fashion institute of technology innovation in graduate ... · mario perez student, global fashion...

Fashion Institute of Technology Innovation in Graduate Programs FIT/Infor Design and Technology Lab May 2, 2017 | 5-7 pm

1 STRATEGIC PLAN FOR INNOVATION

Innovation Center Project Overview Project history and objectives The FIT Strategic Plan Our Legacy, Our Future: FIT Beyond 2020 was approved in 2013 and has three goals:

1. ENSURE ACADEMIC AND CREATIVE EXCELLENCE: Provide a rigorous learning experience built on the highest standards of academic and scholarly excellence, an environment that promotes creativity and experimentation, and diverse experiential learning with a variety of industry partners.

2. BE AN INNOVATION CENTER FOR CREATIVE INDUSTRIES WORLDWIDE: Partner with creative industries worldwide to help anticipate and address key challenges, build a stronger culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at FIT, and establish collaborations that translate creative ideas into action.

3. PROVIDE AN EMPOWERING STUDENT EXPERIENCE IN A COHESIVE COMMUNITY: Build an inclusive community in which students engage with, learn from and inspire each other, discovering how their differences and similarities promote creativity, intellectual and personal growth, and understanding. Create FIT traditions that generate a strong sense of community and school spirit, building affinity with the College as a whole among current students and engendering loyalty among alumni.

As one of the steps to implement Goal 2 of the plan, FIT engaged InnovationLabs to assist in the development of a strategic plan for an Innovation Center.

Design thinking methodology InnovationLabs is applying design thinking methodology in our approach to this project.

We started with needfinding to understand the FIT culture and context around innovation. During this phase we interviewed more than 75 members of the FIT community, observed classes, met with competitors, toured the campus, and learned a lot about FIT. Pop-up prototyping In an internal modeling and ideation session, InnovationLabs identified 10 important concepts that surfaced during needfinding. Ten pop-up prototype sessions, of which this is one, are being conducted to test and further develop those concepts. Following the pop-up prototypes there will be a Planning Council session and two roundtable sessions to get further input and feedback. Innovation Master Plan The project will result in an Innovation Master Plan for FIT, with recommendations on the innovation strategy, portfolio, process, culture, and infrastructure that FIT should pursue in order for FIT to achieve its innovation goal.

Innovation in Graduate Programs Pop-Up Prototype | May 2, 2017


Pop-Up Prototype Sessions 1.  Style Shop

Reimagining the Style Shop as a leading edge experimenter 2.  Student Survey

Gaining more student input 3.  Innovation Center Design

What should the Center look like? 4.  Challenging the Problem

How can we promote more critical thinking? 5.  Interdisciplinary / Multidisciplinary

How can we promote more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary thinking? 6.  Sustainability

How we can accelerate efforts to innovate in sustainability? 7.  Outside Connections and Matchmaking

How should we manage and promote innovation for outsiders? 8.  Innovation Center Operating Models

What are the best ways to set up and manage the FIT Innovation Center? We have identified nine possibilities so far…

9.  Innovation Curriculum What should FIT’s approach be to teaching innovation to students?

10.  Innovation in Graduate Programs How could the FIT Innovation Center support the teaching of innovation in graduate programs?



Innovation in Graduate Programs Pop-Up Prototype Participants Raissa Bretana Student, Fashion and Textile Studies Professor Brooke Carlson

Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management

Professor Brenda Cowan Exhibition and Experience Design

Dr. Mary Davis Dean, School of Graduate Studies

John Dessereau Student, Illustration (MFA)

Katharine Dorny Student, Fashion and Textile Studies Professor Pamela Ellsworth Global Fashion Management

Professor Jonathan (Kyle) Farmer Fashion Design (MFA)

Hilary Feldman Student, Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management

Professor Lourdes Font History of Art, Fashion and Textile Studies

Professor Brendan Leach Illustration (MFA)

Professor Christina Lyons Exhibition and Experience Design

Rachel Moss Student, Global Fashion Management

Mario Perez Student, Global Fashion Management

Shari Prussin Vice President, Strategic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness

Andrea Steele Alumni, Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing and Management

Nina Van Styrum Student, Exhibition and Experience Design

Session Overview Langdon Morris opened the session with an overview of the Strategic Plan for Innovation project.

Then he introduced the nine potential innovation center operating models, broke the group into three teams, assigned each team three models, and asked each team to analyze the suitability of the models from a graduate program perspective.

After reporting out, Langdon asked participants to brainstorm in pairs or trios about how the School of Graduate Studies could support the Innovation Center. Then, with “research, fun, and play” at the center, the group built an affinity map. Themes around graduate program support emerged: •  Curriculum •  Research •  Knowledge •  Alumni •  Connections to outside •  Staffing and facilitation

Finally, participants were invited to write their final thoughts, recommendations, or big ideas that emerged from the session on a post-it and leave it on the door.



Innovation Center Operating Models: Handout

1. Library Model The Innovation Center is a place where resources and information about innovation may be accessed by students, faculty, and community members.

2. Classroom Model: The Innovation Center is a place where faculty hold classes because of its specific resources and tools.

3. TechShop Model: The Innovation Center is a place where people come to work on their projects, whether they are classroom projects or independent.

4. Club Model: The Innovation Center is a community where people meet to share ideas, insights, problems, and inspirations with others who are like-minded. There could well be an “FIT Innovation Club” much like the student group that runs the Style Shop.

5. Hackathon/Competition Model: The Innovation Center organizes and sponsors hackathons and competitions pertaining to innovation. These can include the existing competitions as well as new competitions that FIT initiates. These may also include events such as “robot wars” and other types of individual and team-based competitions.

6. Media Lab Model: The Innovation Center is a recognized center for innovation across the many industries in which FIT has academic specialty expertise, and these specialists support and pursue advanced research agendas that are supported by industry partnerships and in which students are active participants.

7. Matchmaker Model: The Innovation Center serves as a center that matches incoming industry needs and requests with FIT faculty and students to promote, facilitate, and enable innovation projects.

8. Showcase Model: The Innovation Center is a branding showcase for FIT that displays and demonstrates FIT’s exceptional innovation capabilities across the curriculum areas, among its faculty, and among students, thereby enhancing the FIT brand locally, nationally, and globally.

9. The “Lucy” Model/Genius Bar: In the “Peanuts” comic strip, Lucy runs a counseling booth where she offers advice. The Innovation Center at FIT can provide similar service to students and faculty to help them with innovation projects. For faculty, it can be the rough equivalent of the “innovation first aid kit…”


There are many different ideas and visions for how the Innovation Center could or should operate. Discussion with our interviewees revealed 9 different possibilities:


Innovation Center Operating Models: Handout Questions to ask of each model: 1.  In what ways could the Innovation Center support

or enhance graduate studies? How would it be used by students? By faculty?

2.  What capabilities and tools should it have? 3.  What staffing would it need to implement those

capabilities? 4.  What resources would it have? 5.  What would the physical facility look like?



Team 1: Library, Classroom, TechShop





Details from white board


Team 2: Club, Hackathon, Media Lab



Team 3: Matchmaker, Showcase, Lucy



Graduate Program Contributions to Innovation Center



Final Thoughts


fashion institute of technology innovation in graduate ... · mario perez student, global fashion...

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