Hampshire College

The Lemelson Center sponsors events, speakers, and field trips each semester, and hosts periodic and annual conferences and workshops.

The Lemelson Center also sponsors student excursions to major design museums in New York City and beyond: to regional assistive technology expositions; to a local universally-designed house; and to the Boston Children's Museum and the Boston Children's Hospital Communication Enhancement Center. Speakers have included kinetic sculptors, professional blacksmith artists, athletes with disabilities, fabrication specialists, patent attorneys, a recreational equipment designer, and specialists in the areas of assistive technology and universal design.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Amherst UnPanel: Not Your Mama's Panel
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
4:30-8:00pm
Hampshire College Red Barn (directions: http://www.hampshire.edu/map/)
FREE! REGISTER NOW!

Instead of sitting and listening to panelist after panelist, UnPanels provide an innovative way to hear from a number of seasoned entrepreneurs in small intimate groups.

So how the heck does it work?

Seven startup aficionados available for group discussions (max 10 people/table)

You select panelist/topic that matches your interests

You sign up for three 20-minute discussions

Following the UnPanel, chat with panelists and attendees during Open Networking

Agenda:
4:30-5:00 p.m. Check-In and sign up for breakout sessions
NOTE: Sign-up for sessions is first come, first served

5:00-5:30 p.m. Opening remarks

5:45-7:00 p.m. Breakout sessions

7:00-8:00 p.m. Open networking

Featured Panelists:

Paul Hake (HitPoint Studios) Flash programmer, video producer, and general media developer for companies such as Hasbro Toys, Cramer Productions, Olive Jar Animation Studios, and Fidelity Investments.

Keith Parent (Court Square Group) Runs an in-depth life sciences practice as well as technology-focused practices in Network and Security, SharePoint, and Managed Services.

Stanley Kowalski III (FloDesign) Founding CEO of wind energy company that has won a number of competitions, government funding, and investment funding.

Joe Sibilia (Meadowbrook Lane Capital) Runs a socially responsible/sustainable investment bank specializing in mission driven succession and online publication on corporate social responsibility.

Joe Edelman (GroundCrew) Focused on the problems of the real-time, real-world web and creating communities. Instrumental in scaling up Couchsurfing.com.

Evie Hawley (Protopeutics, Inc) Expertise lies in developing new medical devices, specifically on optimization, meeting FDA regulations, and materials design.

Paul Silva (Angel Catalyst) Serves as the manager for angel investment groups and helps to organize the University of Massachusetts/Amherst Entrepreneurship Initiative

Summit for the Conceptualization of a Pioneer Valley Social Entrepreneurship Collaborative
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
6-8 p.m.
Hampshire College Red Barn (directions: http://www.hampshire.edu/map/)
FREE! REGISTER NOW

The Hampshire College Lemelson Center invites you to participate in what we hope will be the first of many fruitful conversations to cultivate the development of a Pioneer Valley Social Entrepreneurship Collaborative. The overarching goal of this gathering is to bring together social entrepreneurs of all stripes--entrepreneurs, investors, advocates, catalysts, community members, educators, and students--collaboratively to foster, promote, and teach social entrepreneurship in the Pioneer Valley.  As social entrepreneurship continues to emerge as a practical and effective approach to creating value in our communities, we all stand to gain from an organized forum to network and innovate.

We will bring to this summit the following list of possible goals to serve as a starting point for our conversation, but we look to the group to give shape and substance to the discussion. There is a wealth and diversity of experience and knowledge in the field throughout the Pioneer Valley, and we would like to include as many people as might be interested in moving this initiative forward. Please feel free to extend this invitation to others: we only ask that all attendees RSVP via the event website by March 9.

There will also be an opportunity to share information about yourself or your organization or business on our literature tables. Please note in your RSVP if you plan to bring any materials. 

A light working dinner will be served, with vegetarian options available.

Possible Goals for a Pioneer Valley Social Entrepreneurship Collaborative:

·      Be a hub for area people, schools, organizations, and businesses interested in social entrepreneurship

·      Be a network for the exchange of ideas, opportunities, and resources that support applied research and creation of social enterprises

·      Foster the creation of social enterprises

·      Foster the application of social entrepreneurship research to enterprise creation

·      Provide opportunities for engagement with social enterprises and enterprise creation

·      Provide a mentor network geared toward social enterprise creation

·      Be self-sustaining

·      Provide funding for social enterprise creation

·      Foster a cooperative/collective approach to social enterprise creation and operation

ANNUAL EVENTS

Student Invention Showcase

The annual Student Invention Showcase is the capstone event of the academic year, when students gather to show the community the work that they have done at the Lemelson Center. Approximately 30 students gather in the Red Barn with business concept plans, sculptures, furniture, innovative prototypes, and more advanced products. Students display assistive technology and universally designed projects for people with disabilities; sculptures; blacksmithing and woodworking pieces; sustainable designs; and electronic devices. Student are willing to answer questions about their work and are eager to hear feedback about it. This event draws area elementary and high school students and educators, parents, community activists, designers, engineers, therapists, artists, and musicians as well as peers and faculty. Students are always pleased to see the range of work being done at the center and to be recognized for their own achievements. 

Fall Gallery Show

The Fall Gallery Show serves as an opportunity for students to share their work from the fall semester with the community. This year's show will be November 16-20.

Hampshire College Blacksmithing Meet

Each year as part of the blacksmithing program, the Lemelson Center sponsors a one-day blacksmithing meet. Blacksmiths from around northern New England converge at the Lemelson Center for a day of demos, workshops, and project displays. Student blacksmith-enthusiasts from Hampshire and the surrounding Five Colleges meet local metal-pounders, get feedback on their own blacksmithing projects, and participate in the workshops and demos.

* SPARC Events

Considering graduate school? This fall, the *SPARC events will focus on identifying and applying to graduate school programs. Co-hosted by the Lemelson Center and Career Options Resource Center, these events will feature a panel of Hampshire alums who have pursued graduate degrees and workshops on the application process and developing a strong application.

Dates to be announced.

Open House

The Lemelson Center's annual open house party brings together students and faculty from Hampshire and the surrounding Five Colleges as well as inventors and entrepreneurs from the local business community. This event often has a theme, and there are always festive foods, drinks, decor, games, and door prizes. The event takes place early in the fall to lure new students to the shop, which is transformed from an inventor's paradise to a celebratory oasis.

Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Conference

Each fall Hampshire College students are invited when The Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation (HGCF) Entrepreneurship Initiative presents an Collegiate Entrepreneurship Conference. The conference gives students the opportunity to learn from successful entrepreneurs the appropriate steps to take to start a business, how to turn an idea into reality, and the risks and rewards of business ownership.

SEA Conference

The Lemelson Center sends students or recent alumni to the Self Employment in the Arts Conference outside of Chicago to network with other artists, exhibit their work, and attend lectures and workshops. The mission of SEA is to provide educational resources to help aspiring artists gain the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills needed to establish and maintain a career as an independent artist.

Regional Art/Design Museums

Each semester field trips are organized to regional museums to foster a learning community engaged in the avant garde of art and technology. Students have benefited from exploring visits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts.

PAST EVENTS

Hampshire College Assistive Technology Forum

For eight years the Lemelson Center hosted a one-day forum in assistive technology that brought together a diverse group of equipment designers, industry experts, people with disabilities, engineers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, students, and educators to encourage discussion of needs and transfer of information and ideas.

The Eighth Annual Forum Assistive Technology, Disability, and FAMILY convened Friday, May 5, 2006.

The conference keynote speaker was Judi Rogers, a disabled mother, activist, equipment designer, author, and parenting specialist at Through the Looking Glass, a national resource center for families living with disabilities. The day also featured hands-on workshops, networking, roundtable discussions, and a student invention showcase.

The Seventh Annual Forum Assistive Technology, Disability, and ADVENTURE convened Friday, May 6, 2005.

The event drew approximately 250 participants throughout the day to take in the keynote speaker and Olympic panel of athletes, to talk with student project presenters at the Student Invention Showcase, to engage in professional networking, and to participate in a range of afternoon hands-on workshops. The key themes that guided the day included ways in which adaptive equipment creates access to new environments, the influence of sport and society on one another, how communities can strive to create inclusive recreation, how sport can be a tool for social change, and athletes who push limits become revolutionaries.

The Sixth Annual Forum Assistive Technology, Disability, and the ARTS took place Friday, May 7, 2004.

Participants gathered for a day of exploration in performing arts, fine arts, popular culture, and expression through the context of disability and assistive technology.

The Fifth Annual Forum Developing Solutions, Developing Nations convened Friday, May 2, 2003.

Topics of discussion included the growing need for assistive technology worldwide, current initiatives to address those needs, harnessing creativity to improve human living conditions, and how to get involved in locally-based efforts with global impact.

Face of America 2002

Over fourteen hundred bicyclists and hand cyclists gathered at Ground Zero in New York City where they began a three-day, two-night, 280-mile journey that concluded at the Pentagon on September 22. The event brought together disabled and able-bodied participants from around the world to honor the lives of those killed in the #terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Hampshire College Lemelson Center supported alum Artemis Joukowsky with a vehicle and mechanical team as he rode his electrically assisted trike. The trike was designed and fabricated at the Lemelson Center by then student Josh Kerson. The ride was an athletic challenge affirming the belief that the sheer internal will of the human being is what allows us to accomplish nearly impossible goals despite our differences. It was by far the most diverse team WTS has ever assembled, including athletes from 12 countries including Israel and Palestine. It was the largest contingency of hand cyclists ever assembled for a single sporting event. Read more articles about the Face of America 2002 Ride

United Nations Photo Exhibit “Raising the Bar”

A photographic exhibition entitled “Raising the Bar: New Horizons in Disability Sports” opened in the North-East Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors’ Lobby at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March  23, 2005. The exhibit, based on the book by Artemis Joukowsky, was an intimate, visually rich portrayal of the international para-athletic community, featuring the work of 10 international photographers and 30 international athletes. It remained open to the public through April 23, 2005.

Also on display were an electric trike, tandem tricycle, snowboard, and sit-ski, representing innovative projects undertaken by students at Hampshire College’s Lemelson Center to address the needs of people with disabilities in the pursuit of sports and recreation. This exhibition was presented in support of the process towards a United Nations Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

Please visit Non Satis Scire Spring/Summer 2005 or No Limits Media for more information about the book and the event.

Taking the LEAP!  Incorporating New Creative Techniques in Our Teaching

In 2007, the Hampshire College Lemelson Center sponsored this mini-conference in creativity and entrepreneurial thinking at Bay Path College. The program explored experiential methods of teaching and learning, creative idea-generation, and entrepreneurial thinking, supporting educators in helping students of all disciplines develop their own potential by fostering an entrepreneurial mindset.

Innovative Thinking and Entrepreneurship Summit

The Hampshire College Lemelson Center supports this annual program at Bay Path College as a valuable information exchange, networking opportunity, and business resource. Designed to support entrepreneurs at all points along the experience spectrum, the summit encourages entrepreneurs to take the first step; expand their business; and gain specific knowledge, such as accessing equity capital, creating a business that reflects your values, and understanding the power of risk taking.