Ever since signing on to support one specific project for the Lemelson MIT program, it’s been challenging to even come up for air to share some of their amazing work and projects that stretch across the globe.
What started as a simple request to provide some technical consulting and support setting up and managing a series of Zoom workshop sessions for their Biotechnology in Action series seemed simple enough. Then it became clear that nothing is as simple as it seems with a team that likes to push the boundaries and expand their engagement reach far beyond the norm. Before we knew it, we were working with Zoom directly to enable the interpretation features and then coordinating contracted interpretation specialists so that all the sessions could be accessed simultaneously by both faculty and student participants from across the U.S., and also Brazil, Chile, Japan, Korea, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.
Coordinating subject-matter specialists from a national, leading Bio-Tech Engineering firm, setting up registrations, sending out login and feature access documentation in multiple languages, then managing the events themselves to make sure that participants found their way to the correct interpreter channels, could relay questions to the lead specialist presenters, and that chat could be monitored in multiple languages as well…was all just the beginning.
As we brought those two months of sessions to a close, the LMIT leadership team asked, “Have you ever worked with Canvas?” And so, the ride continued. We are now in the midst of supporting their incredibly popular national InventTeams program and their EurekaFest event with exceptional cohorts from across the United States designing and developing and inventing technological solutions to real-world problems of their own choosing as part of a robust educational and competitive STEM effort.
And just when we thought we had a handle on the types of programs and outreach LMIT is involved in, their Executive Director said, “Hey, you’ve worked with the California Community College system before…how would you like to provide some cross-support to our new partnership with a number of their campuses to design and develop and implement a new program to called the Invention & Inclusive Innovation initiative?”
How could we say no?
Digital Materials Accessibility Support – Yes,
Responsive Content Design – Yes,
Content Course Structure and Content Management – Yes,
International Muti-Lingual Zoom Sessions – Yes,
PostSecondary Program Design and Deployment Strategies – Yes.
Doing good work with good people is always a joy. And when working with a team like the Lemelson – MIT crew, who knows what’s coming next?