---
title: A Peek Inside … The Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Office
date: 2022-05-03T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/a-peek-inside-the-academy-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurship-office"
section: Articles
---
# A Peek Inside … The Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Office

*May 3, 2022* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> In Airy Shared Space, Creativity and Collaboration Flourish

*Academyfor Innovationand Entrepreneurship 04252022 SC 3978 1920x1080 — From left, Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (AIE) Founder Dean Chang, now the interim chief innovation officer and associate vice president for innovation and economic development; Design Thinking Facilitator Christina Hnatov; and Assistant Program Director Brooke Smith in one of the collaborative spaces in AIE's open office. The team works to help students and UMD community members discover their creative and innovative potential.*

Looking for a place to dig into your outside-the-box ideas? Just step into the [Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (AIE)](http://innovation.umd.edu/) office, where its neon “garage door” entrance, colorful strings of disposable cups, tiny pom-poms and paper cut-outs, and free notebooks will get your creative juices flowing.

The welcoming, eclectic space in the Edward St. John Teaching and Learning Center is home to a staff of five who work with all 12 colleges and schools to integrate design thinking and “lean startup” concepts—a methodology that prioritizes customer feedback and flexibility—into nearly 200 innovation and entrepreneurship courses at the University of Maryland. The academy also offers workshops for offices and organizations both on and off campus. “A lot of groups asked us to reimagine how to work collaboratively while virtual or hybrid during the pandemic,” said Brooke Smith, AIE’s assistant program director.

AIE’s shared office features a prototyping area with materials for crafting, collaboration tables of different heights in the center of the room, as well as high-backed half-circle chairs that have become the de facto meeting area.

“I like the flexibility of our space,” said Design Thinking Facilitator Christina Hnatov. “These tall tables are my favorite place to work. I like that I’m not locked at my desk all day because we get up and move around so often. I really missed creating all the hands-on materials during the pandemic, so I’ve really enjoyed coming back and creating things in person.”

Smith, Hnatov and Dean Chang, the interim chief innovation officer and associate vice president for innovation and economic development who founded AIE, shared how they help students discover their creative and innovative potential, why they prefer hands-on to digital prototypes and some of their favorite objects around the office.


*Green garage door*



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*Desk of supplies*



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*Lantern*



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*fish-shaped fishbowl*


*This is part of an occasional series offering a look inside some of the most interesting faculty and staff offices around campus. Think you have a cool workspace—or know someone’s that you’d like to recommend? Email* [*kshih@umd.edu*](mailto:kshih@umd.edu)*.*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [A Peek Inside](https://today.umd.edu/topic/a-peek-inside)