Press Release: 169 Students Named University Innovation Fellows

University Innovation Fellows gather at the d.school during the Silicon Valley Meetup in March 2016. Photo by Ryan Phillips.

169 students from 49 higher education institutions in four countries have been named University Innovation Fellows.

The University Innovation Fellows program empowers students to become agents of change at their schools. Fellows work to ensure that their peers gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to compete in the economy of the future and make a positive impact on the world.

To accomplish this, the Fellows advocate for lasting institutional change and create opportunities for students to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity at their schools. Fellows design innovation spaces, start entrepreneurship organizations, host experiential learning events and work with faculty to develop new courses.

The program is run by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). With the addition of the new Fellows, the program has trained 776 students at 164 institutions since the program’s creation. Read about what activities the new Fellows plan to create at their schools here.

“We believe that students can be so much more than just the customers of their education. They can be leaders of change and they can co-design the higher education experience,” said Humera Fasihuddin, co-director of the University Innovation Fellows program. “This core belief has driven the program since its inception, and we’ve seen the results of this belief put to action at schools around the world. Fellows are collaborating with their peers, faculty and administrators to create more educational opportunities for students at their schools. They are making measurable gains, both in the number of resources and the students served by the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.”

Individual Fellows as well as institutional teams of Fellows are sponsored by faculty and administrators and selected through an application process twice annually. Following acceptance into the program, schools fund the students to go through six weeks of online training and travel to the annual University Innovation Fellows Silicon Valley Meetup. Throughout the year, they take part in events and conferences and have opportunities to learn from one another, Stanford mentors, and leaders in academia and industry.

“Through this program, Fellows learn how to analyze their campus ecosystems for new opportunities, understand the needs of stakeholders at their schools, collaborate with peers from different disciplines, and solve open-ended problems,” said Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, co-director of the University Innovation Fellows program. “All of these mindsets and skills will help Fellows make a difference in higher education as well as in the increasingly complex world that awaits them after graduation.”

The new Fellows join the program from the following schools:

• Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, India
• Boise State University, USA
• Bucknell University, USA
• California State University, Fullerton, USA
• City College of New York, USA
• Clemson University, USA
• CMR Institute of Technology, India
• Cooper Union, USA
• Furman University, USA
• George Fox University, USA
• Grand Valley State University, USA
• Gujarat Technological University, India
• Hartwick College, USA
• James Madison University, USA
• JNTU College of Engineering, India
• JNTUA College of Engineering Pulivendula, India
• JSS Academy of Technical Education, India
• Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology, India
• Lawrence Technological University, USA
• Madanapalle Institute of Technology & Science, India
• Michigan Technological University, USA
• Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA
• Morgan State University, USA
• North Carolina A&T State University, USA
• North Dakota State University, USA
• Rice University, USA
• Rowan University, USA
• Siddharth Institute of Engineering and Technology, India
• Smith College, USA
• South Plains College, USA
• Southern Illinois University Carbondale, USA
• Susquehanna University, USA
• Tennessee Technological University, USA
• Texas A&M University, USA
• Texas Tech University, USA
• Universidad de Ingeniería & Tecnología, Peru
• University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA
• University of California, Riverside, USA
• University of Connecticut, USA
• University of Delaware, USA
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
• University of Miami, USA
• University of New Hampshire, USA
• University of North Dakota, USA
• University of Southern California, USA
• University of Twente, Netherlands
• University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, USA
• Visvesvaraya Technological University, India
• Western State Colorado University, USA

In March 2017, students will have the opportunity to participate in the Silicon Valley Meetup, which brings together all Fellows trained in Fall 2016 and Spring 2017. During this gathering, Fellows will take part in immersive experiences at the d.school, Google and other Silicon Valley organizations. They will participate in experiential workshops and exercises focused on topics including movement building, innovation spaces, design of learning experiences, and new models for change in higher education.

Applications for the Spring 2017 cohort are due on October 31, 2016. Learn more and apply at universityinnovationfellows.org.

About Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school):

The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University (known as the d.school) brings together students and faculty from radically different backgrounds to develop their creative confidence and their potential as innovators by tackling real-world challenges. Learn more at dschool.stanford.edu.

Media contact:
Laurie Moore
Communications Director
University Innovation Fellows Program
(650) 561-6113
laurie@dschool.stanford.edu