A look back at 2022

In January, our staff and faculty hosted over a dozen exciting Wintersession workshops. Topics ranged from career management, social justice, entrepreneurship, Black history, and personal growth. Look for our new set of workshops during this year’s Wintersession, Jan. 16-29.

In the spring, our inaugural cohort of faculty and staff members were diving into understanding and exploring the effects of structural racism in our Program in Institutional and Historical Racism in Engineering, Technology, and Innovation. The program aims to create more effective problem solvers who are better able to diagnose and account for how structural racism impacts any innovation.

Throughout the year, we welcomed several new and familiar faculty members to the Center. Keith Hollingworth from Morehouse College brought his insightful course, Black Entrepreneurship History in the United States, to Princeton this past spring. Denise Crossan joined our ranks, co-teaching the Tiger Challenge Community Project Studio with Jessica Leung. In August, Ken Anderson returned to campus to help launch our new design initiatives. 

The Center also gained some new staff members in 2022. Castle Kim now runs our exciting makerspace. He has brought an infectious energy and a wealth of making knowledge to our fledgling space, which he has worked countless hours to reimagine and transform into a welcoming creative gathering spot. In addition, we are excited to have added not one but two new event coordinators to our team, Gina Guarino and Amanda Peacock, who have orchestrated several successful large and small events this past year.

Some of our teammates have donned new hats in 2022. Faculty member Manish Bhardwaj is now co-directing the faculty-focused Design for Innovation Program alongside Nena Golubovic. This program is one of Keller’s newest initiatives and aims to support humanities and engineering faculty with projects and technologies that can positively impact society. eLab program manager Stephanie Landers is now co-teaching the new eLab Community Project Studio course, giving students a foundation for exploring their entrepreneurial interests.

We celebrated the newest publications from two of our faculty members. First, Majora Carter released her book, Reclaiming Your Community, in February. Using her experience pioneering sustainable economic development in the South Bronx, Carter suggests using corporate talent retention strategies to help low-income neighborhoods thrive. Then, in the fall, Derek Lidow’s latest book, The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value, entered the marketplace with notable acclaim. Lidow delves into the deep history of innovation to deliver surprising new insights into how entrepreneurs create value and bring about change. 

These are just some highlights of the last year and are in addition to our ongoing programs and initiatives, courses, and events. We are all so thankful to have been able to provide our community with the support and resources they need to design innovations that create meaningful impact in our world, and we cannot wait to continue our mission in 2023. We have a lot to look forward to!

We wish you all a healthy, joyful, and innovative New Year!