Offerings

Do you want to learn a new skill?  Try a new technology? Give your class project a an extra flare of professionalism? Stop in on Friday Open Hours between the hours of 10:00am to 12:00pm noon to learn to use any piece of equipment your curiosity desires!

Innovation Center office hours will also have an Innovation Center official there to supervise, so that time is also available to be used like open hours, so swing on by!

A chat series developed from the Roman's Symposia events that is open for all Menlo College community members to come in, grab snacks, ask questions, debate, chat about philosophical questions, or just get to know other participants. 

The Socratic Salon series aims to cultivate open dialogue and forge meaningful connections among the student body, faculty, staff, and the broader Menlo community. By facilitating engaging and thought-provoking conversations, the series will connect students with each other and with key members of the community. Our goal is to build a dynamic network of innovative thinkers who collaborate, inspire, and drive forward-thinking ideas, ultimately shaping the future of our collective pursuits.

August 23, 2024

The second Innovation Center Socratic Salon, the first of the 2024-2025 academic year brought in a guest speaker, David Jew, to speak on his 20+ years of industry experience covering the various roles he's held throughout his time he spent working. He was able to offer insightful answers from the attendees, offer advice for success, and 

April 18, 2024

The first Innovation Center Socratic Salon was held to welcome back the two Menlo College 2023 University Innovation Fellows who traveled to the annual UIF Meetup at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Ruby Jia-Min Juballa and Victoria Michelacci shared anecdotes of cultural differences and lifelong lessons along with renewed visions of how to make impactful change on the Menlo College campus and beyond.

March 1, 8, 29, 2024

Customization is everything nowadays! What better way to rep your favorite designs and make them your own than doing it yourself?

Join us to learn to design, cut, and press a design onto virtually anything. From mugs to plates, to shirts, to hats,  for class or personal, we can't wait to guide you to your next skill in customization and promotion.

February 2, 9, 16, 2024

The first of our 3-week STEAM workshops. was focused on teaching participants the endless possibilities of 3D printing. From teaching them the basics of how to find a model, to running the "slicing" software, to uploading the file to the 3D printer to make an actual tangible product, these participants were excited by how easy it was to be able to get certified to use the 3D printers in the Innovation Center. 

December 08, 2023

A workshop put on to gather input from students about how they wish to see the default layout of the Innovation Center. Participants were given different prompts, challenged with different restrictions, and asked to broaden their thinking to include certain diversity and inclusivity considerations to come to a final setup that welcomes everyone. 

April 14, 2023

After stocking the Innovation Center with makerspace equipment and organizing the area in such a way to open the area up once again to the Menlo College community, we rolled out the blue carpet and opened the doors once again to introduce everyone who attended to the many new opportunities. Every attendee was gifted with a freshly printed Innovation Center key fob, embedded with a penny from their birth year.  The center displayed previous UIF projects and promoted the upcoming 2023 UIF cohort applications. The event was shared with all members through email, as well as by sliding a flyer under every on campus students dorm room door with an invite and a short description of what UIF is and how to get involved. 

November 16, 2022

Inspired by the "Pitch Pipe" workshop by the Clubhou.se, this activity combines the public speaking skills taught in class about preparing an Elevator Pitch and combining it with some tangible visualization of the time it takes to deliver that mini speech. Participants were tasked with 3 parts throughout the workshop. First, they were assigned to cut and construct a PVC pipe structure that would take water about 30 seconds to 1 minute to reach the bottom. Once this was completed, the teams were assigned to develop an idea for a company for which they would like to speak about. Finally, we had each team give their startup company pitch, but they only had as long as it took for the water to make its way through the PVC pipe structure they had constructed! We also had some opportunities for individuals to practice their personal pitches as well.

May 04, 2021

An event put on by the OIC (Oak's Innovation Club) in partnership with the Menlo College Internships and Career Services Office provided all attendees with their very own "Networking Button". The Networking Button is an innovative startup idea developed by a current student, Raymond Juballa. The button displays a QR code that once scanned, will provide the scanner with a contact card, with all the information the owner wants to provide, which they can add directly to their contact book on their phone. Raymond says that this idea was launched forward by the post-pandemic world where business cards became a potentially dangerous thing that might spread viruses. Contactless information sharing is the way to go! The OIC held this event on "Star Wars Day" (May 4th) and obviously had a Star Wars themed component to accompany the promotional material and overall event activities.

November 13-15, 2020

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Menlo College continued its tradition of putting on their yearly Startup Weekend competition where teams develop a full on business plan over the course of a weekend and several workshops. At the end of the weekend, the teams present their newly developed business plans to a panel of judges to see which team would emerge victorious. This Startup Weekend's team partnered with WILD (Women In Leadership Development), a Menlo College Club, to put on a women-empowerment-themed event. This planning team made sure this event was put on despite being forced to pivot several times, including successfully making it a FULLY virtual event due to the lockdown policies that were enacted midway through their planning process. Congratulations to the winning team "UpwardnOnward" (Group Members: Gunjab Bhardwaj, Courtney Cooper, Huimang Ku, and Meenal P)!

April 20-22, 2018

The very First Startup weekend ideated and put on by the 2018 UIF cohort was a great success and showed potential to be a reoccurring successful event that would benefit everyone involved.

2017

the 2017 UIF cohort gathered support, funding, and a team of students to convert an old unused chemistry lab into what is now the Menlo College Innovation Center.