The international affairs profession uses the laser cutting machine to start a business. A physics professor shows off his favorite video game. An art student prepares to deploy the application she has built. A set of drafting methods makes MARTA more attractive to Atlanta University Center students. 

Although the rest of the campus was empty most of the time when Hypepotamus visited the Spelman Innovation Lab, it was packed with students, faculty and staff-this proves how the "Makerspace" can be a true community gathering place for innovators. Entrepreneur and creative thinker.

From the moment you walk into the door of the laboratory, Assistant Director Eric Thompson, MS HCI said, the goal is to create an environment that welcomes liberal arts students and computer science students. This makes it a unique gem on the university campus. 

Certain courses use laboratories for hands-on learning courses, whether it's building musical instruments to better understand acoustics or coding for interactive storytelling courses. 

It has also become a place for students to pursue personal projects.  

While in the laboratory, students majoring in art, philosophy, biology, computer science, art, international studies, Japanese and engineering are all engaged in personal projects or collaborating in new careers. 

Some students, such as senior international studies student Blanca Burch from Milwaukee, are making interactive games for the final project, while Savannah Adams and Anesha Evans convened a group through a whiteboard idea meeting Students discuss how to best establish an outdoor habitat for a beloved turtle on campus. 

Birch founded the Spelman Entrepreneurship Club and founded her own corporate culture. She said that the laboratory has always been a "grounded space" during her time on campus.

This is especially important for students who return to campus after distance learning during the pandemic. Although the lab will allow students to participate in online programming in 2020, getting students to come back in person can help bring innovation back to the center of the campus.

Like many university makerspaces and innovation laboratories, Spelman allows students to use 3D printers, power tools, sewing machines, computer workstations, and other computing-related equipment.

But it is the people and community behind Spelman Lab that make it feel more important than any other classroom space. 

Thompson worked with co-director Dr. Jerry Volcy and Spelman alumnus Jaycee Holmes to help students connect with resources and available projects.

Faculty and staff from multiple disciplines on campus joined in, including Dr. Jaye Nias, Professor Robert Hamilton, Dr. Tiffany Oliver, and Dr. Chris Oakley (they will host a game development theory course this fall). Zynga, Siebert Williams Shank, Microsoft and other corporate sponsors have provided funding so far. 

For Volcy, it's about making the lab an extension of the classroom experience. 

Students who wish to engage more in entrepreneurship, games and art have the opportunity to apply for various scholarships provided by the laboratory. The building will also soon house the Blackstone LaunchPad, a program designed to provide college students with entrepreneurial tools. 

Projects from the lab range from high-tech fashion projects to technically supported jewelry to video game design and development. 

Every square inch of the Innovation Lab is filled with materials ready to be used in the creation of the next Spelman student. But in the center of the space is a long table, which can be used as a place for ideas, lunch conversations, coding, and more innovative pursuits.

It may start the careers of the next group of Atlanta entrepreneurs.