The GIANT Room: Invention Hub for Kids
World Maker Faire New York 2018
MAKERS
Azadeh Jamalian
Azadeh (Azi) Jamalian, PhD, is a TED resident and founder of the world’s first incubator + invention hub for kids. She is the former Head of Education Strategy at littleBits and co-founder of Tiggly.
Jessica Mezei
Jessica Mezei is a science educator with interests in informal education, creativity and innovation. She has a Ph.D in Science Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and is currently director of research at a privately funded incubator
Alex Briñas
Alex Briñas is a creative on a mission to empower kids from different backgrounds to make together, grow together, and stand tall with creative confidence. She has background in Product Design studies from Stanford and a love for innovative education
Ala Alavi
Ala Alavi has a Masters of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation or GSAPP. He is currently focused on designing play spaces for kids to allow a freedom of innovation
Join us to invent with our Secret Challenge Kits! Presenting kids with an age appropriate prompt, each Kit includes various arts and crafts materials, electronic blocks, and invention logs, inviting you to invent your dreams!
What inspired you to make this project?:
While I was doing my PhD, I co-founded my first company, Tiggly, and we decided to have our offices in one of WeWork locations. While working there, I noticed the importance of belonging to a community that believes in entrepreneurship and innovation to push and encourage risk taking and continue working on problems we care about. Everything about the space, the community, the resources, or even events were designed to encourage an spirit of entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation. Meanwhile, I was doing lots of research in different schools and after school programs. The difference between the space I used to work at and the space our kids were spending majority of their day was drastic. I started doing more research on the importance of community, culture, and space in encouraging ones creativity and risk taking, and noticed many highly innovative companies including Google, Apple, Facebook, IDEO and TED have rethought their office space to cultivate creativity and autonomy among their team members. These findings inspired me to start thinking about the design of an incubator/invention hub for kids where the space, community, and resources encourages every kid to identify themselves as an inventor and do what they dream.
In addition to the design of the space, the tools and materials will play a key role in inviting kids to think like an innovator and act like one. Special Challenge Kits are specially designed to encourage kids to think about problems in their community and invite them to invent and innovate solutions to address those problems.
