Applied One isn’t a single project or initiative. It’s a connected system designed to help our Faculty work across disciplines, share and build resources and to tackle complex challenges together.
While the building is one visible part of this effort, the shift is broader, linking strategy, people, infrastructure and investment into a coordinated mindset and model for how we work.
The ecosystem model
Applied One brings together five interdependent elements:
- Shared vision
- Our strategic direction calls for deeper collaboration across disciplines and stronger real-world impact. Applied One is how we bring that vision into practice.
- Investment and Experimentation
- Through mechanisms like the Innovation Fund, we can test new ideas, prototype collaboration models, and support work that crosses traditional boundaries.
- People and Expertise
- New faculty hires, research clusters, and cross-Faculty partnerships bring together expertise needed to address complex societal challenges.
- Demonstration Environments
- Spaces like the Digital Design Studio allow teams to experiment, learn, and model new ways of working before larger infrastructure comes online.
- Space and Infrastructure
- The Applied One building and shared environments create physical conditions for interdisciplinary work, learning, and partnership. It is the embodiment of our shared ethos.
These ecosystem elements are not sequential, but inherently linked: new ideas inform space design, shared spaces spark collaboration, faculty members shape research directions, funded projects test new models and demonstration environments show what works.
Together, they create momentum both now and over time. They are building toward a more connected model for how we teach, research and partner.