Efforts to create and foster innovation are the main driver behind a new cutting-edge educational space opening soon for students and faculty at the University of Wyoming Coe Library.
The Coe Student Innovation Center (CSIC) is a joint venture among UW Libraries, UW Information Technology and the colleges of Engineering and Applied Science, Education, and Arts and Sciences. It will open its doors officially this month, and the center will be a resource available to all audiences on campus and for invited guests and groups from the community and region. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies, open to the public, take place Thursday, October 26, at 4 p.m., followed by an open house.
The CSIC, located on Level 2 of William Robertson Coe Library on the UW campus, was designed as a top-of-the-line “maker space” lab to foster imaginative, collaborative and innovative design projects. The center was designed to encourage and build upon project-based STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) learning at all levels, from K-12 through college.
Technology is a critical component of the CSIC. It features four 3-D printers, 3-D scanning equipment, 3-D modeling software, robotics kits, circuitry kits, design and drafting software, electrical test equipment, Lego building materials and much more.
“The CSIC represents a new mode of library services based on deep and meaningful collaboration with our campus partners,” Dean of Libraries Ivan Gaetz says. “We hope to develop this type of collaboration with other units on campus as we move into implementation of the university’s strategic plan.”