PGP 31: Innovation Needs Play w/Tricia Edwards of the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center

PlayGrounding

Did you ever stop to think that you have what it takes to be an inventor? If you’re a human being, you are by your very nature an innate problem solver and creative thinker. The question is, are you tapping into that potential?

Tricia Edwards wants to change the stereotype of WHO invents and invite us all to BE inventive. Her work not only demystifies invention, she reminds us that the next great invention can come from any one of us, from a single mom in the midwest, to a third-grader living in the developing world.

On this episode of PlayGrounding, you’ll learn how developing a playful mindset can help you become a more creative problem solver, whether you’re inventing the next version of the lightbulb or creating more efficient ways to do your job.

Tricia Edwards is the Head of Education for the Lemelson Center. She develops the conceptual framework for the Center’s educational programs and activities, including Spark!Lab, a hands-on invention lab, and develops related instructional materials and evaluation instruments. She is currently working to broaden Spark!Lab’s impact beyond the National Mall, working with partner institutions across the country to integrate Spark!Lab activities into their programs, and has overseen installations of Spark!Labs in Anchorage, Detroit, Kansas City, Reno, and Greenville, SC, with additional sites scheduled to open. She has led Spark!Lab projects in India and Ukraine, and will oversee the installation of a “pop up” Spark!Lab in London in July 2017. In collaboration with Smithsonian Enterprises and Faber-Castell, she launched the Spark!Lab Inventive Creativity™ consumer product line to extend Spark!Lab’s unique approach to hands on learning to homes everywhere.

Links:

• Learn more about Spark!Lab, where museum visitors become inventors!
• Check out Spark!Labs Try This At Home
• Learn more about the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation