Find a better way at the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre

Turn your game-changing idea into a reality

In the lead up to its official launch in September on Monday 10 August the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre has recently opened its doors to students and ever since it’s been a hive of activity late into the evening.

UNSW Australia enjoys an internationally recognised track record as a hotbed of innovation, and this new Centre is a focal point for that innovative thinking and making. Designed to foster multidisciplinary collaboration between students from all faculties and all disciplines, the comprehensive program nurtures student innovation, while making strong two-way connections with business.

As a perfect example of the incredible personalities the Centre is drawing, next Tuesday, Guy Kawasaki - chief evangelist of Canva, trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, and executive fellow at the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley -  is giving a free talk 2-3pm. 

Kawasaki's appearance is just one example of the ethos of creativity, collaboration and innovation. It's an ethos shared by UNSW Art & Design so of course we’re leading the charge to contribute and get involved.

Among other A&D early contribution's to the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre, Senior Lecturer Selena Griffith has worked closely with groups such as ENACTUS UNSW and Social Innovation Sydney to create a program fostering a culture of innovation on campus and beyond. Now underway Design-Led Tuesdays at the Centre this semester are all about design thinking for innovation. Griffith has curated a mind expanding array of industry speakers, design leaders, and genuine brilliant human beings to lead students, staff and public into a design-led future. The program runs for 10 weeks across Semester 2, 2015, with lunchtime and evening events.

Griffith is also chairing a conference taking place at the Centre called Design for Disaster Response, a cross disciplinary opportunity to share research, actions and approaches to preparing for, and delivering responses to, disaster. At the moment organisers are collecting abstracts for approval. You can follow news about the Conference here.

A&D’s involvement doesn’t stop there. A&D students are participating in a furniture design competition the goal of which is to design a modern form of combined seating/storage that challenges ideas about sitting in public spaces, and encourages communication and interaction with others in the space. The winning designs will be built as a prototype for use in the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre, with all construction costs covered by the Centre.

Imbuing a mindset of innovation into our students and broader community is an essential function of the Centre. Take a look at the video above filmed and edited by A&D student Freddie Jiang. It tells you everything you need to know about the student experience. It’s time to join the innovation conversation, collaborate with your peers and find a better way through art and design. 


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