NEXT Innovation Scholar chosen for Fulbright UK Summer Institute

Kemats’ collegiate journey has been marked by a deep commitment to interdisciplinary learning and innovation—in fact, it’s why he chose UC in the first place.

“For me, it’s all about being able to get a wide, transdisciplinary approach to my degree,” he said.

Even in high school, Kemats’ inventive mindset was evident; he and his friends established a creative collective in their rural Appalachian hometown to provide a platform for alternative multidisciplinary artists. At UC, Kemats expanded his work, co-oping in the 1819 Innovation Hub, facilitating innovation workshops and taking the lead on an inaugural Future Creators report.

The Fulbright UK Summer Institutes will not be Kemats’ first international experience, as UC’s innovation programs recognize the inherent need for global networking in order to solve the world’s most complex problems.

In his second year at UC, Kemats took an innovation course—taught by Bradley—built around the premise of thinking globally and acting locally. Ten students from Cincinnati, including Kemats, worked virtually with ten students from Montreal, Canada on a social integration project. At the end of the semester, the UC students traveled to Montreal to collaborate with their Canadian classmates.

“That was my first time really working on a team that had an immersive, cultural feeling,” Kemats explained.

Kemats is also a member of the University Innovation Fellows program, an initiative run by Stanford University’s d.school. During this past spring semester, the program held a global meetup conference in the Netherlands, offering Kemats another occasion to collaborate with students worldwide and foster an environment of global innovation.

Through these immersions, Kemats recognized the value of expanding his horizons and looked for additional ways to connect with international innovation initiatives. By connecting with the NCA office, he found and applied for that next opportunity—the Fulbright U.K. Summer Institutes.

Sitting on the tarmac, waiting on his plane to head back to the U.S., Kemats got the email that he had been accepted to the program.

“It’s kind of surreal,” he said. “Six months ago, I would have never thought I’d be considered for something like this.”

Kemats looks forward to exploring the historical and contemporary aspects of Scotland’s innovative landscape.

“I’m excited to immerse myself in the culture and understand how the Scottish culture influences innovation and what is driving it forward,” he said. “I’m interested to see the wide spectrum of everything—from the past, to the present, to the future—and I hope I can get immersed in that side of things.”

His involvement and insights gathered from his time in Glasgow are bound to further enrich his already impressive academic portfolio.

“This particular institute in Scotland will give Max a chance to explore the questions that are most important to him in a new cultural environment and bring back what he learns to his innovation work at UC,” said Hyest.

Since Kemats is only a second-year student, his future is wide open. Only time—and travel—will tell what innovations he will come up with next.

Student interview by Natalie Ochmann

Featured image at top: Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Scotland. Photo/Unsplash/Artur Kraft