Celebrating an Incredible Year: the Wond'ry Annual Report
We cannot wait to share these amazing stories, people, accomplishments, programs, and more! Take a moment to look at and celebrate some of the incredible moments we had, and learn more about our innovation center. We are grateful to all of the students, staff, faculty, organizations, mentors, and community members that are joining us in creating a thriving innovation ecosystem! We cannot wait to see what the rest of this year has in store for all of us. View the Annual Report.
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TN Maker Fest: Oct. 7th
Come and join a celebration of innovation, collaboration, creativity, and curiosity, at the TN Maker Fest, on Saturday, Oct. 7th, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This free and family friendly event, held at the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Center for Innovation, will showcase novices and experts of all ages, with one major thing in common: a joy for making and creation.
From tech enthusiasts to embroiderers to scientists to crafters and everything in between, this event will feature an incredible gathering of “makers” who will show off their hobbies, projects, experiments, and creations. We cannot wait to display their amazing talents and gifts to the Tennessee Community.
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TN Maker Fest Exhibit Feature: Get up close and personal with the RB18, the 2022 Constructors’ and Drivers’ winning car! Take a picture with the car, have a sample of Red Bull, and learn about Red Bull Showrun - coming to Lower Broadway on Oct. 14th from 12:00 PM -2:00 PM!
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| Give to the Wond’ry by Oct. 31st to get exclusive Vandy gear!
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When you make a gift to The Wond'ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center before the end of October, we’ll thank you with a limited-edition item of your choice from the Vanderbilt 1873 Collection!
At The Wond'ry, we offer state-of-the-art makerspaces, workshops, training opportunities, and programs designed to support anyone from budding entrepreneurs to community changemakers. Your contribution not only celebrates Vanderbilt's 150 years of excellence but also fuels our mission to empower students from all backgrounds, disciplines, and abilities. By supporting The Wond'ry, you're helping individuals develop innovative and creative solutions that change the world.
· Choose from limited-edition Vandy socks or a VU branded belt bag with a gift of $35 or more.
· Choose from a Vanderbilt license plate frame or last year’s most popular item, the Vandy beanie with a gift of $50 or more.
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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office visits Vanderbilt University and the Wond'ry to discuss research translation, trademarking and patenting, inclusive innovation
Senior leadership from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently visited Vanderbilt University and the Wond'ry to learn more about the innovation ecosystem in Nashville and about translational research being conducted on campus. They also collaborated on how to commercialize intellectual property, discussed opportunities for inclusive innovation, and strategized how to create a recruitment pipeline for Vanderbilt students to enter USPTO careers. Click here to learn more.
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Commodore Cup Kickoff
As part of the sesquicentennial celebration, the Office of the Chancellor launched a grant program to support activities and projects that engage with the university’s history, look ahead to its future, and explore what makes Vanderbilt distinctive and unique, and the Wond'ry was awarded one of these grants to produce an innovation challenge encompassing the theme of Sustainability, which led to the creation of the Commodore Cup.
The Wond'ry team kicked off the Commodore Cup, a campus-wide innovation design challenge, in partnership with the Division of Administration and Clearloop. At the kickoff, participants received an overview of the challenges and guidelines, and met with the partners, as well as the Wond'ry team, who will be assisting them through the design process.
Participants will be giving final presentations on November 9th, and will tackle one of the two proposed topics:
1. Transportation: How might Vanderbilt re-think and re-design the recruitment and onboarding of new employees to encourage the use of sustainable transportation modes while commuting and make daily parking the easiest choice when starting at Vanderbilt?
2. Sustainability Dashboard: How might Vanderbilt encourage its many stakeholders to engage with the university’s commitment to climate action through an interactive dashboard?
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the Wond'ry Internal Consulting Program
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Programs: Check out all of the exciting initiatives in the Wond'ry areas!
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Spring 2024 Climate Innovation Accelerator (CIA)
This program is a first-of-its-kind Nashville initiative that
engages an inclusive network of local universities, minority-owned small businesses, and nonprofits to advance the city’s sustainability initiatives towards a climate-positive future. The accelerator provides a 10-week, no-cost, cohort learning journey that leverages student teams to explore frameworks such as design thinking with the guidance of instructors and skilled mentorship to ideate transformative opportunities to increase social innovation and sustainability within their mission.
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Spring 2024 Social Changemakers
Social Changemakers is a rigorous 10-week program in which students learn and apply human-centered design to co-create new tools and capabilities that fulfill the needs of organizations working at the front lines of social, economic and environmental change. As project consultants for a non-profit organization, students also work in small teams and have the opportunity to strengthen skills, from collaboration and leadership to project design and management.
Applications for Spring 2024 will open soon!
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Notable Highlights: We love getting to celebrate the success of our ventures, students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
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the Wond'ry Immersive 36|86 Cohort
"The 36|86 immersive cohort truly helped me hone my customer discovery skills and was an amazing opportunity to meet deeply inspiring trailblazers. I identified “shark bite” pain points within the startup ecosystem relating to mental health and pivoted my startup idea accordingly with the help of advisors. Also, I found a new customer segment and clarified my next steps toward MVP development. This program also provided me with wonderful practice with public speaking, communicating in networking settings, experimenting with questions, and finding patterns in data. I’m so grateful for this game-changing experience and the Wond’ry team," said participant, Ginny Herron.
36|86 brought together over 840 founders and investors from across the Southeast, and attendees walked away with meaningful insights and intentional connections to aid in the growth of their businesses.
Over a span of three days, 36|86 featured an exposition of sessions, one-on-one investor meetings, a pitch competition, networking lunches, happy hours, a fireside chat and partner popup events around Nashville.
Aditya Bhatt, commented, "From conducting insightful customer discovery interviews to engaging with some of the brightest minds in the startup ecosystem, I got the chance to meet founders and investors from across the country."
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TuneHatch is racking up Tech Industry Accolades
TuneHatch, Inc., an online platform that uses predictive analytics to help independent music venues and artists book shows—and fans find shows they’ll love—is racking up tech industry accolades as it grows.
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Vanderbilt-initiated startup Zeno Power receives $15M from NASA to build tech to support lunar exploration
Zeno Power, a startup initiated through the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, is one of 11 American companies to receive funding from NASA to develop technologies that could support long-term exploration on the Moon and in space for the benefit of all, according to a NASA release.
Zeno Power is leading a team that will receive $15 million to develop a space-ready radioisotope Stirling generator that will be fueled by americium-241 for use during NASA’s Artemis missions. Artemis is intended to reestablish a human presence on the moon; people were last there more than 50 years ago.
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Mid-South Hub: George Mason University I-Corps Quantum Cohort
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Fathom Partners with the Department of Labor and National Science Foundation on Pioneering Analytics for Equity Initiative
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IEEE Quantum Week
Two Quantum Studio students, Serat Saad and Anish Giri, recently represented the Wond'ry Quantum Studio at IEEE Quantum Week, where they presented a poster titled “Developing Workforce in Quantum Industry: The Wond’ry Quantum Studio” highlighting the studio’s efforts in quantum education at Vanderbilt and Nashville. The duo discovered that their educational model is a rarity in the universities’ quantum computing landscape, which largely comprises short-term clubs and heavily research-focused graduate programs.
The studio's 3-part strategy: Talent development, quantum awareness, and practical application was highly praised, particularly for its unique, student-led approach to quantum education. The conference also highlighted a burgeoning market of quantum computing startups, indicating a promising future for the field.
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Upcoming Events: Our events are not only area-focused but also collaborative efforts with both campus-led and community partner initiatives.
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Sewing Fundamentals WorkshopsLearn all about the fundamentals of hand and machine sewing. Several dates and times are available. Click here to register!
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Laser Cutting Workshop: Oct. 10th & 17thIn this workshop, you'll learn how a laser cutter works, best design practices, and how to create your designs in AutoCAD to prepare your own creations for laser cutting. Click here to register!
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Innovation Open Mic: Oct. 11th
12:00 PM - 1:15 PM - Virtual
Each semester the Wond’ry hosts a monthly Innovation Open Mic event, where aspiring innovators are invited to practice presenting their ideas and projects to a panel of entrepreneurial experts and mentors. Whether a business, non-profit, technology, or invention, all ideas are welcome. At the end of each event, presenters receive feedback from the mentor panel to help them improve their projects.
Innovation Open Mic is currently being held virtually via Zoom. Each month, four university-affiliated presentation teams are chosen to present.
Click here to learn more!
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UX Design Prototyping Tools SessionOct. 16th, 4:30 - 6:00 PM Virtual & Open to the Public
Figma, Sketch, InVision: with lots of UX design tools to choose from, how do you know what to use when? In this session, you’ll learn from Will Berger ’19, Product Designer at Robinhood, and Aster Samuel (19), UX Designer at Google, about which UX design tools are best across different UX design roles and different stages of the design process.
Click here to register!
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I-Corps Info Session: Oct. 18th from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Join Mid-South Hub Director, Charleson Bell, to learn more about NSF's National Innovation-Corps, an immersive entrepreneurial training program and $50,000 grant for research commercialization! Click here to register.
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The Second City Works Improv Troop Workshop: Oct. 25th
Join us for an unforgettable session filled with humor and entrepreneurial skill development as we learn how to pitch, pivot, and improvise like a pro!
- Learn and develop skills in pitching your idea
- Discover how humor can be your secret weapon in connecting with an audience
- Build your confidence in pivoting and thinking on your feet
- Gain experience in adapting, collaborating, and thinking outside the box
- Forge connections with fellow students eager to innovate
2 session times offered (both sessions have a max # of 25 registrations)
-Session 1: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
-Session 2: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Register via Handshake Here
Oct. 25th, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM or 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM CT, the Wond’ry 3rd Floor Lounge
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Social Innovation Lunch & Learn: Nov. 1st
What’s social innovation? Come find out and enjoy some free food! Register here to learn more. You’ll learn about upcoming spring programs like:
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From Concept to Commercialization: Oct. 18th at 4:00 PM - 202 Light Hall
Plan to attend the next From Concept to Commercialization in-person seminar featuring Dan Liebler with “Protypia: A Late-Career Biotech Game That Paid Off” on Wednesday, Oct. 18th , 2023 at 4:00 PM in 202 Light Hall. With over 30 years of experience at the interface of analytical technology, chemical biology and disease research, Dr. Liebler is an internationally-recognized research leader in the fields of proteomics, cancer proteogenomics, chemical biology and toxicology. This event will not be recorded. Click here to learn more.
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VandyHacks is accepting applications.
VandyHacks is Vanderbilt's student-run hackathon, where participants from all over the world create innovative projects over the course of 36 hours. This year, our hackathon will be a fully in-person event. Hackers can come together to attend skill workshops, network with sponsors, and win cool prizes!
Oct. 28th-29th, the Wond'ry
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MakHERs Market Applications are live!
The MakHERs Market is a mission-driven, pop-up event empowering female-owned businesses in a philanthropic marketplace. MakHERs Market seeks female-identifying creators and entrepreneurs of all kinds to showcase their talents and join us in uniting women across various industries and walks of life. Date: Friday, Oct 27th, 2023 from 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Alumni Lawn at Vanderbilt University
Please let us know if you are interested in hosting a booth to sell your products at the 2023 Nashville MakHERs Market by filling out our Vendor Application by Oct. 6th:
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Voces de Nashville Community Classes
Also, congratulations to VOCES for receiving the Inspiring Innovation Award from the Nashville Public Education Foundation and a $5,000 grant to continue the expansion of their classes. Read more about it here.
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Nov. 1st: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
AI for Humanities: Prompt Engineering and ChatGPT Advanced Data Analytics for Literature, History, and Languages
The humanities, often seen as the bastion of human intuition and interpretation, are undergoing a renaissance with the integration of AI. This workshop delves into the potential of ChatGPT and prompt engineering in enhancing our understanding of literature, history, and languages.
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TOM Make-A-Thon: Making: Nov. 3rd | 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
TOM, Tikkun Olam Majors, is a global movement of communities that creates and disseminates affordable solutions to neglected challenges of people living with disabilities. The TOM: Vanderbilt Make-a-thon is an annual event that pairs teams of Makers with Need-Knowers to build these solutions.
Friday will be our first day of making, as teams work together to start creating prototypes. You are welcome to stop by and see the makerspace, teams, and technologies!
TOM Make-A-Thon: Open House/Tours at the Wond'ry: Nov. 4th
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM | Open House and 10:30 AM - 4:00 PM | Tours
We will be hosting guided tours of the Make-a-thon for any interested Alumni on Saturday! You will get to see the TOM teams working through the prototyping process as well as receive a tour of the Wond’ry makerspaces and technologies. RSVP below if you are interested in attending the 10:30 a.m. tour or the 4:00 p.m. tour! RSVP Here.
TOM Make-A-Thon: Public Showcase - Nov. 5 | 12 PM - 1:30 PM
The TOM Make-a-thon comes to an end with the Public Showcase. Everyone is welcome to stop by as teams present their final projects beginning at noon on Sunday! If you are interested in attending the showcase, please RSVP.
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Challenges and Opportunities:
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More Opportunities:
- Nashville Entrepreneur Center: Project Healthcare Accelerator- Learn More
Jan. 4th-June 28th, 2024 | Deadline: Oct. 13th - Community Energy Innovation Prize- Learn More
Dec. 6th, 2024 | Deadline: Nov. 3rd - New Ideas: A Dialogue Project Comp. - Learn More
Feb. 13th, 2024 | Deadline: Jan. 16th
- EnergyTech University Prize, 2024- Learn More
Apr. 19th, 2024 | Deadline: Feb. 1st, 2024
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