Innovation and Creativity Summer Session

Business growth depends upon creativity. This projects seeks to equip students with the strategies to cultivate creativity by combining the expertise demonstrated in both Maine and Iceland in understanding entrepreneurial risk and opportunity identification, as well as creatively implementing strong new ideas. The project will result in a 10-day intensive program designed to improve students’ understanding of innovation. The program’s coursework will be collaboratively designed by two faculty from each institution, USM and Reykjavik University, and will rotate location every year between the two campuses. The coursework will be based on industry projects so that students will solve real world problems in industries most closely tied to North Atlantic trade that have high interest, growth potential, and common challenges in both Iceland and in Maine, such as microbrewing, fisheries, renewable energy, and tourism/hospitality. This course will teach practical creativity approaches, in which teams will be mentored by a faculty member from each institution to enhance and broaden cultural perspectives for the students.

Vision

The course will be immediately open to international students, with the goal of attracting students from multiple countries to develop a mix of perspectives from the global marketplace. This work might also bolster plans to offer a Marine Innovation course with field product experience which could foster fisheries industry participation.

Collaborators

  • Reykjavik University (Hallur Sigurdsarson, Pall Rickardsson, Hrefna Briem)

  • New England Ocean Cluster House

  • Iceland Ocean Cluster House

  • Maine Brewers Guild

  • Maine Brewers: Allagash, Rising Tide, Bissell

Professors

Richard Bilodeau

Richard Bilodeau

School of Business