Just because the Innovation Center is still
under construction doesn’t mean that
RIT students aren’t collaborating on new
projects. On Tuesday, October 28, the Student
Innovation Group met in the Idea Factory to
discuss and present their works in progress
with their fellow students and teachers.
Among the topics was a social networking
device, which is being designed to help
students who will be working on projects
at the Innovation Center. “It’s like a
people finder. We call it the eHarmony of
innovation,” said first year Game Design
and Development major Eric Longville.
Essentially, this networking device will
help students find others with interests
and talents that would relate to their
projects, thereby improving collaboration.
Another topic of discussion was how
the tools at the center will be lent out
and tracked. As of right now, the idea
is to have everything run without the
human element. A camera would use
facial recognition software to identify the
student who would check out an item and
keep track of everything in a database.
Similarly, the Innovation Center’s features
will be largely electronic. “You should be
able to do everything online,” said fifth
year Imaging and Photographic Technology
major Chris Ubelacker, “The projects and
goals of the Innovation Center shouldn’t
be limited to just the building itself.”
Finally, there was also a naming contest for
the new center that was designed to bring
the ideas of RIT students together. “It was
not to name the center, it was just to collect
the different ideas of what was on students’
minds,” said Xanthe Matychak, instructor
for several of the new innovative courses at
RIT. The winning name, The Fish Bowl (of
Ideas), was the popular pick among those
present. Phil Salvaggio, a first year Computer
Science and Imaging Science major, came
up with the name. “[I named it] just because
of how the Student Innovation Center looks
with the glass walls,” said Salvaggio, adding
that he considered how it would appear
for people looking in from the outside.
