Spring Courses Filling Fast!

Spaces in the Wond'ry's new curricular course offerings for Spring 2026 semester are filling fast! Vanderbilt students should make sure to enroll soon via YES to secure a spot!

Courses are open to ALL majors!

The following courses still have availability:

ES 3890-03 Wearable Product Design
- An exploration of the dynamic intersection of the human body, technology, fashion and textile design.

ENGM 4500-01 Product Development
- A project-based course focused on managing the design, development, and commercialization of new products, from conception to prototyping to intellectual property, market testing, and manufacturing.
ME 3890-02 Make It Real and Make It Matter
- A team-based, semester-long design/build/test project, crafting a design with an external sponsor/client through advanced prototyping methods, customer research and testing, and iterative client engagement.

ENGM 3890-01 Design Discovery

A deep dive into best practices for engaging in the early stage innovation and design thinking processes.

ENGM 3890-02 Enterprise Design Thinking
- A hands-on, project-based course tackling a real-world industry challenge as a team using the IBM Enterprise Design Thinking framework.
ES 3890-05 Prototyping Hardware Tech
- An introduction to both the technical foundations and the collaborative, documentation, and outsourcing skills essential to real-world product development in electronics.

The following class is already full, but a wait list is available:

ME 3273-01 How to Make Almost Anything (and Make It Matter)
- An introduction to design thinking, computer-aided design (CAD), hand tools, digital fabrication, and rapid prototyping methods.

For class times and more information, please check out our Classes page here.

Sullivan Family Ideator & Builder Program Logos

Sullivan Family Ideator & Builder Programs Accepting Applications for Spring Cohorts

The Sullivan Family Ideator is a free, 6-session virtual training program hosted by the Wond'ry and the Vanderbilt NSF I-Corps group and designed to help innovators evaluate their ideas and identify commercial potential.

The Builder Program at Vanderbilt, available to graduates of the Sullivan Family Ideator or similar Regional NSF I-Corps programs, provides a 7-week, step-by-step guide for aspiring university-affiliated entrepreneurs (students, faculty, staff, and alumni) with a viable early-stage idea to launch a new venture.

Both programs are now accepting applications for Spring 2026 cohorts.

Deadline to apply to Sullivan Family Ideator is December 18, 2025.

Apply here to Sullivan Family Ideator.

Deadline to apply to Builder is December 12, 2025.

Apply here to Builder.

Innovation Opportunity:

Visit Nissan HQ!

The Vanderbilt Innovation Fellows at the Wond'ry are partnering with Nissan North America to survey current drivers for a project to redesign and simplify driving interfaces.

Individuals who complete the survey will be entered a drawing for an invitation to attend a Design Blitz event at Nissan North America's headquarters in Franklin, TN.

Fill out the survey here.

Building an Electromagnetic Field Sensor

Thank-You Corner

The Wond'ry would like to thank VU alum Michael Hambrick (BE '99) and his company, Fabric Finders, for their recent donation of cloth to the Wond'ry Fiber Arts Build Lab. The sustainably-sourced fabric will be used by students for numerous projects involving textile product design.

Of Fabric Finders, Hambrick stated, "We are a small family business that has been around for 30 years.We've always been a 100% cotton company. We do everything we can, like donating damaged bolts, to prevent fabric from going to a landfill, at least without first having another life for someone else."

Donations like Hambrick's help support the Wond'ry in teaching the use of sustainable materials to design and create innovative products. Sustainability is a focus within several Wond'ry programs, including the curricurlar course Wearable Product Design and the co-curricular IMPACT Program.

In the News

IMPACT program offered through Wond’ry aims to help students obtain commercialization success

Challenges & Opportunities

Techstars | Deadline: Open-Ended
Brainhack Vanderbilt | Deadline: Jan. 9, 2026
- Brainhack Vanderbilt is seeking new members to help organize and run their annual neuroscience conference in September 2026.
TTAC Innovation Fellowship | Deadline: Feb 2, 2026

Coffee Equity Lab Design Challenge Winners

Map the System Competition Winners - Educational Equity in Nashville

Fall Semester Hours

Offices
Monday-Friday: 9:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday & Sunday: Closed

Makerspaces
Monday-Thursday: 1:00pm - 8:00pm
Friday: 1:00pm - 6:00pm

Holiday Hours

The Wond'ry will be closed Wednesday, December 24, 2025 to Thursday, January 1, 2026, for Winter Break.

Support the Wond'ry

By making your tax-deductible gift to our Student Innovation Fund, you help us provide students with the funding they need to turn their ideas into reality. Donate here.