Penn State Opens Invention Studio

Pennsylvania State University is opening a new exploration lab designed to foster student creativity and inventiveness.

The "Invention Studio" will be located in the Penn State Knowledge Commons on the University Park campus and open to all of the university's students, faculty and staff members. The university is creating the studio in partnership with littleBits, a company that makes simple electronic building blocks that will be available in the studio for people to use.

Each littleBits building block, called a "bit," has a different function. Power bits are the starting point of any littleBits creation. Input bits add functionality such as motion triggers, pressure sensors, light sensors, microphones, switchers and more. Wire bits let inventors extend a signal, change the direction of a signal or connect to the Internet. Output bits add functionality such as motors, speakers, lights and buzzers. The littleBits connect with magnets, so they can just snap together. The team behind the Invention Studio hopes the open lab space and littleBits technology will inspire people to create solutions to real-world problems and connect objects to the network of connected devices known as the Internet of Things.

"The goal of this new space is to inspire students to develop research, invoke entrepreneurship and explore new ideas through creative coursework," said Kyle Bowen, director of education technology services at Penn State, in a prepared statement. "The exploration lab will enable faculty from many areas to include creative design problems within their courses. It's an opportunity to assign invention as homework."

The university is also planning to expand its partnership with littleBits with not-yet-announced projects intended to further engage learners through technology.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • cloud and circuit patterns with AI stamp

    Cloud Management Startup Launches Infrastructure Intelligence Tool

    A new AI-powered infrastructure intelligence tool from cloud management startup env0 aims to turn the fog of sprawling, enterprise-scale deployments into crisp, queryable insight, minus the spreadsheets, scripts, and late-night Slack threads.

  • human figures surrounded by precise arcs with book and gear icons

    Kennedy-King College Rolls Out Holistic Student Support Program

    Chicago's Kennedy-King College is expanding student support services through a collaboration between City Colleges of Chicago and One Million Degrees (OMD), a Chicago-based nonprofit serving low-income community college students.

  • college students in a classroom focus on a silver laptop, with a neural network diagram on the monitor in the background

    Report: 93% of Students Believe Gen AI Training Belongs in Degree Programs

    The vast majority of today's college students — 93% — believe generative AI training should be included in degree programs, according to a recent Coursera report. What's more, 86% of students consider gen AI the most crucial technical skill for career preparation, prioritizing it above in-demand skills such as data strategy and software development.

  • laptop and fish hook

    Security Firm Identifies Generative AI 'Vishing' Attack

    A new report from Ontinue's Cyber Defense Center has identified a complex, multi-stage cyber attack that leveraged social engineering, remote access tools, and signed binaries to infiltrate and persist within a target network.