IDEA459/659: The Innovation Studio is a 3-credit course open to both undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Maryland. In the class, we use human-centered design practices to develop performance-based and curricular experiments for future implementation at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F). Students have the opportunity to connect the work we do in class to their own interests related to the visual and performing arts. The class is highly experiential, collaborative, and reflective. 

Mira is an Innovation Instigator in the Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Mira graduated from UMD with a BA in Art Studio and a concentration in graphic design. She earned an MA in Social Design from MICA, a prestigious art and design school in Baltimore; served as a Robert W. Deutsch Social Design Fellow focused on urban farming and local food access in Baltimore, and as a design coach for climate change mitigation projects in the World Bank. In this and all of her work, she uses human-centered design tools to help people create and implement projects with stakeholder needs in mind. While Mira's musical talents don't extend beyond the bean shaker, she seizes the opportunity to immerse herself in the world of the symphony each summer by working with NOI+F. As its unofficial "Chief Innovation Officer" she's helped NOI Fellows talk to strangers, fed double bass players "potions" that influenced the order of the movements they had to play, learned a lot about flexibility (of all kinds) from dance majors, and got in on the secret that Applause Café has the best iced oat milk latte on campus (magic ingredient: pebble ice!) — among other things. The rest of the year, you can find her experimenting with ways to bring innovation tools and concepts to students, faculty and staff at UMD and beyond. On that note, she really wants to spread the word far and wide about AIE's Innovation Fellowship program, which is open to UMD grad students and staff from all departments on campus!

Christina is an Experience and Curriculum Designer in the Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Participating in the Innovation Studio in the summer of 2019 sparked a curiosity in experimenting within the world of classical music (and made her wish she stuck with the clarinet!) and she's loved digging into the world of the orchestra ever since. In addition to her work with the Innovation Studio, Christina spends her days working with students and professionals to build their creative confidence and equip them with design tools for approaching big problems in new ways. She's most excited by bringing together interdisciplinary collaborators and helping them uncover ways to make their work more human-centered. When she isn't teaching or developing curriculum, she can be found facilitating workshops or partnering with groups from the University of Maryland (UMD) and the public sector to create unique, experiential learning opportunities. Christina has a Master's of Public Policy from UMD, specializing in fostering cultures of innovation in U.S. government agencies and is particularly interested in institutional and structural barriers to innovation and creativity. She believes that everyone has the capacity to be creative, but often aren’t given the opportunities or tools to do so. In her free time, she travels as much as possible and is almost always knitting, reading, or experimenting in the kitchen.