We had another great semester with our flagship Idea Creation Bootcamps, sponsored by Bottomline Technologies. More students attended than ever before! At the first Bootcamp on September 30th, the group was led by Alexandra Suarez, a facilitator and trainer focused on innovation and human-centric research and insights. Alexandra came all the way from Puerto Rico to share her expertise with UNH. The goal of the evening was for students to:

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  • experience mindsets for creativity growth
  • identify what can build or hinder creativity
  • explore different tools to increase creativity
  • act upon their ideas

   

  "We're all born creative. We all have that, but along the way, something happens and we become less creative," said Alexandra. In order to get the students back to the creative mindset, Alexandra led the group in many exercises, such as a challenge with a coffee filter. Students were asked to come up with as many uses for a coffee filter (aside from filtering coffee) as they could. Another exercise was called "Yes, And," in which students kept building off of what each other was saying. Everyone left the event prepared to be more creative problem solvers! Check out the video here.

Our second Idea Creation Bootcamp of the semester on October 8th was led by Marc Sedam, Associate Vice Provost of Innovation and New Ventures and the Managing Director at UNHInnovation. Marc is an expert in leading groups through idea creation and problem solving. Nearly every Wednesday during the semester, Marc is leading a cohort of innovators through the process as part of the National Science Foundation's I-Corps program, for which UNH is a site. At the Idea Creation Bootcamp, Marc tasked the students with coming up with problems they see at UNH, narrowing them down, and then coming up with solutions. It was a very productive evening! Thank you to Bottomline Technologies for making these events possible!