WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI INNOVATION FELLOWS?
- George Masila
- November 28, 2018
- Fellowship, Uncategorized
- 0 Comments
The 1st cohort of the University of Nairobi Innovation Fellowship will undertake a deep immersion into four pillars that will prepare them as innovators
The four aspects are:
- The 21st century skills of Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity.
- Principals and practices of Innovation, Fundamentals of Problem Based Learning and Design Thinking.
- Multi-disciplinary practical problem-solving and
- Practical experience in planning and executing the Nairobi Innovation Week
Training sessions will be organized, under C4DLab, facilitated by resource persons from various disciplines to address the mental preparation to innovate. The 21st century skills famously referred to as 4Cs would be at the heart of the pillar. In addition to Communication Skills, Collaboration skills, Critical Thinking and Creativity, fellows will be organized to work in multi-disciplinary teams in readiness to solve complex industry-based challenges that would require critical problem-solving skills.
At the core of innovation is creating change that adds value. The innovation fellows will be exposed to the fundamentals of innovation that particularly will include Problem Based Learning and Design Thinking. These skills will set them ready to follow the well tested phases of innovation that include User Empathy, Value Proposition Design, Ideation, Product and Service Design as well as Prototyping.
The follows will be organized in 3 separate multi-disciplinary teams of about 5 fellows each and have an opportunity to solve a real life local problem. C4Dlab shall engage with different industry partners who provide appropriate problems (challenges) that the team will work on. The solving of the problems follows a systematic methodology that is taught earlier in the fellowship. The teams will be assigned a mentor for necessary support.
The fellows will have an opportunity to participate as co-organizers of the Nairobi Innovation Week. The follows will be coordinated by the Chair of NIW and will work on various aspects of NIW. The fellows will be matched to tasks based on experience, interest and potential to excel.
