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Work Spaces

The following spaces are open to members of the Northwestern community. They include spaces for wet lab work, co-working and prototyping. Use the links to learn more and reserve these spaces. 

Laboratory Space

INVOHub

• Space provided: Multiple spaces, including mailbox in Evanston; space on North Campus, 1801 Maple, or at Illinois Science and Technology Park (ISTP) in Skokie, IL; use of Northwestern’s Core Facilities
• Open to: Awardees of Northwestern’s N.XT funding; startups incorporated within the past three years with no more than two full-time employees and commercializing Northwestern technologies. 
• Description: INVOHub is a Northwestern incubator program that builds on the university’s mission of achieving excellence in research-driven innovation by accelerating translation of its rich research portfolio to the public.

Co-working space

The Garage

• Space provided: Multiple spaces, including office space, AR/VR lab, Fabrication lab
• Open to: Northwestern students 
• Description: The Garage is a cross-disciplinary space designed for all Northwestern students to explore innovation and entrepreneurship through resident and non-resident programs. The AR/VR Lab features the Oculus Rift, Microsoft HoloLens, and HTC Vive. All students, faculty and staff of Northwestern are welcome to visit during staffed hours. The last demo ends 15 minutes before the end of each shift. The Prototyping Lab is equipped with Formlabs Form 2 3D printers, Makerbot Replicators, woodworking equipment, an electronics workbench, Carveys, a sewing machine, and vinyl cutter. The Prototyping Lab, with newly added maker and hacker equipment, is open to Garage Residents Only. Resident programs focus on honing ventures in a period of 3-4 months, while non-resident programs include workshops and courses to help get ideas forming.  The Garage Residency Program is an opportunity for student teams, both undergraduate and graduate, to be core members of The Garage’s entrepreneurial community. Resident teams use The Garage as their office and receive special privileges like 24/7 access, a weekly Family Dinner and priority for office hours with mentors. Ideas can be for-profit or not-for-profit, hardware or software, commercial products or artistic endeavors—anything that requires bringing a new idea to fruition. Resident teams are selected on a quarterly basis. 

MATTER

• Space provided: Shared desk
• Open to: Northwestern faculty, students and staff
• Description: MATTER is a community of healthcare entrepreneurs and industry leaders working together in a shared space to individually and collectively fuel the future of healthcare innovation. Northwestern is a member of MATTER which allows access to selected early stage startups in Health IT. 
• Northwestern contact: Andrea Minogue, a-minogue@northwestern.edu

mHub

• Space provided: Multiple, including co-working office space and prototyping labs
• Open to: Northwestern faculty, students and staff 
• Description: mHUB Chicago is more than a co-working space for hardware entrepreneurs and makers in Chicago, it is a growing community focused on development, manufacturing and commercialization of electronic and IoT devices, and other physical products. mHUB offers a wide range of resources to reduce the time and cost of physical product design and development; in addition to 10 prototyping labs, mHUB has a dynamic community of over 150 members with a variety of skillets and experience that you can reach out to for ideas and help. mHUB's members are creating breakthrough products in robotics, connected devices, sensors, energy tech, unmanned vehicles, and other cutting edge innovations. By providing the right resources, mentorship, and access to manufacturing industry insiders, mHUB helps early-stage innovators go from prototype to product to sustainable business. Check out their equipment list for more information about their resources and explore their dynamic member community.
• Northwestern contact:  Mike Beltran, mbeltran@northwestern.edu

Prototyping & Access to University Instrumentation

Segal Prototyping and Fabrication Lab

• Space provided: Fabrication lab
• Open to: Northwestern students and faculty
• Description: Segal Prototyping and Fabrication Lab provides an opportunity through design to move from theory to practice in a safe and supportive learning environment. It is located in the basement and sub-basement of the Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center and is available for student use. The Segal Prototyping and Fabrication Lab is available to students and faculty in support of their educational project work. The lab is staffed by lab professionals and student lab leaders who are skilled in the equipment and processes necessary for the execution of project designs.

Northwestern Shared and Core Facilities