The longstanding partnership behind the Libraries’ iPearl Innovation Studio

When Haihui Huang put his company’s name on the iPearl Immersion Theater in the Hunt Library in 2012, he spoke about the opportunity that NC State gave him to study in the U.S. and his desire to give something back to future generations of students at the university.

Now, through a new gift to the Libraries, Huang and his wife Bella have extended that commitment by naming the Hill Library’s iPearl Innovation Studio. iPearl, which recently celebrated its fifteenth anniversary, makes the popular mCover hard shell cases for laptops, tablets, and other devices.

For Huang, these commitments to the Libraries are very personal. His fond memories of studying in the Hill Library for his Electrical and Computer Engineering MA (‘01) led him to serve on the Libraries’ Technology Advisory Board around the time of the Hunt Library’s opening in 2013. Huang also donated mCovers to the Libraries’ technology lending program, so students have been using iPearl products for many years.

“The current iPearl Innovation Studio at the Hill Library used to be a computer lab in 1999, which was the place I used to finish most of my course projects,” Huang says. “When I was a graduate student, the Libraries was my favorite place to learn about new technologies and increase my knowledge, which sparked my creativity and helped me to found iPearl, Inc. in 2008. In just 5 years, the company was already a success at Amazon worldwide with 20+ bestseller products.”

“I was overjoyed to acknowledge that spark a decade ago when the Hunt Library opened, and I’m just as excited now to support the Innovation Studio at the Hill Library. The sky’s the limit in this new interactive space, and I hope it inspires generations of students to come.”

The Hunt Library’s iPearl Immersion Theater has been greeting visitors for a decade near the second-floor entrance with its gently curving, floor-to-ceiling video display that surrounds the viewer with exhibits of outstanding student and faculty work. Visitors can select from a menu of exhibits to experience.

The Hill Library’s iPearl Innovation Studio takes interactive exhibits to the next level. Debuting in 2020 as part of the Hill Library renovation, the space’s extensive tabletops feature a variety of exhibits that are projected from a suspended array. A visitor moves their hands in the air above the table to interact with the projection, choosing to play videos and audio, scroll through slideshows, display project images and narratives, and more.

Visitors can peruse the publications from a Zines & Comics class, see how 3D-printed topographical maps are made, discover a portfolio of Master’s of Art and Design thesis projects, or become vampires in a conceptual role-playing game. The iPearl Innovation Studio turns project presentations into interactive entertainment and educational resources, providing a creative outlet to spark the minds of generations of students to come.

“Looking back over a decade and a half of iPearl, I’m awed and grateful for how far I’ve come and how much the company has grown. I hope that all NC State students get to look back upon their careers like that someday. The Libraries definitely can give them a great foundation for such careers and inspiration for entrepreneurship.”