Innovation Studio

UR’s Innovation Studio

The Innovation Studio supports skill-building in design thinking, creative problem-solving, and innovation for students, faculty, and staff. Through regular programming, drop-in advising, and course support, the Innovation Studio equips Spiders with skills to advance ideas, systems, products, technologies and processes across sectors to advance society.

Announcements

Advising Hours

Walk-in advising is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, by appointment. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to book a time in advance to ensure personalized support for their projects and ideas.

Book a meeting >

Spider Ventures

The Innovation Studio hosts the Spider Ventures student org weekly from 6:00 to 8:00pm every Thursday evening. Interested students can reach out to President Aaron Greenwood to join, and faculty mentor Dale Fickett with any questions.

Class Reservations

The Innovation Studio is reserved every Monday and Wednesday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM for the Bench Top Innovation course led by Professor Joel Mier.

To schedule a class session in the Innovation Studio, reach out to Andrew Ilnicki to reserve the space in advance.

Book a meeting >

Contact Andrew Ilnicki >

Fall '26 Events

Date	Workshop / Event	Target Audience	Partner(s)	Series	Format	Registration Link
Aug. 21	Innovation Studio Open House	Campus	Admissions, Career Services	Community	Open House	Orientation Schedule
Aug. 22	LEGO Creative Problem Solving Sprint	Students	Spiders Around Town	Innovation Foundations	Workshop	CLOSED
Aug. 28	Design Thinking Fundamentals	Students		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Aug. 28	Applied Design Challenge	Students	Community Partner (TBD)	Build & Prototype	Workshop
Sep. 4	LEGO® Serious Play Foundations	Students, Faculty		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Sep. 4	Design Thinking - Intro (90 min)	All Students, Faculty, Staff		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Sep. 11	Creative Problem Solving with LEGO® Serious Play	All Students, Faculty, Staff	Creative Education Foundation	Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Sep. 18	Lean Discovery & Customer Interviews	Students	Spider Ventures	Build & Prototype	Workshop
Sep. 18	Creative Problem Solving Sprint	Students		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Sep. 25	Values to Ventures	Students	CARE 360	Founder Skills	Workshop
Sep. 25	Applied Design Challenge	Students	Community Partner (TBD)	Build & Prototype	Workshop
Oct. 2	Startup Virginia Founder Tour	Entrepreneurship Students	Startup Virginia	Community	Field Experience
Oct. 2	Design Thinking - Intro (90 min)	All Students, Faculty, Staff		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Oct. 9	AI for Creative Problem Solving	Students	AI Ready RVA / CLAAI	Build & Prototype	Workshop
Oct. 9	LEGO® Serious Play / CPS Sprint (90 min)	All Students, Faculty, Staff		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Oct. 16	Stakeholder Mapping & Systems Thinking	Students, Staff	Julie Farmer / CCE	Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Oct. 16	Creative Problem Solving Sprint	Students		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Oct. 23	Entrep Speaker Series: Will Melton, Xponent21	All Students, Faculty, Staff	AI Ready RVA / RSB	AI Series	Lecture
Oct. 23	Vibe Coding: SEO in the Age of AI	All Students, Faculty, Staff	AI Ready RVA / RSB	AI Series	Workshop
Oct. 26	Bench Top Innovation Bake-Off	Students	Joel Mier / Shane Emmet	Community	Competition
Oct. 29	RVA UX Census Night	Students, Faculty	UX Happens in RVA	Community	Field Experience
Nov. 6	Pitching Yourself	Students	Guest Speaker	Founder Skills	Workshop
Nov. 6	Design Thinking - Intro (90 min)	All Students, Faculty, Staff		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Nov. 13	Rapid Prototyping Lab	Students	AI Ready RVA / CLAAI	Build & Prototype	Workshop
Nov. 13	LEGO® Serious Play / CPS Sprint (90 min)	All Students, Faculty, Staff		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Nov. 20	Causal Forecasting & AI	Students, Faculty	MARKETview	AI Series	Workshop
Nov. 20	Creative Problem Solving Sprint	Students		Innovation Foundations	Workshop
Dec. 3	Richmond Demo Day	Students, Community	VCU daVinci Center	Showcase	Showcase
Dec. 4	Design Thinking - Intro (90 min)	All Students, Faculty, Staff		Innovation Foundations	Workshop

Feature Stories

UR Now: STUDENT EXPERIENCE

University of Richmond students win global competition

Jeff Tsai and Jasmine Johnson develop innovative device to protect coral reefs — and earn top prize in international Biodesign Sprint.

UR Now: Student Experience

Richmond seniors receive Silicon Valley funding for AI company

UR students receive six-figure backing and valuable mentorship through Y Combinator, a startup accelerator to high-tech superstars, like DoorDash and Airbnb.