to make campus greener. This year, applications for the Green Fund can be submitted via a special one-hour event: The Vanderbilt Green-a-thon! In the spirit of VandyHacks Hackathon, student groups with 1-3 members will have approximately one hour to come up with an idea to make campus greener. The winning proposal will be automatically sent to the final stage of the Green Fund acceptance process.
January 24 at 2:00pm, at the Wond’ry.
A day of learning, networking, and entrepreneurship will be hosted by the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management’s Center For Entrepreneurship (C4E) in January. The event will include keynote speakers and seminars, TED-style talks from entrepreneurs, and a pitch competition for student startups.
After the conference, the Wond’ry will host an after-party networking event, including a fireside chat with New-York-based, award-winning fashion designer and entrepreneur, Timo Weiland.
January 10 at 8:00am, at the Vanderbilt Student Life Center.
After-party begins at 2:15pm at the Wond’ry.
The Social Venture Think Tank (SVTT) is a new experiential learning program in the Wond’ry’s Social Innovations practice area. Each semester, interdisciplinary teams of students will be paired with a local organization, public office, or business working to address a social, economic, or environmental issue in the Nashville community. Student teams consult with their community partner to design and implement a project that advances the organization’s capabilities in their impact area. The Fall 2019 semester saw the first SVTT cohort working with local organizations Poverty and the Arts, the OASIS Center, and the Nashville Material Reuse Center.
Applications for the Spring 2020 cohort are currently being accepted.
In Spring 2020, the Wond’ry will launch a Map the System Competition in affiliation with the University of Oxford. This program, part of the Wond’ry’s Social Innovations practice area, will challenge students to think differently about how social and environmental change happens. The program will train participating students to use a systems thinking approach to understand and identify solutions for complex problems. Participating students will compete in a case competition in mid-April 2020, presenting the findings of their systems research to a distinguished panel of judges. The winning team of the Wond’ry’s competition will win a trip to the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom to compete in the Global Finals in June 2020. Registration for this competition is now open to all Vanderbilt students until February 5, 2020. To learn more about the opportunity and apply, visit the Wond’ry website.
New Makerspaces: Art Lab & Textile Lab
The Wond’ry added two new Makerspaces this semester! ArtLab Vanderbilt, a program which provides resources to create art exploring the intersection of art science, now has a physical home in the Wond’ry’s Art Lab! Currently available resources include a Microsoft Surface drawing tablet and a large format Epson printer. The space will also serve as a home base for ArtLab Fellows to create works of art which will be displayed at an exhibition event at the Wond’ry in Spring 2020.
The second new makerspace is the Textile Lab, a home for wearable innovations and fashion sustainability. Established in cooperation with the Vanderbilt Theatre Department Costume Shop, the Textile Lab includes materials and supplies for both hand and machine sewing, with a serger being added soon!
The Textile Lab will also be used in conjunction with a new university course offered in Spring 2020, The Craft of Computation (CSET 2430), an exploration of the origins of computer science as it was practiced in the art of weaving and programmable looms. As part of the coursework, students will build their own loom and learn to weave fabric. The course will be taught by Professor Laurel Waycott of the Department of Communication of Science and Technology.
In the News:
Our Programs:
In the Innovation Garage, an array of corporate 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 PreLaunch program that provides the foundational knowledge needed to successfully assess an idea, as well as a PostLaunch program aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs that are ready to learn the steps needed to launch a venture. These 7-week programs are 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.
The Social Venture Think Tank (SVTT) is an experiential learning program in the Wond’ry’s Social Innovations practice area. Each semester, interdisciplinary teams of students are paired with a local organization, public office, or business working to address a social, economic, or environmental issue in the Nashville community. Student teams consult with their community partner to design and implement a project that advances the organization’s capabilities in their impact area.
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.
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/
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