Stony Brook University’s Innovation Lab is a place where students can participate in laser cutting, 3D printing, digital design, fabrication and sewing. Located on the second floor of Harriman Hall, the Innovation Lab also offers student-led training sessions for the usage of the machines.
Just last year, the Research and Technologies Department was rebranded as iCREATE and partnered with the lab to provide students with a variety of creative workshops and access to innovative tools.
“Innovation and entrepreneurship have always been tied together,” David Ecker, the director of iCREATE, said. “We wanted to give everybody a safe space to be creative, experiment and work. Every major can do this and you can be successful at it.”
Angad Singh, a junior biology major and laser engraving trainer who has been working at the lab for two and a half years, said students used to have to talk to professors to find out who has a 3D printer, but now, students have access to the printers in the innovation lab.
“We’re free for all students to use, so if they have something to 3D print like a gift for a friend or like design projects or something like that we’re always there,” Singh said.
Rhianna Ruggiero, sophomore engineering science major, an innovation consultant, started working at the lab last summer after taking a group of campers to visit the lab. She now trains students to use the sewing machines.
“I definitely wanted to work here because it’s such a cool place,” Ruggiero said. “I get to teach people how to sew and see what they create.”
Fayaz Arif, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, said he visits the innovation lab regularly to 3D print.
Arif said he plans to receive a digital badge, which is earned by visiting the iCREATE spaces and learning different marketable skills that are recognized by future employers.
“At first I just used them for fun,” Arif said. “But this semester I’m gonna have to use it for some of my classes, so it’s really convenient to have access to the printers.”
