The J. Hyneman Center (JHC for short) is an easy access protolab designed by one of LUT’s honorary doctors, Mr. Jamie Hyneman, in collaboration with LUT experts and industry advocates. The protolab is a place for developing an understanding of the world by exploring, working hard and having fun.
“Have an idea and walk out with a thing”
JHC, located at the LUT Lappeenranta campus, gives you the freedom to bring your enthusiasm to the table and start building – or defusing. The protolab is well equipped with tools and materials. The 330 square meters of total floor area consists of a large group workspace and a metal, paint, wood and electronics workshop.
Teams that want to work in the protolab can reserve group workstations and use JHC equipment and tools as needed. The operation of some of the equipment requires certain know-how, but it is sufficient that one member of a multidisciplinary team has the necessary skills. Other than that, you can use the Jamie Hyneman Center with no restrictions.
“Start working and the learning will follow”
The protolab brings together students, university research and companies. You can work on projects of your own, create something based on a company’s request or create something for a course. In this way, the students build a strong connection to student entrepreneurship and university innovation.
The general idea of JHC is that when you start working, the learning will follow. As one of the protolab’s designers, Jamie Hyneman reminds us that innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We all have ideas and skills; JCH is a place to trade, test and refine them.
Jamie Hyneman will stay closely involved in the protolab’s operations. For example, in a course named Project work at JHC, students come up with ideas for new projects, and Mr. Hyneman will choose four to six of these ideas for further development. These projects are provided with a small budget. Mr. Hyneman will help the students with the projects remotely, and at the end, the new inventions are presented to everyone.
