I've been fortunate enough to work in the CS Department as a Section Leader for CSC120 and CSC210, the ECE Department as an Undergraduate Learning Assistant for ECE175, and the ISTA Department as an undergraduate research intern in Artificial Intelligence.
A common thread I found in all of these positions (both as a student and instructor) was the lack of personal freedom and opportunity in my computer science life. It seemed as if our academic experience was limited to only what coursework demanded - there appeared to be no way to develop individual ideas, let alone share them with our colleagues and classmates. Many students went 4+ years feeling stressed, with no personal projects to look forward to or display.
I feel that it's important for people, not just students, to work on things just because they want to. Of course, not everyone will do so - some of us are fine just doing whatever we are required to do. Having information and opportunity presented to us, however, provides the chance for more. I believe personal projects are what give us individual flavor, development, and specialization; having a resource to both showcases opportunities and develop ideas empowers computer science students to take more ownership of their academic journey.
I'm not going to pretend like I had fully realized the sentiments above all this time. These were internal thoughts brought to the surface after hearing about the mission of IdeaLab and what the Computer Science department had in mind. In my last semester at the University of Arizona, IdeaLab jumped out as an opportunity to bridge students together on a personal level outside of coursework, but still within the academic sphere. There is a huge potential for knowledge transfer and opportunity to build something tangible. I'm excited for what the future of this effort holds - let's do some great things together!