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Team Building the ‘Tech’ Way

Duke’s campus offers interesting places to visit with your department

Team building activities are a valuable way to strengthen work groups, and Duke staff and faculty don’t need to look far for ideas. Consider taking a campus “tech” tour with your team. “Team building gives the group a common language and a common experience,” said Keisha Williams, executive director of Duke’s Learning and Organization Development. “That shared experience provides a safe place to get to know co-workers and helps break down silos to help a team grow.”Here are some of the Office of Information Technology’s top campus picks. 

DiVE – The Duke immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE) is one of four virtual reality research and education facilities in the country. With the help of special goggles and a six-sided virtual reality “cave,” you enter immersive 3D worlds like an interactive kitchen, a roller coaster and even an ancient Roman villa and feel like you are really there. David Stein, the PepsiCo Education Technology Coordinator at Duke Libraries, toured the DiVE with his colleagues last year.  “People loved it,” he said. “You are in a glass box with computer screens on all four walls, the ceiling, and floor to create an environment. We were led through a passageway which required us to jump over ‘lava,’ then we entered a kitchen where we could open doors and interact with a few virtual critters.” The DiVE has a regularly scheduled open house every Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m., or you can request a private tour for a fee. The DiVE is located at the Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences (FCIEMAS).For more information about DiVE, visit the DiVE website.
Innovation Studio
– Check out the Office of Information Technology’s (OIT) Innovation Studio (iStudio) to see where technology and design meet. The iStudio spurs innovation by providing resources and support for cutting-edge technology like 3D printers, laser cutters and ShopBots. All of these machines are computer programmable to fabricate original designs. The possibilities are endless.  John Robinson, assistant dean of IT at the Nicholas School of the Environment, toured iStudio with his staff of seven during a team retreat over the summer. “It was pretty cool,” he said. “The staff walked us through the 3D printing. We saw a model of a brain and a student making inexpensive eyeglass frames for developing countries. It was a good opportunity for my team to share that experience together.”Request a tour here.
Duke Smart Home
– The Smart Home is a research-based home sponsored by the Pratt School of Engineering. The Smart Home program encourages students from different academic disciplines to form teams and explore smart ways to use technology in the home with a focus on sustainability. Smart Home features include “rainwater and solar catchment systems,” a 3D printer and community garden.  Public tours are September 12, October 31 and November 21. Tours start at 1:30 p.m. See here to schedule a private group tour or for an online photo tour.
Multimedia Project Studio
- The Multimedia Project Studio (MPS) is a specialized OIT computer lab designed for multimedia and graphic content production. Use advanced graphic design packages or have a little fun with the video camera and a “green screen,” where you can superimpose your image over interesting places.  MPS is in the lower level of Bostock Library. Learn more here. To take a tour, contact Chip Bobbert.

The Edge – The Edge: The Ruppert Commons for Research, Technology, and Collaboration is a new digital and visual team workspace in the renovated Bostock Library.  The Edge brings together resources and expertise to help Duke researchers innovate in a space that invites discovery, experimenting, and collaboration.  The décor and art are worth visiting. Learn more here and contact Brittany Wofford for group tours.
The Duke Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology
– An internationally recognized center for Hyperbaric Medicine, the facility uses oxygen chambers for treatment. The retro-looking hyperbaric controls are like a throwback to the 1950s, but this technology is real and in-use at Duke. Fun fact: Duke is the only civilian hyperbaric facility in the United States that carries the U.S. Navy Certification. Duke groups interested in a tour of the Hyperbaric Center can email Eric Hexdall.