August 9, 2017
Catalyst Product Development recently welcomed the Young Innovators Quest (YiQ) group to our facility for a tour and design event. The YiQ program is designed to engage high school students in a series of activities related to innovation, health and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and allow them to explore ways to enhance their creativity in a motivating, hands-on environment. The Young Innovators Quest program operates in conjunction with the IDEAA Partnership which is supported by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development through their Skill Up Indiana! initiative.
A group of 25 high school students participated in the Innovation Session. The session started with an overview of the product development process and how Catalyst supports that process. The students were then immersed in a “Innovation Session” using the same techniques Catalyst uses to create innovative solutions for major brands worldwide. To start, the group was given a general product category to work within and asked to think of a completely new product idea. They were then given 60 seconds to create a concept sketch of a unique product idea. This exercise was repeated multiple times and resulted in over 75 completely new product ideas that were unheard of just an hour earlier. The students were very excited with the output of their work and quickly understood how brainstorming activities such as this can be a useful tool. The Catalyst team discussed with the students how the creative power of collaborative design thinking can solve problems, create new products, services, and even change the world.
“It was a wonderful event”, Catalyst Vice President Dennis Turner stated. “We try to support the innovation community by providing insight on how new products are designed and developed. Hopefully we planted a few creative seeds today which will grow into future designers, engineers, and innovators.”
Young Innovators Quest
IDEAA Partnership of Central Indiana
Innovation, Design, Engineering, Automation and Advanced-Manufacturing
