Maybe you’ve heard about the Googleplex–Google’s innovative campus complete with sand volleyball courts, toys, and game spaces. Maybe you’ve heard about the nationwide trend in startups with offices that sound like playgrounds. Well soon George Mason University’s School of Management will be hopping on the trend.
This January, GMU is opening a new innovation lab, meant to inspire teamwork and collaboration among its students, faculty, and alumni. Made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Northern Virginia Community Foundation, the Mason Innovation Lab will include over twenty work areas, each suited for up to three teammates.
“We envision white boards for drawing, a lounge area for people from different projects to relax together and talk, and ‘play areas’ including blocks, tinker toys, and other physical items that could be used to dream up mechanical or conceptual ideas,” the director of the project, Robert Grosse, recently told representatives at George Mason University. “I’d like to see this space become our own ‘Mason Play Place.'”
The hope is that by giving students, alumni, and professors an innovative space, the George Mason community will answer with innovative projects that will make it a launching pad for the start-ups of tomorrow.
The space will be offered to students who submit proposals for projects and is currently accepting submissions until November 24.
If you’re in the D.C. area and looking to innovate, check out our profile of George Mason University’s School of Management.