What is innovation?

We hear the term a lot here at Purdue, a place of scientific discovery, intensive research and academic milestones. On the surface, the term appears easy to define. We know innovation as a new idea, device or method. But Honors College Innovator in Residence Larry Bowne is arguing for an even wider view.

"I’m working against the prevailing notion that innovation is gear, that it is technological advance," he explained. "For me, innovation is as much about social and cultural change, artistic creativity, as it is about the latest app or the newest piece of hardware."

In the spring of 2016, the professional architect was tasked with creating an Honors College course where students would design and oversee the installation of displays for innovative projects, objects and ideas. That space, now called the Innovation Forum, sits illuminated at the entry of the new Honors College and Residences North Building.

As envisioned by Dean Rhonda Phillips and the Honors College, the Innovation Forum was designed with large, sliding glass doors. They allow objects as large as a small plane or automobile to be moved into the space. The floor was also specifically designed to carry the weight of such displays. Bowne says the space serves as a tangible and transformational reminder of the mission of the college and the university as a whole.

"Ideally, as students come into the college they will become aware of the possibility to make that space, their space,"

Bowne said. "It’s a framework that allows for future iterations. If you came back in 18 months, it will look significantly different. That’s when we’ll know it works."

Bowne believes undergraduates are uniquely poised to make such a contribution.

"Society gives them four or five years to develop themselves, but also to figure out how they’re going to make the world better," he added. "I really pushed them to identify campus actors, students and faculty, who are doing innovative work and for me that really meant work that had a social impact, or that dealt with traditionally underserved constituencies."

It wasn’t an easy charge, or an easy class. While Bowne typically works with architecture students, this course included students from a variety of majors and provided an “outside-the-box” academic experience.

Briana Jenkins is studying business in the Honors college and says the course helped her connect with faculty and drove home the need for teamwork.

"It prepared us not only for this project, but for the workplace," Jenkins said of the class. "One of the biggest lessons was how to use our time wisely."

"They were working with distributors and vendors and trying to fix orders that came in incorrectly. I think it was a fantastic experience for them," Bowne said.

Gwen Cortez, an aspiring civil engineer, was also part of that group.

"I want to be involved in designing buildings and have great an experience here, right?" she said, pointing toward the Innovation Forum.

During the three-credit Honors seminar, the students identified a way to keep ideas flowing into the space. They call it SparkLab. The ongoing student-run group will identify campus, social, societal and economic innovations on a regular basis, then bring those innovations into the Innovation Forum.

SparkLab

will offer four ways to highlight campus and community creativity, in displays that are fixed, mobile or temporary. Each element is inspired by the Honors College torch.

In addition to the four key elements, Bowne is hopeful that the forum will become a community space, as well as a classroom tool. He envisions courses in computer engineering using the FirePit as a coding assignment, where students would program apps, messages or games.

Jenkins hopes the revolving exhibits will inspire her fellow students to become change-makers, people who not only identify innovation, but get involved in forging it.

"I feel great about being part of a group that created this lasting space," Jenkins said. "Not only did we get to be part of the construction of the residence hall, but we also created a foundation for students of the future to work from."

Do you want to help shape the Innovation Forum or have a project you'd like featured? Students please watch the HNN for a SparkLab callout. Campus, local or state innovators email honorscollegemedia@purdue.edu