OMAHA, Nebraska (September 5, 2025)—A two-day workshop aimed at innovative faculty and staff at the University of Nebraska is planned for next month with the goal of creating novel solutions to a significant problem in healthcare.
The Nebraska X Design Workshop is planned for Tuesday, Nov. 11 and Wednesday, Nov. 12, at UNMC and will use design thinking methodology to develop ideas to help prevent patient falls in hospitals and other clinical spaces. (Patient falls in American hospitals lead to an estimated 250,000 injuries and about 11,000 deaths every year.)
The Design Thinking method is a five-stage process that first asks workshop participants to empathize with and then define the problem. Participants then brainstorm ideas and, finally, build and test a prototype.
The Nebraska X Design Workshop will begin with an all-day bootcamp at Omaha Catalyst on Tuesday, Nov. 11, to train attendees in the Design Thinking process. The next day—in the Nebraska Medicine Innovation Design Unit—will feature the Design Thinking “sprint workshop” using the five-step process to build solutions to the problem.
The event will be led by Doug Dietz, an industrial engineer and former Design Team Lead at GE Healthcare.
Both days with run all day, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.
The workshop is specifically targeted at anyone interested in problem-solving, thinking outside the box, and collaborative projects. Any faculty interested in learning more about the Design Thinking methodology for their colleges, departments and units are especially encouraged to apply.
The deadline to apply is Sept. 30, but all applications will be reviewed and accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Space is limited, so anyone interested is encouraged to apply soon.
The application form and more information can be found at https://bit.ly/NExDesign.
The Nebraska X Design Workshop sponsored by the Nebraska Research Initiative, in collaboration with UNeMed, UNeTech, UNMC Design Thinking and the Nebraska Medicine Innovation Design Unit.
