About
We create, teach, and help organizations navigate complex challenges through inquiry, making and discovery.
Products, installations, public health initiatives, artworks, and experiences. From 3D printed lamps to 3.5 million medical face shields, we make ideas tangible.
From K-12 students to university educators, we teach the Creative Discovery Method through hands-on making, rapid prototyping, and collaborative experimentation.
We help businesses, cultural institutions, and community organizations integrate applied curiosity into their strategic work through innovation sprints and custom programs.
The cabinet
Specimens from fifteen years in the unknown on purpose.
The method
The Creative Discovery Method is a systematic practice for turning curiosity into tangible outcomes: transforming open-ended questions into explorations, experiments, and reflections that end in real, working things. We didn't invent it and then execute it; it emerged from the pattern of what actually worked.
The Creative Discovery Method →
Meet the Budmens
Stephanie Budmen and Isaac Budmen
Stephanie and Isaac Budmen are inventors, designers, and educators based in Syracuse, New York. Their work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the London Science Museum, and the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum. During the pandemic, they produced 3.5 million face shields for hospitals in 45 days. Under NSF funding, they've led inquiry-based education programs that have reached approximately 13,000 students over the last four years. They run Budmen Industries, an applied curiosity practice, which they've kept open for fifteen years.
Together they wrote Applied Curiosity, published September 18, 2026: the illustrated field guide to their practice. tryappliedcuriosity.com →
The work
Heritage Park, Digitized 
Scarab Vase When the scan seemed impossible, an assumption surfaced; the answer was to try again in the dark. 
Curious Critter Corner Fifty students, two weeks, eight questions, and the moment failure became fuel. 
Watts the Spot Students went to their communities to find where access to power was a safety issue. Recognized by
2026
A current outstanding technology project, invention, or process designed, invented, or constructed in Central New York.
The Scarab Vase
2026
Recognizes community and educational leaders in Central New York who advance science, technology, engineering, and math education.
Budmen Industries
Stephanie and Isaac Budmen are on a mission to inspire curiosity and exploration. Their passion for discovery has lead them to give talks, workshops, and lectures at venues like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard University, SxSW, Haystack Mountain School for Craft, the AIGA and many more. They are always eager to share the Creative Discovery Method with those eager to unlock their own potential.
Have an impossible question or a project that sparks curiosity? Want to bring Budmen Industries to your community? Connect with us on our inquiry page to start your journey.
Work With Us