Innovation Hub Update

BY STACY PRIME, CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER

The Innovation Hub at Northwood School, located on Main Street in the heart of downtown Lake Placid, is a source of fascination for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come to the area every year. The expansive glass façade of the Hub allows passersby to peek at the row of 3D printers, student-designed prototypes and the competition robot, prompting many to wonder about the Hub’s purpose. Upon learning that it is a school facility and not a trendy tech start-up, visitors are awestruck.

The brainchild of Northwood’s Head of School, Mike Maher, and a group of supportive visionaries that included board members, alumni, faculty, families, students, and community advocates, the Innovation Hub is now in its third year of operation. In July 2021, I was brought on to oversee the next phase of its evolution and build on the original vision.

Currently, the Innovation Hub serves as a future-facing flexible classroom for learners of all ages, a shared community asset and collaboration engine, and a blank canvas.

As a classroom, it hosts Northwood courses in areas such as robotics, 3D fabrication, design thinking, entrepreneurship, humanities, L.E.A.P., and independent initiatives. We also provide workshops, seminars, speakers, study halls, and makerspaces that promote innovation and capacity building, offering community-wide access to cutting-edge tools and technology in flexible spaces. Recent events have included pop-up makerspaces, entrepreneurship workshops, and professional learning events, with participants ranging in age from 3 to 93.

As a shared community asset and collaboration engine, the Hub has been utilized by dozens of organizations and businesses from the Adirondack region and beyond, hosting board meetings, design challenges, planning and strategy sessions, and more. For example, the Adirondack Watershed Institute hosted Water Week at the Hub, engaging the public in innovative activities such as a data science and art show and an AR/VR experience that simulated the impact of climate change.

As a blank canvas, the Innovation Hub invites and encourages Northwood students, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends to bring their ideas and vision to the space. Most recently, the Hub played host to the Northwood Outing Club’s “Flow State” series of speakers and a Student Symposium where Northwood students presented their self-directed year-long projects to the public.

Looking ahead to the future, I’m excited about the many interesting opportunities on the horizon and invite the greater Northwood community to participate in designing and launching the next iteration of the Innovation Hub.