Meet Cody Candler, MS–Creative Industries track, 2020

Creative Technologist

Photo of Cody Candler
With a background in engineering and education and an interest in entrepreneurship, Cody Candler joined the MS–Creative Industries program to expand his ability to develop products in educational technology, specifically promoting confidence and diversity in STEM through new educational tools. At ATLAS he co-founded an award-winning startup education company, , where he reinvented an industry-standard tool, the breadboard (EdBoard), to make it easy and fun for students as young as 6 to learn about electricity and electrical circuits. 

Backstory

After graduating top of his class through CU Boulder’s Engineering Plus program, earning a teaching certificate while focusing his undergraduate studies on civil engineering, design and secondary science education, Cody immediately joined the MS program in CTD, following the Creative Industries track. While student teaching he noticed bright students struggling with basic STEM concepts, leading him to develop EdBoard Technologies, a startup that would later become his ATLAS Creative Industries design project. 

Coursework

 Core: 

  • Creative Industries Professional Seminar: The Business of Creativity
  • Creative TechnologiesDesign Methods
  • Design Studio 

Electives: 

  • User-Experience Design
  • Community Based-Design
  • K12 Computer Science Education Research
  • Venture Capital and Private Equity
  • Product Development and Design
  • Startup Execution 

Projects

: A study investigating electrical circuitry education and understanding in children aged 5-11 years old when comparing EdBoards and traditional breadboards.

Cody’s Thesis project was the creation of EdBoard technologies and the accompagnying studies on the Edboard effectiveness on learning. The Edboard technology targets children between the ages of 5 and 11 in an attempt to increase their confidence and understanding when learning complicated electrical engineering concepts. Cody and his team set out to redesgn the classic breadboard technology that is used to teach circuitry, and created the Edboard concept in its place. Edboards incorporate magnetic and spatious interfaces with engaging and understandable story-based lessons to create an interactive learning space. Preliminary studies indicated that novice students are able to comprehend certain electrical engineering concepts four times more quickly when using EdBoards than with standard breadboards.

Let's Go Fishing: A deep dive into motion capture and graphic design.

Cody's "Let's Go Fishing" project was a motion capture and visual graphic design project exhibited at the ATLAS Institute motion capture studio as part of the “Motion of Seasons” installation on Dec. 12, 2018.

Career Goals

To help young students to become confident and thrive in STEM environments through positive experiences with EdBoard Technologies products.