The Carolinas Innovation Collaborative was launched to generate innovative ideas for products to improve health care delivery and to improve independence and quality of life for senior citizens. In collaboration with regional hospitals, senior citizen living groups, and rehabilitation centers, ideas are generated through creative brainstorming sessions.

Through the Center for Rapid Product Realization here at Western Carolina University, we translate ideas such as these into product prototypes. Groups of student engineers take on some of the projects. Other ideas are developed by graduate students, faculty and staff, or industry partners. The ideas from the collaborative help our students become better engineers at the same time that our unique Center helps ideas become products that can improve our regional economy and our quality of life.

This effort is sponsored by the Golden Leaf Foundation.