Gould Academy’s new Marlon Family IDEAS Center – which stands for Innovation, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship, Arts and Science – boasts an entire floor of dedicated maker and design thinking space that supports innovation and collaboration through building creative confidence. Applying design thinking to this creative space is based on years of practice at the Institute of Design at Stanford.

Within the IDEAS Center is the Design Thinking Studio, which acts as the hub of the design thinking wheel and provides ample, flexible space to collaborate thanks to large, moveable whiteboards and furniture, not to mention space to create with enough room for a textile center as well.

Three fabrication studios support the Design Thinking Studio, including a Digital Studio with 3D printers, a laser cutter, large format printer, and vinyl cutter; a Physical Fabrication Studio with CNC routers, a band saw, table saw, drill press, and hand tools; and a Media Room complete with instruments, microphones, and recording software.

Our students are in the driver’s seat of this space with the guidance of our Maker-in-Residence and Director. Together they use interactive design to build prototypes, re-imagine them, and then repeat. The result is a student who identifies problems and creates solutions.

That’s innovation.