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--- about_the_lab [2026/06/12 05:03] – [Willkommen, Welcome, Bienvenido, أهلاً وسهلاً, ברוך הבא, स्वागत है, 欢迎, … :-)] Felix Hardmood Beck
+++ about_the_lab [2026/08/31 16:33] (current) – [STEM to STEAM] Felix Hardmood Beck
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 You somehow found your way to this website — maintained by the Creative Technologies Lab’s [[about:team:overview|team]] around [[about:team:felix-beck|Prof. Felix Hardmood Beck]] and [[about:team:leonie-winkelmann|Leonie Winkelmann]] at [[https://www.fh-muenster.de|FH Münster]] in the beautiful Münsterland region of North-Rhine Westphalia. Not only is NRW home to scenic landscapes and excellent coffee, it also happens to be one of Europe’s strongest economic powerhouses, with 18 million inhabitants, over 700,000 SMEs, and more universities, research hubs, and incubators than one could reasonably visit in a week. Happy reading!
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 ===== About us =====
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 The lab is small, but cool! You will enter a hands-on environment where ideas are not only realized but also critically examined and refined. The lab is a research-driven space where creativity is intentionally purposeful and innovation is grounded in rigor. You will have the opportunity to develop solutions and sharpen your skills in fields such as human-computer interaction, media systems, and interactive design. Projects range from designing interactive installations for museums to creating IoT-enabled devices for sustainable living or augmented reality (AR) applications for preserving cultural heritage. Here, experimentation and failure are embraced as valuable parts of the learning process, equipping students with practical experience to contribute to transformative projects and //positive futures// that address tangible challenges.
+Check out the overview of the Creative Technologies Bachelor program [[https://ct-lab.info/modulplan-create-en/|in English]], in [[https://ct-lab.info/modulplan-create/|in German]], in [[https://ct-lab.info/modulplan-create-ms/|in Malay]].
 ===== How do we work? =====
-We are committed to fostering a welcoming community. Our teaching approach focuses on preparing students for the complexities of an interconnected world by fostering critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and creativity – heavily influenced by the [[about:studio-classroom|studio classroom]] we are working in. [[teaching:archive:course-archive|Courses taught at the lab]] combine design, media, and technology, with a strong emphasis on human-centered design, hands-on prototyping and experiential learning. Across all of these activities, we are committed to working with [[extras:wissikon:nachhaltigkeit:the-seven-r|the Seven Rs]] of sustainable practice in mind – rethinking, refusing, reducing, reusing, repurposing, recycling and, where appropriate, letting things rot (from time to time even our ideas…) – and to embedding these principles into both design decisions and technical implementations. Students are guided through every stage of project development – from initial concepts and prototyping to production and management – ensuring a balance between theoretical understanding and practical application. Innovation in the lab follows two complementary pathways: On the one hand, we develop and apply new technologies to solve specific problems, on the other hand, we explore open-ended ideas without predefined purposes, allowing for unexpected breakthroughs, or sometimes also no breakthroughs at all. ;-) Sometimes we develop cool stuff but also do not know what it could be used for. This dual approach enables interdisciplinary exploration by dissolving the boundaries between design, technology, art, and science. Whether addressing pressing issues or uncovering unforeseen possibilities, our process equips students with the skills and mindset needed to drive innovation and tackle the challenges of the future.
+We are committed to fostering a welcoming community. Our teaching approach focuses on preparing students for the complexities of an interconnected world by fostering critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and creativity – heavily influenced by the [[about:studio-classroom|studio classroom]] we are working in. [[teaching:archive:course-archive|Courses taught at the lab]] combine design, media, and technology, with a strong emphasis on human-centered design, hands-on prototyping and experiential learning. Across all of these activities, we are committed to working with [[extras:wissikon:nachhaltigkeit:the-seven-r|the Seven Rs]] of sustainable practice in mind – rethinking, refusing, reducing, reusing, repurposing, recycling and, where appropriate, letting things rot (from time to time even our ideas…) – and to embedding these principles into both design decisions and technical implementations. Students are guided through every stage of project development – from initial concepts and prototyping to production and management – ensuring a balance between theoretical understanding and practical application.
+Innovation in the lab follows two complementary pathways: On the one hand, we develop and apply new technologies to solve specific problems; on the other hand, we explore open-ended ideas without predefined purposes, allowing for unexpected breakthroughs, or sometimes also no breakthroughs at all. ;-) Sometimes we develop cool stuff but also do not know what it could be used for. This dual approach enables interdisciplinary exploration by dissolving the boundaries between design, technology, art, and science.
+This interdisciplinary and practice-based approach also shapes how we understand research and its outcomes. Research in Creative Technologies does not necessarily result only in traditional academic publications; knowledge can also emerge through the development, testing, and critical reflection of prototypes, software, installations, exhibitions, datasets, experimental systems, and other artifacts. We therefore consider [[extras:wissikon:lehre:ntro|Non-Traditional Research Outputs (NTROs)]] an important framework for documenting, reflecting on, and making such practice-based and artifact-driven research visible, citable, and academically accessible.
+Whether addressing pressing issues, developing concrete applications, or uncovering unforeseen possibilities through experimentation, our process equips students and researchers with the skills and mindset needed to drive innovation and tackle the challenges of the future.
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 The lab embraces the shift from STEM to STEAM – an educational and research approach that integrates the Arts into the traditional fields of __S__cience, __T__echnology, __E__ngineering, and __M__athematics. By including artistic and design-based perspectives, STEAM promotes a more holistic understanding of complex problems, encourages creative experimentation, and supports inclusive, interdisciplinary innovation. This mindset aligns with the lab’s mission to explore new forms of knowledge production that combine technical precision with aesthetic sensitivity and societal relevance. As John Maeda puts it, “//STEM subjects alone will not lead to the kind of breathtaking innovation the 21st century demands. Innovation happens when convergent thinkers […] combine forces with divergent thinkers – those who professionally wander, who are comfortable being uncomfortable, and who look for what is real.//”((Maeda, John. “STEM + Art = STEAM.” The STEAM Journal, vol. 1, no. 1, 2013. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol1/iss1/34)) This integration of disciplines reflects our belief that meaningful innovation often emerges where logic and creativity intersect, where storytelling enhances science, and where imagination becomes a driver of progress. ((OECD (2020): [[https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/|OECD Learning Compass 2030 – A Series of Concept Notes]]))((World Economic Forum (2023): [[https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/|The Future of Jobs Report 2023]]))((Buchanan, R. (1992): Wicked Problems in Design Thinking. In: *Design Issues*, 8(2), 5–21. [[https://doi.org/10.2307/1511637]]))((Brown, T. (2009): *Change by Design: How Design Thinking Creates New Alternatives for Business and Society*. Harvard Business Press))
-Read also a longer version of this paragraph in German: [[extras:wissikon:lehre:mindt|MINT wird MINDT]]
+Read also a longer version of this paragraph in German: [[extras:wissikon:lehre:mindt|MINT wird MINDT]], and this article on a broader understanding of knowledge production: [[extras:wissikon:lehre:ntro|Non-Traditional Research Outputs (NTROs)]], which recognizes research outcomes beyond conventional academic publications.
 [[https://www.girls-day.de|{{:activities:image003.jpg?direct&400|}}]]