Alexander Wilhelm Holborn, industrial engineering; Edwina Sofia Paredes, actuarial science; Paul Rinaldi, software engineering; and Jonathan Wagenknecht, user experience, were recently named University Innovation Fellows (UIF) by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). This is MSOE’s fourth cohort of Fellows.

UIF is a global program that empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement with innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and design thinking. With the addition of the new Fellows, the program has trained nearly 2,400 students since its creation.

“I’m excited for this opportunity to enhance my skills, see entrepreneurship and innovation from a different perspective, and help a lot of disconnected entrepreneurs and change-makers in training at MSOE and in Milwaukee,” said Rinaldi.

Every cohort sets out with plans to engage the campus community. This year’s Fellows plan to launch a website that centralizes resources for innovation, social change, entrepreneurship and research within MSOE. This new digital innovation and entrepreneurship hub is called the I&E Hub and the group plans to have it up and running by the end of Winter Quarter.

“This hub is intended to be a central source of truth for the resources that are available for students to pursue their exploration into innovation, creative thinking, design thinking, entrepreneurship and the communities that serve those interests both at MSOE and in Milwaukee,” explained Wagenknecht.

This hub will make it easier for students to access the tools and resources they need to succeed and explore additional information in one cohesive place.

“I’m looking forward to helping people around me by enhancing their environments and making it easier to achieve their goals,” said Holborn.

The cohort also started the MSOE I&E Hub Story series, a free newsletter where they share stories about innovation, entrepreneurship, change and research every Friday. It features past and present MSOE students who have successfully started companies, organizations or served as team leaders. Interested readers may sign up for the newsletter here. 

Each Fellow had their own unique reason for joining UIF, however they all revolve around the same thing: coming together to engage and help the community.

“I wanted to be involved in UIF because I wanted to make a difference in my community,” said Paredes. “UIF empowers its students to become agents of change and believes that we, the students, can change the world. This global movement made me appreciate the beauty of when people from different cultures and backgrounds work together to help make a cause in their community.”

The group is looking forward to working together to implement their plans. They believe their perspectives as current students will help them create solutions that will benefit their peers every step of the way from freshman to senior year.

“What excited me about UIF is being a student voice for innovation of our higher education system and having the resources and tools to be a change agent myself,” said Wagenknecht.

Click here to watch Holborn, Paredes, Rinaldi and Wagenknecht share their ideas about the I&E Hub at MSOE.