September 13, 2024

Naghmeh Ghalamsiah, a PhD student in architectural engineering, was selected as the 2024 Creativity Pitch Challenge Award Winner!

Naghmeh's pitch entitled, "Four-Step Creativity Exploration and Integration Program," will be explored further by Naghmeh and a working group consisting of faculty and professional staff members in creativity and design research studies. The working group will also take an inventory of creativity programs and activities across the university and work with key stakeholders to determine how best to make students aware of opportunities and the importance of creativity in their work.

The challenge marked the first inaugural and was inspired by the theme of the 2024 Drexel Emerging Graduate Scholars (DEGS) Conference, "Cultivating Creativity to Foster Innovation". The theme honors Fredricka "Freddie" Reisman, professor emerita, founder of Drexel’s School of Education, and pioneer in creativity research.

"Innovation is the implementation of creative novel ideas – and without creativity there is nothing to innovate." -Freddie Reisman

The challenge provided an opportunity for conference attendees to share their ideas following the conference plenary session. In addition to the challenge, Drs. Nicholas and Reisman also offered mentoring sessions to help graduate students who submitted a proposal assess their own skills in creativity utilizing the Reisman Diagnostic Creativity Assessment (RDCA).

By elevating and recognizing creativity, we will foster a culture of creativity and innovation at Drexel in alignment with the Drexel 2030 – Designing the Future Strategic Plan.