(Photos/Z’eani Furdge)

On Wednesday Jan. 26, the Hatchery Inspiration Lab held its open house for the University of Southern Mississippi community to view the expansive work and collaborative space.  

Located in Scianna Hall, the Hatchery strives to be a space and resource for all at USM to brainstorm, discuss and develop ideas and projects.  

With two 3D printers, a 3D laser printer, Dell Inspiron desktops, iMacs and more, the lab is decked out with thousands of dollars of hardware, as well as software installed to use most of the equipment.  

James Wilcox is a professor in the school of management, as well as the director of the Hatchery. He, along with others, saw the need for the university to have a space where students could engage with resources and staff to help develop their ideas.  

“Now we have a place to engage with students to facilitate those conversations, and for all those different skill sets coming from across campus to work together, finally, to move forward with ideas.” Wilcox said. “And so this is the place where that is going to happen.” 

This space stemmed from an idea proposed in a creative marketing class at USM. Students like Daniel Wimberley, a graduate assistant in the school of marketing, believe the Hatchery will be a stepping stone to the fostering of other ideas. That includes events like the annual Golden Idea Pitch Competition, which is open to all students at USM.  

“This might be a good place for them to just brainstorm and also create a physical replica of what their idea and their pitch is.” Wimberley said.  

Wilcox envisions not only better competitions, but more collaboration across campus.  

“In the future, we’ll do a lot more competitions, interdisciplinary competitions, bringing in students from different areas across campus to work together, not just against each other, but to work together to create even better products, even better services and solutions to existing problems.” Wilcox said.  

An interdisciplinary course currently taught inside the Hatchery involves instructors and students from the communication, business, criminal justice and computer science departments. The instructors teach and even send their students across the country to help tackle problems within the Department of Defense.  

This course, along with a business consulting course, is taught in the Hatchery every Monday and Wednesday.  

Jon Leonard is an MBA student at USM. He also sees how the Hatchery can be used as a stepping stone for those with aspirations beyond the walls of this space. 

“We have a lot of really great minds at Southern Miss that kind of need that. They’re not looking to work for somebody, they’re looking to own their own business,” Leonard said. “And this is a great place to kind of build the foundations for that.” 

To gain card access to the lab, one must take a safety overview course. They are scheduled for January 31, February 1, February 4 and March 7. 

For more information on this and subsequent courses on using specific hardware an\d software in the Hatchery Inspiration Lab, go to usm.edu/hatchery.