Sears think[box]
Sears think[box] is Case Western Reserve University’s innovation center that provides a space for students, staff, collaborators, and the general public to tinker and creatively invent. Housed in the newly renovated Richey Mixon Building, this $25M project is a 7-story, 50,000 square foot facility, making it one of the largest university innovation centers in the world. The vision of think[box] is to change the economic and social culture of the University and region by emphasizing cross-discipline and cross-institution collaborative endeavors that push creativity and innovation to their limits. Think[box] is encouraging collaborative endeavors that push creativity and innovation to their limits, by providing a place where members of the engineering, design, arts, science, medical, and business communities can interact. To support this innovation, it has a world-class, hands-on fabrication center with a range of software tools and 3D printers. Machining capabilities exist in a host of mediums, such as wood, plastic, and metal. The center also includes wood and metal shop tools as well as electrical and electronics machinery. For the craft lover, Sears think[box] offers embroidery and sewing machines.
In 2020, the APT Center moved into their 400 square foot office space on the newly opened seventh floor called the “Incubator.” The “Incubator” is a space where entrepreneurs, startups, and corporations can advance their ventures in dedicated office spaces and work alongside a community of like-minded individuals. The APT Center space is occupied by full-time engineering staff, co-ops, and intern students where they advance APT Center, Innovators Network, and vehiCLE technologies in design, development, and prototyping. Current staff occupying the Incubator space completed think[box]-led training on the fabrication equipment and machinery (floors 2-4) to use without supervision. The team has full access to all fabrication floors, including access during off-hours to complete prototype work as necessary. Additionally, think[box] offers fabrication support through highly trained student workers and several expert-level, full-time staff members who specialize in utilizing and teaching others to utilize all of the equipment at think[box].
