About the West Houston Institute

Our Mission

The West Houston Institute is Houston Community College's center for strategic innovation. Conceived collaboratively by stakeholders across the college and our communities, the Institute opened in Spring 2018 with a vision to reimagine and reinvent higher education by providing students and the community with the essential mindsets and skillsets needed to thrive today.

WHI offers several signature programs to accomplish this, including IDEAS Academy for educators and students, Innovation Fellows for college faculty and staff, and HOUMade for our local small businesses and communities. We also offer unique educational spaces in support of creativity and collaboration including IDEAStudio, a 10,000 square foot makerspace, the Collaboratorium, a solution design center, and the Learning Commons, our vision for the modern library, and advanced science labs and research space for life and physical sciences. WHI also has a state of the art conference space utilized by both internal and external clients throughout the year.

Our Team

Administration

Jordan Carswell, Director, Innovation Strategy and West Houston Institute

Mayra Herrera, Coordinator, West Houston Institute

Programs

Kameco de los Santos, Program Coordinator, Educational Initiatives

Connie Leon, Program Coordinator, Community Initiatives

Makerspace

Israel Garza, Manager, IDEAStudio Makerspace

Jeffrey Chen, Senior Makerspace Technician, IDEAStudio

Azarel Garcia, Makerspace Technician, IDEAStudio