ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½

ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ has named alumnus Garrett Hart director of the Branam and Kremer Innovation Centers, a newly created position focused on expanding hands-on learning, strengthening student competition teams, and guiding the continued growth of two of the college’s primary spaces for student innovation. He joined ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ on September 15. 

Hart, who earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ in 2024, returns after gaining engineering experience across the energy, aerospace, defense, and medical-device industries. He also brings firsthand knowledge of the role the centers play in helping students transform ideas into working designs. As a student, he co-founded and served as president of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½’s NASA Student Launch team, growing the organization to 40 active members within two years. He also received the Innovation Center’s Most Valuable Competition Team Member Award and an Outstanding Student Leader Award from Student Affairs.

“We are pleased to welcome Garrett Hart as director of the Branam and Kremer Innovation Centers,” said ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Ellen Goldey. “Garrett’s energy and passion for innovation, student mentorship, and experiential learning make him an outstanding choice to lead these centers.”

The Branam and Kremer Innovation Centers provide approximately 30,000 square feet of makerspaces where students design, fabricate and test projects; collaborate across disciplines; and prepare for regional and national engineering competitions. As director, Hart will provide strategic leadership for the centers while coaching select student competition teams and supporting the faculty, staff, and student employees who contribute to their success.

“It means a great deal to me to return to ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½. As a student, the Innovation Centers were where I took on projects well beyond anything in my coursework, where I learned to rebuild a design that failed a week before competition, and where I spent countless hours building rockets and robots with people who became my closest friends,” Hart said. “Students who spend their time here, as I did, leave with far more than technical skill. They learn to lead, to collaborate outside their own major, and to carry a project through to completion. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead these Centers, and I look forward to working with our students, faculty, alumni, and industry partners to strengthen and grow the incredible opportunities we offer our students.” 

Most recently, Hart served as a lead software engineer with MISO Energy, developing data-visualization and decision-support tools for power-grid operators. He previously gained engineering experience with organizations including DEKA Research & Development, Ursa Major, and Kratos Space and Defense. 

Hart’s appointment is part of ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½’s continued investment in competition teams and hands-on learning. That investment also includes the new Competition Teams Scholarship, introduced this year for incoming students who participated in high school design, robotics, computing, or engineering teams. 

“Recently, a generous gift to our endowment from an alumnus helped us expand opportunities for students in the Branam and Kremer Innovation Centers, including making this new director position possible,” said ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ President Robert A. Coons. “Some of the most valuable learning at ÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½ happens when students take what they’ve learned in the classroom and put it into practice. These centers give students the space and resources to build, experiment, solve problems and learn from setbacks. This gift is a wonderful example of how alumni can give back in ways that directly enrich the educational experience for the students who follow them.”