When the first College Think Tank Boston rolled into town in June, it brought with it a bevy of challenges facing the City of Boston that Wentworth students could not wait to address.
Spearheaded by Monique Fuchs, associate vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship and co-founded with the City of Boston, College Think Tank brought together more than 100 students from 19 Boston-area colleges, as well as design thinkers, city representatives, and community partners to discuss how to best fill some of Boston’s vacant lots and redesign abandoned storefronts, among a host of other issues.
Fuchs stresses that she took Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s call for a city Innovation District seriously and wanted to showcase Wentworth’s dedication to the matter. “Our goal was to create an immersive experience for students, allowing them to collaborate with peers from other schools and disciplines, co-creating solutions and giving back to the city,” Fuchs says.
For Wentworth, the event also meant increased visibility for the school’s talented students and their cutting-edge ideas. “We received great feedback from everybody involved,” Fuchs says. “Our students commented on the fact that Wentworth not only participated, but led the event. City officials were pleased with the generated ideas, and are looking to move forward toward implementation.”
The next installment of College Think Tank is scheduled for this fall, and Fuchs expects an even larger student applicant pool this time around.
–Greg Abazorius
