July 15, 2014
Photo credit: Luther Caverly
Living Labratory A Vibrant Sandbox of Innovation and Ideation
Most days, you’ll find Benson Lai in the university’s Living Laboratory — 1125@Carleton — a bright, 7,500-square-foot state-of-the-art facility spread over two floors of the Human Computer Interaction building.
The third-year computer science student, recently welcomed by Red Tiger Labs as a coder, was unsure of his coding abilities earlier this year. But when he heard about Red Tiger, he put in extra time to hone his skills and soon found himself working for the company’s product development arm under the motivational guidance of the company’s founder, Joe Cummins, who also happens to be one of 1125’s entrepreneurs-in-residence.
Working in an environment that brings together multi-talented groups of people from all walks of life is a boon for Lai, who believes he is learning about entrepreneurship from the best.
“(Cummins) knows how to take the project to the next level and I feel like I am not only contributing by writing the program, but also I can shape and improve the project.”
Cummins, new to his role as entrepreneur-in-residence, is stirring up talent to “cultivate” projects in the Living Lab.
Working in an environment that brings together multi-talented groups of people from all walks of life is a boon for Lai, who believes he is learning about entrepreneurship from the best.
As principal consultant of Red Tiger Security, a company he founded in 2008 to inform companies about security risks using artificial intelligence, and as a serial entrepreneur, Cummins can facilitate the diverse number of projects – anything from defence research to video game application development – that find their way to the experimental environment.
Red Tiger is one of several associates that are taking advantage of the new facility to take their organizations to the next level. Others include GaitTronics, a spin-off from Carleton’s Advanced Biomechatronics and Locomotion Laboratory that is developing robotic technologies for use in rehabilitation; GestureLogic, a local multi-disciplined company that recently launched a unique wearable fitness intelligence device for athletes; and Sentinel Solutions, a start-up hardware consulting company founded last year by a Carleton student who specializes in sensor networks.
Cummins, who guest lectures at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, heard about 1125 through one of his students, Tyler Valdron, who has since become his right-hand man at Red Tiger.
1125@Carleton “has the intrinsic elements – it’s young and vibrant, has the pedigree and bright talented people from all walks of life – that allow us to build a team very rapidly to roll out a tool that is revolutionary in an industry fraught with fear and indecision.”
Red Tiger hopes to soon release the product that can diagnose and determine the residual risk of any critical infrastructure. This innovation is just one of “a thousand fires” 1125@Carleton’s executive director Mary Herbert-Copley says she wants to “light” in the new lab.
1125@Carleton “has the intrinsic elements – it’s young and vibrant, has the pedigree and bright talented people from all walks of life – that allow us to build a team very rapidly
“The purpose of this kind of lab is to be inclusive and to maximize diversity, so when attacking problems, many ideas surface: more creative, more innovative and, if user-centric, more sustainable,” says Herbert-Copley.
“It’s an experimental collaborative space for problem solving. 1125@Carleton uses design thinking processes to create innovative, disruptive and transformative solutions that can be scaled and adapted to need and lead to sustainable outcomes.”
Academics, researchers and students meet with business people, government agents, not-for-profits, the public and other academic institutions to identify challenges for resolution.
A diverse advisory committee draws on expertise on campus, and from the private and public sectors as well as not-for-profits and the community at large. Two entrepreneurs-in-residence, including Cummins and Jason Daley, winner of Ottawa’s Rising Star CEO Award, and executive-in-residence Ann Dale provide mentorship.
Dale, a Carleton alumna, and a Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Community Development from Royal Roads University, sees her role as a bridge builder between the physical lab and virtual space, as well as between Carleton and other universities.
“Connecting dots is my value added,” says Dale. “For example, a street recycling project in downtown eastside Vancouver wants to enlarge, and I know of a project in Ottawa looking for employment opportunities. I can make these connections through this common space.”
While 1125@Carleton is the only Living Lab in Ottawa and one of the few innovation labs in Canadian universities, the concept is a growing global trend that connects students, faculty, government, industry and community in a co-creative atmosphere, allowing ideas to surface at a very early stage.
At Carleton, in terms of an in-residence incubation space, anywhere from four to 40 people congregate at 1125 each day. Two to three times per week, the space is used by outside groups consisting of between 40 and 150 individuals using the ideation space for their problem solving.
“The space provides flexibility of scale,” notes Cummins, who likes to start his day early. “We have people who roll in at 7 at night and work until 2 in the morning. Some come at 6 a.m. and work until 2 p.m. We can all play in the sandbox on our own time, interacting with colleagues and working together quite effectively.”
1125@Carleton uses design thinking processes to create innovative, disruptive and transformative solutions that can be scaled and adapted to need and lead to sustainable outcomes.”
Did you know? 1125@Carleton took its name from the street address of Carleton University — 1125 Colonel By Drive!
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