What You Need to Know
The Next generation Of Work (NOW) program pairs student teams with area companies that pose open-ended problems for students to solve.
What is the experience like?
The goal is to help the next generation of talent get better at collective problem-solving. Squads of three to four diverse students work together to solve a real problem for a real business. These teams design and propose a solution that they then pitch to the business partner at a public pitch event.
Throughout the experience, the student teams are coached by NOW mentors. In short, this experience is designed to help students develop the mindsets and tools needed for the future of work.
What are the Benefits of Participating?
- Unique professional experience working on real problems for real businesses
- Relationship-building and collaboration with a diverse set of peers and stakeholders
- Development of four critical career mindsets: Analytical, Design, Collective and Self-Aware
- Application of design-thinking methodologies to solve hard problems
- Experience using virtual collaboration tools
- A free one-of-a-kind experience to highlight on your college or job applications
"They exceeded our expectations, delivering well-researched solutions with a clear understanding of the problem and how to address it. We plan to implement some of the ideas the students presented. The experience delivered a positive return on investment for our organization."
Matthew Carragher / Axxor
"Each group took a different pathway and solution to the problem. I thought what all the groups pitched was phenomenal."
Rebecca Saunders / Hitachi Energy
"This experience allowed me to make a real-world impact in my community and provided a basis for the problem-solving process I will have to go through as an engineer in my future career."
Cora Wilson / Academy for Engineering and Technology, Graduate
"We got to solve a real-world business problem, and it felt cool because we were doing something that meant something in school. And we found the root of the problem like we were supposed to. We contributed a lot of new knowledge and ideas."
Gavin Shields / Academy for Engineering and Technology
"When they made their presentation, my biggest regret was that I didn’t bring my management team with me. It was a great professional presentation with some strong data."
Alan Pearce / FasTech LLC
"They did a good job thinking outside of the box. That’s what impressed me the most, was the fresh eyes and fresh perspective from which they looked at the problem. I would do this program again in a heartbeat."
