Babson College Opens New Cutting-Edge Studio For Student-Led Innovation
MBA Blog / 19th October 2018
With an impressive, new, 10,000-square foot facility in the foreground, Babson College President Kerry Healey welcomed members of the Babson, Olin, and Wellesley college communities to celebrate the opening of the Weissman Foundry on Friday, September 21, 2018.
Boasting areas for project work, large and small, this new creative space provides access to workbenches, advanced fabrication equipment, traditional tools, robotics, AR/VR, and sought-after connections to expertise and training.
It was made for the curious—the entrepreneurs, engineers, artists, and academics alike. Designed as an intentional mashup of student interests, the Weissman Foundry is meant to ignite forward-thinking idea exploration, iteration, and design, and to facilitate meaningful knowledge transfer between the three college communities.
According to President Healey, the Weissman Foundry is a place for learning and hands-on experimentation. Envisioned as a multi-college workshop that will enhance collaboration, it will better equip students to use their collective business, engineering, and liberal arts educations to create impactful economic and social value everywhere.
The Foundry’s Teaching Studio has already hosted an array of programs and courses, including Affordable Design & Entrepreneurship with Olin College, Babson’s signature Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship class, Blockchain Ventures, Biomimicry Design Innovation from Nature, Crowdfunding, Scaling Lean Ventures, and more.
Speaking to an excited crowd, Babson’s Provost Mark Rice invited everyone to the Foundry’s upcoming Tech Day—”a hands-on showcase of novel, global, and often simple technologies in agriculture, public health and education, many being developed in the Affordable Design & Entrepreneurship program,” he shared.
Named in honor of devoted Babson alumnus and trustee Robert Weissman ’64, H’94, P’87 ’90 and his wife, Janet Weissman P’87 ’90, the Weissman Foundry commemorates the start of many campus transformations underway as Babson readies for its second century.
“We are all inspired and deeply grateful for Bob and Jan’s extraordinary generosity and longstanding commitment to Babson,” said Healey. “They are incredibly humble, which is why it is particularly special to celebrate them and to have their name attached to one of the College’s most innovative and forward-looking endeavors, a project that will have a profound impact for our students.”
The Foundry leads the way for anticipated 2019 openings of the new Babson Recreation and Athletics Complex, Babson Commons at Horn Library, and Centennial Park.
“Today’s ceremony is particularly exciting and meaningful as we approach our Centennial and embark on a second century of innovation and leadership in entrepreneurship education,” added Marla Capozzi MBA’96, chair of the Babson Board of Trustees. “I look forward to seeing what this Foundry community creates.”
