ILead's 'The Game' - The Innovation Hub

Guest Post By Albert Huynh, Engineering Leadership Education Specialist at ILead (Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering)

Over the past few years, I’ve felt the need for us as a society to step up to bigger challenges (e.g. waste, energy usage, access to education, etc.). Having studied engineering myself, at first, I thought that the answer lay purely in improving our technical problem solving skills. However, the more I’ve learned, the more I’m convinced that solutions in the absence of self-aware leadership and deep humanity are destined to fall flat. With that in mind, I’ve tried to figure out how to bridge the technical knowledge of engineering with the human capacity needed to create positive change, particularly, not simply using one as an add-on to the other, but looking for ways in which the two amplify each other. This exploration has led me to direct, manage, and facilitate the ILead (Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering) social innovation program, The Game.

The Game by ILead is a 6-month societal leadership and social innovation program which challenges students to work in teams to take a step towards building a better world. As part of this journey, students are prepped with tools and workshops on human-centred design, systems thinking, and personal and team leadership which allow them to balance both the cognitive and emotional needs of creating social change.

Teams work on projects of their own choosing, guided by mentors, informed by the stories of guest speakers, and supported with a budget of $500 to conduct research or prototype. The output of these projects is as varied as the field of social innovation itself, previous examples including art installations, policy recommendations, software, and service provision.At the end of the program, students showcase their work in the form of lessons learned about themselves and their system of interest. Differing from most other project based programs, these lessons particularly highlight failures, challenged assumptions, team dynamics, and growth over the projects themselves.On Oct 5, 2017, the Innovation Hub came in to support this journey with an engaging Design Thinking workshop, getting students to wrestle with the thorny topic of improving commutes. In the spirit of The Game, the session was hands-on and forced students to think more deeply about user concerns.

Students using craft supplies such as markers and Play-Do

Student kneeling at table and talking with other students

Three students having an animated discussion

Students building structures out of rolls of paper

Wide shot of students building prototypes

Small car made out of modelling clay in the palm of someone's hand

Students designing prototypes at the University of Toronto Innovation Hub

Student building structure with paper plates

Photo Credits: Aldrin Villamayor

Albert Huynh is an Engineering Leadership Education Specialist at ILead (Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering). He has a background in Chemical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Engineering Education from the University of Toronto, which he leverages to create impactful learning opportunities for students and professionals in the realms of social innovation, systems thinking, design, and leadership. Albert is motivated by the potential of education to inspire transformative growth and is constantly in search of the innovation that lies at the intersection of traditional domains. In his spare time you’ll find him doing engineering public outreach, having thoughtful conversations, or reading graphic novels.

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