Griffiths Center for Collaboration & Innovation
The Griffiths Center vision is to be a recognized leader in engaged learning and research experiences that help define the student journey at Hartwick College.
Our mission is to promote cross-disciplinary innovation & entrepreneurship by providing high-impact community partnerships, innovation spaces and research opportunities.
Hartwick College Center for Craft Food and Beverage
Hartwick College Grain Innovation Center
Hartwick College has been working with the City of Oneonta and the County of Otsego Industrial Development Agency to incorporate the Grain Innovation Center (GIC) with a Downtown Revitalization Initiative awarded to the City through the New York State Regional Economic Development Council.
Construction has begun on a four-story, mixed-use building that will include Hartwick’s new Grain Innovation Center. With this project, Hartwick College has identified a need to develop new and better means to assess the quality of potential wheat cultivars for whole grain milling and baking. The result will provide support for grain producers, millers and bakers in the regional grain industry, while enhancing College offerings and community connections.
THE MAKERSPACE
The Makerspace is an open format collaborative workspace for students, faculty, and invited guests to brainstorm, create, learn, and develop ideas. Its design fosters creativity and collaboration, with whiteboards and modular furniture that give students a setting reflective of a professional and integrative work environment.
Visits from outside experts and practitioners, including distinguished alumni and off-campus leaders, are commonplace.
FAB LAB
The Fabrication Lab, “Fab Lab,” is a cross-disciplinary space dedicated to providing both 2D and 3D digital technologies which allow our students to create anything from prototypes of product ideas to traditional art.
Equipment in Use by Hartwick Faculty and Students:
- Glowforge Laser Cutter
- X-Carve C-N-C Router
- Three Makerbot 3D Printers
- Large Format Ceramic 3D Printer
- Canon Wide Format Inkjet Printer
- American Cutter 24” Vinyl Cutter
E-HUB
The E-Hub is where great minds from all academic areas of study come together to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. The collaborative synergy generated in the E-Hub, through creative and design thinking for idea generation and problem solving, demonstrates what Hartwick does best: hands-on, interdisciplinary learning.
The Hub:
- provides opportunities for students from various academic disciplines to explore the process of ideation and innovation;
- connects with and supports the larger community of entrepreneurs in the region and beyond;
- immerses students in the lived experience of successful entrepreneurs:
- fosters entrepreneurship across the curriculum;
- nurtures the entrepreneurial ideas born of this process.
THE BAKER-SIMPSON ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
This immersive internship opportunity, made possible through the continued generosity of Simon Baker ‘93, allows motivated students to explore their aspirations in and around social entrepreneurship, innovation and social impact.
Students begin their experience with a one-credit course that provides an introduction to the tenants of design thinking, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Griffiths Center for Collaboration & Innovation
Advisory Council
CEO
Resilient Biotics
Geneva, Switzerland
Hartwick Major(s): Biology and Geology
LinkedIn Profile
Christopher cofounded and launched Resilient Biotics in 2017. He holds a Ph.D. in microbiology, and his extensive research background has been focused on microbial ecology and microbiome-host systems. He has spent his career as a scientific leader investigating microbiome communities and conducting discovery of novel strains with unique functions. He has led Resilient through two rounds of venture funding to enable the development of the company’s original respiratory microbiome products. Christopher has previously developed microbials for both plant and animal applications in other successful companies including DuPont Pioneer and Taxon Biosciences.
Vice President
Fablevision Learning
Boston, MA
LinkedIn Profile
Andrea is a multimedia storyteller and brand development strategist with more than 17 years in educational media, community journalism, and inbound marketing. She serves as vice president for FableVision Learning, an educational software publishing company providing creative tools for the classroom.
Co-Owner & Head of Marketing
Taconic Distilling
Stanfordville, NY
Former Hartwick College Trustee
Hartwick Major: Economics
LinkedIn Profile
As head of marketing and mixology for Taconic Distillery, Carol Ann shares her passion for fine quality spirits and cocktails with buyers in more than 20 states. The distillery’s award-winning bourbon and rye whiskies are handcrafted in small batches using the finest ingredients, including grains grown in New York and natural spring water from its farm.
CEO
Studio Designer
Los Angeles, CA
Former Hartwick College Trustee
Hartwick Major: Art
LinkedIn Profile
Keith is the CEO of Studio Designer, a leading digital project management, product sourcing, and accounting platform for the interior design industry. The fully integrated platform features an all-in-one project management system, client collaboration portal, product sourcing tools, and designer-specific accounting software. For more than 30 years, Studio Designer has enabled the world’s leading designers to drive efficiency and growth, save time, and deliver beautiful projects to satisfied clients.
Hartwick College Trustee
Plainfield, NH
Hartwick Major: Anthropology
Hartwick Minor: Biology
Sally is the manager of Ring Brook Farm in Plainfield, NH, and previously owned the Whaleback Ski Area in Lebanon, NH. She is the district commissioner for a United States Pony Club; the founding officer of the Upper Valley Ski Snowboard Association; and guides the Kimball Union Academy Equestrian program. Sally served on the Hartwick College Board of Trustees from 2009 to 2018 and returned to the Board to serve her current term in 2019. In addition to service on numerous Board committees, she served as the chair of the Facilities and Student Affairs Committee. The College named the Sally Griffiths Herbert ’88 Aquatic Center in honor of her singular support for renovations to that space. She and her husband, Tim, support The Sarah Griffiths ’88 and Timothy Herbert Endowed J Term Scholarship, and have endowed a fund to support the Griffiths Center for Collaboration & Innovation on the Hartwick campus.
Co-Founder & SVP
Ioxus
Oneonta, NY
Ioxus Profile
Chad is the co-founder and senior vice president of for IOXUS, the industry leader in ultra-capacitor cell and module manufacturing. His engineering, manufacturing, sales, development, and marketing skills have been instrumental in setting IOXUS in motion and continuing its fast-paced market growth. He has helped the sales organization gain new customers due to his intimate knowledge of the product line and his ability to address his customers’ needs.
Executive Director
Community Foundation of Otsego County
Cooperstown, NY
LinkedIn Profile
Jeff began serving as executive director of the Community Foundation of Otsego County (CFOC) after years as an options trader, author, and Mayor of Cooperstown, NY. The CFOC is committed to providing healthy, prosperous, and enriching opportunities for all residents of Otsego County. CFOC serves as a complement, not a supplement, to other Otsego County organizations doing fine work.
Lead Design Strategist
Giant Machines
New York, NY
Hartwick Major: Studio Art & Business Administration
Hartwick Minor: Art History
LinkedIn Profile
Meg’s specialization is the breakthrough of existing paradigms in organizations. She opens the eyes of business people by applying design techniques, visualization, and fresh ideas around business modeling to help them innovate. She serves on the advisory board of Trix magazine, a new women’s magazine that utilizes research-backed tools for women’s media equality. Featuring the work of journalists and artists all over the world, Trix produces storytelling for independent and curious women. Meg is also an acting advisory board member of THR3EFOLD, a company that connects fashion brands to an ethical and sustainable supply chain, and also offers consulting to grow businesses for people, planet and profit.
Research Assistant
Albany Medical College
Oneonta, NY
Hartwick Major: Biology
Hartwick Minors: Chemistry, Political Science
Jackson is a graduate research assistant at Albany Medical College. His research project is titled, “Investigating Erythroblastic Island Macrophages in Acute and Chronic Inflammation.”
President & CEO
National Development Corporation
New York, NY
Hartwick Major: History
LinkedIn Profile
Daniel is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. He’s skilled in areas including mixed-use, tax credits, policy analysis, nonprofit management, and financial analysis. He has served in a number of leadership roles with the National Development Council (NDC). Currently, he is president & CEO of this nonprofit corporation engaged in delivering capital and services in support of the creation of affordable housing, jobs, and investment in social infrastructure in economically underserved communities across the United States.
Chief of Staff
SUNY Oneonta
Oneonta, NY
Innovation Advisor McMullen is a member of the SUNY Oneonta President’s Executive Team.
Director
Nassau County Museum of Art
Hamptons, NY
Charles is museum director at the Nassau County Museum of Art. He has a long association with the museum as both a curator-at-large and a presenter of lectures in conjunction with the museum’s exhibitions. As a curator, he contributed to the museum’s Picasso, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionists exhibitions, Charles has also curated exhibitions in Taiwan, Berlin, Amsterdam, Lausanne, New York and on Long Island.
Recently, he published his latest book, Free as Gods: How the Jazz Age Reinvented Modernism, bringing the number of books he has authored to 32. His other books include The Jazz Age in France, The Art of Peter Max, Art at Lincoln Center, The Arts and the World Economy, Color Codes, and The Saints of Modern Art.
Executive Director
Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship
Oneonta, NY
LinkedIn Profile
Phoebe is an experienced leader in non-profit and public sector organizations. Skilled in strategy and program development, senior management, philanthropy, grant-writing, advocacy, analysis and writing, she leads the Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship (CADE). CADE is a community of agricultural entrepreneurs and specialists working to build a vibrant food system, in which locally owned agricultural businesses thrive and consumers are nourished by healthy, sustainably produced food.
Chief Business Officer
Meta Materials
White Plains, NY
Hartwick Major: Management
LinkedIn Profile
Manos is chief business officer at Meta Materials, Inc. with a solid track record of delivering top line growth and bottom-line results in major global companies. He is experienced in global, US and international roles, with extensive marketing and commercial experience across multiple consumer packaged goods categories, and is adept at both high-growth and turnaround situations. A passionate, purpose-led brand builder recognized for developing game-changing marketing campaigns and awarded for driving innovation in the field of marketing, he is a dynamic change agent.
Meta Materials Inc. is a NASDAQ-listed nanotechnology, designer, integrator and producer of highly functional films and intelligent surfaces utilizing the technology of metamaterials, offering breakthrough performance across aerospace and defense; energy; automotive; telecoms; brand security; and medical devices.
Griffith Center for Collaboration & Innovation
For more information about GCCI programs and services, email gcci@hartwick.edu or call 607-431-4009.
Launched in 2018 with a $1.25 million gift from Sally Griffiths Herbert ’88, H’19 and Tim Herbert, the Griffiths Center for Collaboration & Innovation (GCCI) at Hartwick College is an idea incubator for radical innovation and approaches to creative problem solving.