UMD’s Spaces for Creative Thinkers
During the spring semester of my freshman year at UMD, I was scrolling through Facebook when I came across an event titled Travel Hacking 101, Or How to Fly Around the World for Free. It was hosted at some place called the Startup Shell, and though I had only heard a little about it before, the tempting title convinced me to go and check out the talk anyway. Little did I know that attending this event would change the rest of my college experience.
I walked into the room where the talk was being held, and shuffled through the unfamiliar faces before taking a seat. The place was packed and the speakers were up at the front getting ready to begin. The talk lasted around an hour and as described by the title we learned a lot about how to travel inexpensively. At the end, I picked up my backpack and walked out the door with this new, profound feeling of excitement for my next 3 years at UMD.
After running home to do some research, I found out that Startup Shell was a student-run incubator and co-working space for student ventures. These students were the ones behind Bitcamp (UMD’s co-ed hackathon), a new open source API for students, and so much more. They were at the forefront of this new wave of innovation on campus, and I knew it was just the beginning of really amazing change. I felt lucky to have stumbled upon something so great.
Startup Shell is just one of many great spaces that are now available as a resource to students. In fact, the student-led establishment of the Shell prompted the University of Maryland over the recent years to allow students, staff, and administrators to push the bounds of conventional academia in order to encourage entrepreneurial thinking in and outside of the classroom. This is a shift that we are seeing occur within many higher education institutions as the benefits of diverse and innovative thinking become more widely acknowledged.
Through College Park’s initiative, the university has invested in many different locations on campus in order to encourage this type of creative thinking. This medium post is here to highlight a lot of these spaces so that discovering them will be a little bit easier:
- Location: 387 Technology Drive, College Park, MD 20740
- Hours: 24/7 (as long as a Shell member is present)
Startup Shell is a student-run startup incubator and co-working space for undergraduate and graduate students attend the University of Maryland, College Park. The Shell hosts public events such as Shell Talks, Grind Nights, and Demo Days.
- Location: CSIC3107
- Hours: This Twitter page informs you when the door is open
Sandbox is a new maker space on campus that encourages students to work on personal projects outside of the classroom. Any university student is welcome to come and work out of the space.
- Location: Room B0214, Chemistry Building (here is a helpful video)
- Hours: 24/7 (with member access)
Collider is a hacker space that is affiliated with Terrapin Hackers, the university’s hacker club. Aside from being able to work on personal projects in the space, Collider hosts public events, such as Monthly Makes, which are projects open to anyone in the space to work on, and Local Hack Days, for students to come work on a variety of hacks.
Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship
- Location: 2518 Van Munching Hall
- Hours: M-F 9:00am — 5:30pm
The Dingman Center is the Robert H. Smith School of Business’s incubator for student startups. The faculty help guide students while connecting them with mentors and resources to help take their venture to the next level. They orchestrate a variety of programs including Pitch Dingman, Entrepreneurs in Residence, and a summer accelerator program.
Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech)
- Location: 387 Technology Drive, College Park, MD 20740
- Hours: M-F 9:00am — 5:00pm
Mtech, a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, connects Maryland companies with university resources to help them with their business needs.
The Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
- Location: Symons Hall, Suite 3300
- Hours: M-F 9:00am — 5:00pm
The Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship was established in 2013 to compliment the 12 schools and colleges on campus in order to promote innovative and lean startup thinking. The Academy offers a variety of credited classes to help students adopt this mindset, as well as some collaborative workspaces to utilize.
- Location: 387 Technology Drive, College Park, MD 20740
- Hours: M-F 9:00am — 5:00pm
Terrapin Works is a collection of digital manufacturing resources provided as a service to the Clark School of Engineering and the surrounding community.
John and Stella Graves MakerSpace
- Location: Terrapin Learning Commons — 2nd floor, McKeldin Library
- Hours: M-F 8am — 10pm, by appointment
John and Stella Graves MakerSpace is a 3D printing lab that is a resource provided as a service to the Clark School of Engineering and the surrounding community.
For all of you who are curious, I encourage you to go explore these awesome spaces and resources. And of course, spread the word!
Know another space on the University of Maryland campus that deserves to be featured? Comment below, or reach out.
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I’m Amritha Jayanti, the current director of Startup Shell, a student-run startup incubator, and Technica, University of Maryland’s first all-women hackathon. You can follow me on Twitter, and/or contact me via email.
