Information

Mission

The mission of Helix R&D is to provide a platform for which students who have ideas, and wish to bring them to life, can do so in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Direction

The direction of Helix R&D is to continue to grow and evolve as a platform that supports student innovation and entrepreneurship. Over the course of the next few years we intend to build membership and create a student community that is passionate about building and creating.

Membership

Helix currently recognizes three levels of involvement.

Supporter

Follows and supports Helix and may appear in supporter recognition records.

Supporter status does not carry project obligations and does not require an account.

Member

Active participant in Helix projects and club work with access to member-level areas of the site.

Membership requires an account and is reserved for approved participants contributing to Helix operations.

Board Member

Leadership and organizational role within Helix with elevated site permissions.

Board Members manage organizational functions, including supporter records and approval workflows.

2026-2027

How Helix R&D Operates

Helix R&D runs on a simple, repeatable operating system designed to keep projects organized, collaborative, and sustainable. The goal is to make it easy for students to propose ideas, get approval, form teams, and ship real outcomes.

1. Roles & Responsibility

SER Board (Student Executive & Review Board)

  • Serves as club leadership and governance.
  • Makes final decisions on project approvals, resource allocation, and club direction.
  • Reviews project applications and club telemetry, including member counts, active projects, and progress.

Members

  • Execute work on projects and club initiatives.
  • Can propose project ideas through the project application process.
  • Participate in meetings, updates, and team collaboration.

Supporters

  • Support Helix without full member project obligations.
  • May assist with feedback, outreach, or event support as applicable.

Project Head (Project Owner)

  • Owns an approved project after submitting it for review.
  • Recruits a team, assigns tasks, and coordinates work.
  • Provides updates, keeps basic documentation organized, and guides the project toward demo or readiness milestones.

2. Meeting System

General Meetings

Full-club meetings are intended to maximize attendance and keep everyone aligned.

  • Meetings start directly after school.
  • Board members share club updates and news.
  • Project teams give progress updates.
  • SER Board-approved teams may request additional members or specific skills.
  • A designated group may stay after to onboard new members into how Helix works and current projects.

SER Board Meetings

Board meetings may be online or in person, are typically shorter, and focus on governance.

  • Vote on decisions, especially project applications and later membership decisions.
  • Plan overall direction and priorities.
  • Review constraints, risk, and club telemetry across projects, participation, and resources.

3. Dual-Track Model: Development + Research

Helix uses a dual-track system where Development and Research run in parallel.

Research

Research projects aim to produce tools, methods, datasets, or reports that help future builds.

Development

Development projects aim to produce demos, products, or services and generate measurable questions that research can investigate.

This structure lets Helix build tools through research and use development as a platform for further research.

4. Project Lifecycle

  1. 1. A member or board member submits a project application.
  2. 2. The SER Board reviews and votes, informed by Helicon updates and project materials.
  3. 3. If approved, the Project Head recruits initial members through meetings and coordination.
  4. 4. The Project Head prepares a one-page kickoff covering scope, roles, first tasks, and an initial milestone.
  5. 5. After the kickoff is submitted, a board member creates the project channel.
  6. 6. The team begins work and provides updates as needed.
  7. 7. Projects aim for periodic demos, updates, and end-of-semester progress reporting.

Future option: a board member may act as a Project Patron for more involved oversight and support.