Howard R. Miller is director of strategic alignment and communication at Florida’s International University’s College of Architecture + Arts, which is establishing a new innovation lab with the support of Knight Foundation. 

No one can dispute that South Florida has joined the list of preeminent creative destinations in the U.S., due to burgeoning arts communities and events which include Art Basel Miami Beach, the Wynwood Arts District, the Miami Design District, the South Beach Wine and Food Festival and many legendary and new museums and venues. Anyone who considers South Florida their home is aware of the recent transformation that has taken place.

Knight Foundation has made a significant contribution to this transcendent trend of taking a huge leap into the future of media innovation by partnering with Florida International University’s College of Architecture + The Arts to establish a new MakerBot Innovation Lab at our Miami Beach Urban Studios. The impact of this commitment is huge, not just for FIU students but for the entire region.

Thanks to $185,000 in support from Knight Foundation, the College of Architecture + The Arts will soon be a global leader in the desktop 3-D printing industry by debuting the MakerBot Innovation Lab, a facility dedicated to innovative, integrated and entrepreneurial teaching, research, creative activities and community engagement in architecture, landscape architecture, urban and environmental design, interior architecture, music, art/art history, communication arts and theater.

The funds will be used to create a makerspace, where advanced public programs, private explorations and educational opportunities are offered across all age groups. The lab will support a range of activities from dual enrollment opportunities in local high schools to fostering startup endeavors for recent grads and furthering the professional objectives of community members. 

Among the components of this breakthrough efforts are the MakerBot Replicator, Digitizer Scanner and 3-D Printer, state-of-the-art components that will transform current methods of interpreting and realizing the visions of our students. The MakerBot Innovation Lab uses will include:

• For-credit FIU courses in the design areas of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, theater/set design, urban and environmental design, furniture design, and object design.
• Dual enrollment college-level courses to be offered to high school students at Maritime and Science Technology High School at FIU and Miami Beach Senior High. There will also be workshops for elementary and middle school students.
• Community-based, public offerings including charrettes, seminars and workshops designed around 3-D printer prototypes and maker efforts. This includes workshops aimed at helping foster more startup maker activity.
• Specific for-profit research initiatives leading to patentable products and real-life solutions.

This collaboration between FIU’s College of Architecture + The Arts and Knight Foundation could not be a better fit. The FIU mission of developing critical thinkers and innovators and Knight Foundation’s mission — to support transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts — align perfectly. Knight Foundation’s generosity will foster integrated, interdisciplinary creative solutions establishing FIU as a national and local voice in incorporating arts and design thinking into STEM education, i.e. STEAM.

The Miami Beach Urban Studios offers undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to study at one of the most vibrant, artistic urban centers in the world, while gaining valuable professional experience at design firms, and by working with public, private and nonprofit arts organizations throughout the city. The facility gives students and faculty access to Miami Beach’s arts and design culture – an experience that will prove invaluable for their future career and personal aspirations.