Page 54 - Technology and Innovation Journal - 19-1

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producing innovation. Many psychologists suggest students can be a homogeneous demographic in many
that creativity is about making new combinations of ways. For example, some university makerspaces are
existing ideas (11,13,14). This would suggest it is open to people outside the university. Such a policy
important to have a large variety of ideas to increase can allow new ideas and new perspectives to come
the number of possible combinations. It is also in through the community. A variety of perspectives
important to have ideas from outside the discipline can also be cultivated by including older members,
of the problem. For example, techniques and ideas younger members, or members from industry.
from textiles and fashion design might provide
new approaches to problems in the medical device Density of Ideas
industry. This is the antithesis to “groupthink,” where The second characteristic important to an inno-
everyone begins to see a problem from only one per- vative makerspace is to have a density of ideas. This
spective, often leading to a stagnation of innovation. density has been cited as one reason why cities exist
This need for diversity has also been compared to (15). Having many people living in close proxim-
innovation in the biological evolutionary process ity allows for tight collaboration and for ideas to be
(12), where genetic diversity is needed to produce shared and spread. It allows for ideas to build upon
adaptations that solve new problems facing species other ideas and for ideas to advance.
as ecosystems change. The consequence for makerspaces is that they
The first consequence of this for makerspaces is need to bring diverse ideas together into one loca-
that several different disciplines should be involved tion. Again, it is tempting to link several existing
in the makerspace. This is not how universities gen- labs together under a common makerspace name.
erally function, as most disciplines are divided by This is not ideal if innovation is a goal. The preferred
departments and colleges and often further segre- approach is to get the diverse groups together where
gated by buildings and geography. These existing they must interact, thus making it more likely for
divisions can lead to difficulties in establishing diverse ideas to come together to form new solutions. It is
makerspaces. For example, many of these isolated an open question as to whether this density can be
departments and colleges might simply rename exist- emulated through virtual connections.
ing laboratories as makerspaces. Also, the funding or
physical space for a makerspace may come from one Mixing of Ideas
department or from one college. These constraints A diversity and a density of ideas is not enough
provide a strong incentive to only allow students to create innovation. These ideas must be mixed to
affiliated with certain departments or colleges to use create the possibility for new connections (11-13).
these spaces. The mixing of ideas is not natural since ideas (i.e.,
This paper suggests that university makerspaces work departments or sections) are generally divided
that want to create innovation should try to increase along disciplines. In many ways, a university campus
the diversity of ideas in the space. Rather than an is specifically guilty of not mixing ideas. A university
engineering shop recast as a makerspace, which will campus usually contains a diverse group of ideas and
likely not produce the desired range of ideas, maker- a high density of these ideas; however, they are most
spaces can achieve diversity in several different ways. often divided into academic units that study specific,
First, the membership of the makerspace should be non-overlapping fields. While engineering, history,
diverse. Second, the physical space should be located art, medicine, business, and many other disciplines
so as to encourage students from many disciplines to are all researched in the small area of only a few city
use the space. Finally, the tools and equipment in the blocks, academic programs often do not encourage
space should also encourage a variety of activities, a mixing of ideas among these diverse disciplines.
including tools for fabric and art as well as precision The concept that diverse ideas must mix to create
machining. An increase in the diversity of ideas will innovation is highlighted by the observation that,
tend to produce an increase in the innovative ideas historically, major innovation hubs most often occur
produced in a makerspace. at crossroads and trading centers (13). It is suggested
Diversity can also come in other forms, as college here that a mixing of diverse ideas is critical to new