Bill Digneit, director of SISU: The Innovation Institute at Northern Michigan University, received the Culture of Innovation Award from Trend Hunter at the Future Festival World Summit in Toronto. He spoke on stage about the SISU innovation process and was presented with his 3D-printed rocket ship trophy by a NASA representative.
SISU is an institute for innovation and transformational education, encouraging the cultivation of ideas leading to relevant and sustainable university services and academic programs. Digneit earned the Culture of Innovation award thanks to SISU's $1 million Reno-Innovate fund and for reframing failure as a valuable learning experience.
"SISU: The Innovation Institute at Northern has remained steadfast in its commitment from day one to be the driving force in building a culture of innovation and design thinking throughout our campus and the Upper Peninsula community,” Digneit said. “Our mission is being realized through dynamic efforts, such as The SISU Innovation Funding process, our ongoing idea re-innovation endeavors, the design thinking workshops/ training, and the launch of NMU's Innovation Week.
"SISU's dedication to educating, collaborating and inspiring both our campus and the broader region through design thinking reflects an unending commitment to innovation, and this award serves as a testament to these outstanding efforts by every one of our stakeholders."
Trend Hunter is a community dedicated to creating innovative ideas and inspiring industry professionals. The Future Festival World Summit offers attendees “must-know” consumer insights, trends and innovations through presentations and networking opportunities.
Digneit's Culture of Innovation honor falls under Trend Hunter's Innovation Strategy Awards, which spotlight the best innovation tactics gathered from interviews on their website with the world's leading CEOs, authors and speakers featured. Winners are selected based on criteria across five innovation framework categories, including ability to change, culture of innovation, infectious messaging, opportunity hunting and adaptive innovation.
Read a complete interview with Digneit and Trend Hunter here.