Filled with past projects, innovative technology, bean bag chairs and replicas of Salvador Dali’s famous mustache, the Digital Arts Leadership and Innovation Lab has been a hub of experiential learning and problem solving since 2013. Recently, the lab moved locations to a new, expanded room in Sudikoff Hall and hired additional staff members.
Student workers in the DALI Lab are paid to design and develop technology tools for real world projects. There is a year-long waitlist for new projects, which include partnerships with faculty, non-profit organizations, government agencies and startups.
Lorie Loeb, the executive director of DALI Lab and a research professor in the computer science department, hopes that the new space will increase the capacity of students who can work in the lab, as well as the number of projects the laboratory can sustain.
Loeb said that the old space, a former research lab for graduate students, did not suit all the program’s needs. The new space, paid for by the computer science department and the Dean’s Office, is designed with a startup-like environment that makes it a “creative, fun, safe space for students to work and hang-out,” Loeb said, adding that “the look of and feel of the space is critical to the success of [DALI’s] work.”
The DALI Lab is a highly sought-after student employer. Between 55 and 65 students apply per term and only 20 percent of interested applicants are accepted. Currently, 5 percent of all Dartmouth students work at DALI Lab during their time on campus, and with the new space, this number is expected to increase significantly.
Patrick Xu ‘17, a computer science major, joined the DALI Lab his junior fall. He was accepted after his third consecutive term applying to the program. Xu is a student staff member in the Core Student Leadership Team originally drawn to the DALI Lab’s focus on building and developing technology.
“Building things like mobile apps and websites is the aspect of computer science I was most drawn to, but something that’s not really offered in the curriculum,” Xu said. “Classes are more about theory than application, and the DALI Lab is the only place on campus that offered the hands-on approach I was looking for.”
With increasing numbers of students majoring in computer science, there has been a greater need for well-designed, well-developed technology tools. The DALI Lab allows students to build on the skills they learn in the classroom and think creatively about ideas and problem-solving.
By understanding the value of human-centered design methods, students in the DALI Lab can apply effective user interface and user experience designs taught in the classroom to real-world needs. Over two dozen majors and minors are represented by students working in the lab.
In addition to expanding its physical space, the DALI Lab has hired a new lab administrator and project manager. Erica Lobel, the new project manager and a graduate of Carleton College, will help guide individual project managers within each project group to help them stay focused and keep deadlines.
Additionally, the lab is in the process of hiring a new design resident. Lobel said she hopes to provide some leadership training such as workshops or retreats to combine the computational aspect of DALI Lab with management. Loeb said Lobel’s previous, non-technical experience in the outdoors and park services brings a completely different perspective to the majority of the lab’s staff. This difference, Loeb added, will be an asset toward interacting with businesses and partners of the lab.
Currently, the DALI Lab partners with Deloitte’s head of innovation and the Deloitte Neuroscience Institute to demonstrate the relationship between neuroscience and business models.
The lab also works with “Treasure Hunt,” a mobile game startup that combines geo-caching with scavenger hunts in a Pokemon Go-esque building and playing app that allows users to create a hunt, and players to participate in one.
