Prototyping Ideas Quickly

The ability to swiftly prototype ideas, discern their viability, and pivot with agility is a critical skill for success. Led by Roel Snieder (Director of Center for Professional Development Education) and Sid Saleh (Director of McNeil Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation), this  workshop empowers participants to embrace the philosophy of failing fast and iterating to succeed. Learn techniques to prototype ideas quickly, efficiently assess their potential, and make informed decisions on whether to iterate or move on.

This Workshop is co-led by Roel Snieder who holds the W.M. Keck Distinguished Chair of Professional Development Education at the Colorado School of Mines. He received in 1984 a Masters degree in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics from Princeton University, and in 1987 a Ph.D. in seismology from Utrecht University. In 1993 he was appointed as professor of seismology at Utrecht University, where from 1997-2000 he served as Dean of the Faculty of Earth Sciences. Roel served on the editorial boards of Geophysical Journal International, Inverse Problems, Reviews of Geophysics, the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, and the European Journal of Physics. In 2000 he was elected as Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. He is author of the textbooks  "A Guided Tour of Mathematical Methods for the Physical Sciences", "The Art of Being a Scientist", and "The Joy of Science" that are published by Cambridge University Press. In 2011 he was elected as Honorary Member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and in 2014 he received a research award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 2016 Roel received the Beno Gutenberg Medal from the European Geophysical Union and the Outstanding Educator Award from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He received in 2020 the Ange Melagro Prize for his outstanding class Science and Spirituality. From 2000-2014 he was a firefighter in Genesee Fire Rescue where he served for two years as Fire Chief.

Sid Saleh is co-facilitating this workshop. Sid co-founded International Aviation Network followed by 6 years at Apple, 1 years at Gateway as Services Marketing and Product Managers and then he founded another start up company, Center for Services Marketing, Inc from 2001-2014. Earned PhD in Technology, Media & Design from University of Colorado Boulder, 2015 after 20 plus years of professional industry experience. Research focus: How collectives develop creative ideas in concert with the constraints they face; Dissertation focused on creativity under time pressure and entrepreneurial decision-making.

Sid joined Mines in 2018 developing, redesigning and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Hacking for Defense, Innov8x, Intro to Entrepreneurship, Risk and Resilience, including the development of E&I course modules for faculty across campus.

Sid is the director of the McNeil Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation since January 2023 (Associate Director for E&I from 2018-2022): leading development, execution and promotion of the courses, programs, projects, and policies sponsored by the McNeil Center; engaging mentors, Entrepreneurs in Residence and working professionals in student projects; coordinates and mentors E&I students and helping them work towards viable startups, assuring that the program supports their timely progress towards graduation and E&I goals.

This workshop is part of the Career Toolkit for Graduate Students workshop series. Career Toolkit for Graduate Students & Postdocs is a workshop series aiming to provide early career researchers with tips, tools, and best practices across the research lifecycle as well as prepare students for life beyond school.

The series is hosted weekly by Seth Vuletich, Scholarly Communications Librarian, and Roel Snieder, Director of the Center for Professional Development Education.