A New Space for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship within Ohio University - CoLab
A New Space for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship within Ohio University - CoLab from Drew Stroud
A New Space for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship within Ohio University - CoLab

In the Fall of 2017, my interests in entrepreneurship got me involved in CoLab, a student-led initiative to create a hub to enable students to combine their education and passions. Ohio University has numerous entrepreneurial resources for students, but prior to CoLab, these resources were disconnected and therefore difficult, if not impossible, to utilize. The concept behind CoLab was to renovate a location on campus into a centralized gateway and connection point to all of the resources on campus. After raising $1M in support, CoLab opened its doors within the library during the Fall of 2019 and has experienced heavy traffic from a wide variety of majors, hosted events and guest speakers, and incubated 2 student startups.

Through this experience, I honed my leadership abilities by leading a 4 person multidisciplinary team. I also gained experience in fundraising and engaging with senior leaders campus-wide to garner support for this initiative.

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Student Team (From left to right: Ben Bowald, Faith Voinovich, Winter Wilson, myself) cutting the ribbon to CoLab!
CoLab, nearly complete.
Shot of the "ideation" room under construction.
Finished ideation room with removable whiteboards and fluid furniture to promote collisions between students.
Another shot of ideation (other side).
CoLab Collaborative space (ideation is against back wall). Furniture was picked based on moveability. This part of Colab is meant to be a spot to meet other students or faculty, gather inspiration, eat lunch, and find passion.
One incubation pod. There are 5 pods in CoLab, each with a different feeling. Students who have an idea and want to take it to the next level should move from ideation to incubation and work on developing a business model, prototype, or whatever will take their idea to the next level.
Example of a minimal viable product (something rudimentary that proves a concept) used to start the student network. Students will be able to engage with this network to find partners or mentors in their endeavors.
CoLab hosting a freshman learning community. The space is never closed, so students are still able to come in and work even when events are happening. This encourages unexpected collisions between students who may never cross paths.
CoLab, from outside the door. This space is located on the 3rd floor of our library.
President Duane Nellis during his opening speech
A random object to encourage students to create whatever they feel like in the materialization space.
CoLab consistently hosts events with engaging prompts. This highlights the collaborative and creative nature of the space.
Students, faculty, and other professionals are always engaging in CoLab. This aids in connecting students to new, undiscovered resources.
A student posting her passion to the public "Passion Board"
Collaboration occurring during a CoLab event. This game involves picking words at random and conceptualizing a company from the combined words.
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A New Space for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship within Ohio University - CoLab

In the Fall of 2017, my interests in entrepreneurship got me involved in CoLab, a student-led initiative to create a hub to enable students to combine their education and passions. Ohio University has numerous entrepreneurial resources for students, but prior to CoLab, these resources were disconnected and therefore difficult, if not impossible, to utilize. The concept behind CoLab was to renovate a location on campus into a centralized gateway and connection point to all of the resources on campus. After raising $1M in support, CoLab opened its doors within the library during the Fall of 2019 and has experienced heavy traffic from a wide variety of majors, hosted events and guest speakers, and incubated 2 student startups.

Through this experience, I honed my leadership abilities by leading a 4 person multidisciplinary team. I also gained experience in fundraising and engaging with senior leaders campus-wide to garner support for this initiative.

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Drew Stroud
Mechanical Engineer Focused on Environmental Solutions Indianapolis, IN