Innovation starts at a young age!

Design studio aruliden, together with Bernhardt Design, conceived Tools at Schools as an initiative to teach eighth graders the value of design as a problem-solving tool at The School at Columbia University. Forty-four eighth grade students were immersed in the entire design process, from research to ideation to 3D modeling and ultimately launch. What started as a simple effort to get involved in the community grew into a much larger realization that design has a role in the classroom. Their success was not only in their concepts, but in the awareness each student gained in the process. The result was a collaborative vision of today’s classroom – designed for kids by kids. Wouldn't you love to see programs like this at your local schools?


Tools at Schools : Introduction to Project from Tools at Schools on Vimeo.

Tools at Schools : Research and Big Ideas from Tools at Schools on Vimeo.

Tools at Schools: Final Design and Mockup from Tools at Schools on Vimeo.

Tools at Schools: 3-D from Tools at Schools on Vimeo.

Tools at Schools : Modeling from Tools at Schools on Vimeo.

Tools at Schools: Final Project Launch at ICFF from Tools at Schools on Vimeo.

Peter Thiel Gives Whiz Kids $100K To Quit College, Start Businesses

It sounds like a reality show pitch: The legendary Facebook investor, PayPal founder, and thorn in the side of college deans everywhere announces what happens when 24 people, picked to live among mentors and innovation experts, stop going to school and start getting real--in business.

One climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Another started college in third grade. Another opened a business at age 9. And yet another scored 5580 on the SATs (on a total of 5 tests, but still).

Now they're all getting two years of mentoring from a network of tech and entrepreneurial experts and $100,000 to start a business. The benefactor? PayPal founder, early Facebook investor, and Stanford's least favorite alumnus, Peter Thiel. Least favorite because Thiel has been making waves by arguing that college is an overhyped, overpriced bubble, and that the world needs better ways to recognize young talent. It's all been great fodder for debate, but little more.

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