The Carlson School Develops New Collaborative Working Space for Students

The Carlson School has teamed up with the University of Minnesota Libraries for a new innovation hub for entrepreneurship and collaboration where ideas are generated, discoveries are made, and entrepreneurial spirits are ignited—called The Toaster.

The student-branded Toaster, which opened February 2020 in the lower level of Walter Library on the East Bank, is unlike any other spot on campus, with adaptable space available for students to collaborate on innovation and entrepreneurship projects and bring abstract ideas and concepts to market.

“Our students have wanted a space like this for a long time,” says John Stavig, the program director at the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School. “With The Toaster, we’re developing a student-centric space that gives students—not only at the Carlson School but across the University—the opportunity to innovate and push forward with new entrepreneurial ideas.”

The Toaster is open to students, student clubs, and experiential courses, giving them access to 6,500 square feet of flexible workspace, including whiteboards, couches, and tables; monitors for presentations; and larger spaces for presentations, group meetings, prototyping, and more. The space will allow students across academic disciplines a place to come together to explore ideas. Encouraging this kind of interdisciplinary collaboration has been a Holmes Center goal, and providing an energizing environment that welcomes all students is the perfect way to get it started, Stavig says.