Welcome to “Innovation at the Verge”

1. Welcome to “Innovation at the Verge”

3. Organizes and generates creativity and innovation opportunities suggested by and for FSEHS and our stakeholders

8. In the works… Workshops, including “Identifying Your Personal Innovation Quotient” with Training Office (April) First-ever IDEABlast on a critical topic (TBD) Brainstorm sessions - Homeschooling - Substitute teaching Webinars on innovation for educators

9. NOT!

10. Creativity vs. Innovation Creativity - The ability to create something new through imaginative action … -- Britannica Innovation - Putting ideas into valuable action -- OVO

12. Innovations at the Verge

13. What do you see?

15. Training Story Questions: What two ideas come together at the Verge? What are the strengths of each of the ideas? What is the new territory created that did not exist before?

16. at the Verge Innovation

17. Great Innovations in History Wireless radio Electricity Escapement movement (clock) Air conditioning Elevators X-rays Penicillin Coat hangers Band-Aids Bread slicer (1928) Electric battery Coffee pot Toilet paper Roll film Hot air balloon Franklin stove Cotton gin Telescope Microbiology Printing press Stirrups Spinning wheel Integrated circuit

18. Innovation’s Role “Innovation is the only method to generate new organic sales growth, yet many firms treat innovation as if it’s accidental and something done by a select few.” -- Peter Drucker

19. Numerous Types of Innovation Open Closed Incremental Breakthrough Disruptive Product Process Financial Organizational … and more

20. Strategies for Innovating Look further Ask questions; probe Study; analyze and synthesize information Reflect Revisit Connect

21. Immelt's challenge to his peers: Reinvent your business, or go home. "This economic crisis doesn't represent a cycle. It represents a reset. It's an emotional, social, economic reset. People who understand that will prosper. Those who don't will be left behind." • -- GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt

22. Partners Over There Target Corporation + Minnesota Department of Public Safety + Hard-core repeat criminals Solution: Apply features of Target’s inventory program to track felons and parolees statewide

23. Potential Innovations: • Products • Audiences/markets • Customer service • Sales • Marketing • Competition • Delivery • Organization • _________________? Partners Over There – What Can We Learn? FSEHS Partners: BrainSmart Pearson Blackboard US D.O.E. Aventura Marketing Council Community colleges BCPS and MDPS ________________

24. Adaptation is Quicker Than Invention General Motors Corporation + Centers for Disease Control and Prevention + Vehicle problems Solution: Apply elements of CDCP’s food poison analysis process to find/solve problems more quickly

25. Innovation? Or Invention? Adaptation is Quicker Than Invention- What Can We Learn? eBay PayPal iTunes Amazon Personal computers Email E-books Fax machines FedEx Online courseware Webinars _______________

26. Innovation Education?

27. Innovation In (on?) Education? Education /school “reform” vs. “innovation” “What’s wrong” vs. “Putting ideas into valuable action”

28. 21 Great Ways to Spur Innovation Copy someone else’s idea. Ask customers. Observe customers. Use difficulties and complaints. Eliminate elements or features. Ask your staff. Combine with other products or features. Plan for innovation. Run brainstorms. Examine patents. Collaborate with other departments or other organizations.

29. 21 Great Ways to Spur Innovation Minimize or maximize. Run a contest. Ask – what if? Watch the competition. Outsource for new ideas. Adapt a product to a new use. Use open innovation, seeking ideas that may not “fit” at first glance. Try Triz. Go back in time. Use social networks to follow trends and ask questions on groups like Twitter or Facebook.

30. Doing things differently – and better!

31. Thank you for participating!

33. Paper BatteriesIt is the revolution of battery technologies. I have written about new kinds of batteries several times. Now, up comes the most interesting one--a battery based on paper! Researchers at Stanford University took regular old copier paper, painted it with a coating that contained carbon nanotubes (nano technology is becoming mainstream!), dipped the combination in lithium solutions and some other chemicals and, eureka! -- apaper battery. The paper’s surface acts as both as a structural element and a collector of the electrical charge. And making batteries this way could reduce their weight by 20%. These paper batteries also have another very important property: they can release their energy rapidly which is a requirement for electric car batteries. Clearly, this is the beginning of a new battery paradigm.

34. Lotus Leaves and Solar CellsIn my book, Five Regions of the Future, I write about a technology domain I call Nature Tech. It uses technology that Nature has developed to improve human designed technology. Researchers at Stanford University have copied a texture from lotus leaves (nanoscale domes that look like eggs touching one another) and applied it to solar panels.  The results are dramatic reductions in solar energy reflected back into the sky by the solar cell (from 35% to only 6%) and, a surface that is self-cleaning. This makes the solar cell more efficient and reduces maintenance at the same time. What a deal! New Scientist, November 28, 2009, p. 25, including photo URL: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427366.500-lotus-leaf-solar-cells-soak-up-more-power.html Visit Five Regions of the Future self-learning exhibit at the KNOWLEDGE GALLERY at the Global Dialogue Center.

35. Professional Science Master's DegreesSheila Tobias, a columnist for Science News,  presents a powerful argument for the importance of a special kind of science degree for the 21st century, the Professional Science Master's Degree. She believes such a degree will be the equivalent of an MBA in the 20th century. I agree with her. Those who have a firm grasp of science and math will have great advantage in leading technology firms and firms who interface with technology. The heart of this new degree is a combination of graduate level science and math coupled to a new field of science and/or technology with management training. Think about the power of someone educated this way and trained to be a scientist/manager/leader, not just a scientist/technologist. By the way, this is another "verge" where two very different sets of disciplines are coming together to create a new kind of manager/researcher. Google:  "Professional Science Master's degree" URL:  http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/44373/title/Comment__Professional_Science_Masters_is_21st_ce

36. Digital Decor for Kid's BedroomsI had been tracking digital clothing which allows you to change the color or pattern of your clothes but I missed an obvious use for digital materials--wallpaper!  "Smartbricks" is a material developed in Israel to make wall tiles that display full-color images. The really cool thing is that once you have chosen the image, it stays with no additional power. You only need to add power to change it. The tiles reflect light rather than produce it, so when you turn the lights off, there is nothing to distract you. The company that developed this technology is now working on smart tiles that can show moving images. Smartbricks will debut in Japan by the end of this year thanks to Shimizu, a construction company. Right now it is very expensive--about $2500 per square meter; however, we know that as manufacturing ramps up that price will plummet.  A thought: is this the beginning of the "holodeck" from Star Trek?Google:  Shimizu,  "smartbricks" URL:  http://www.screens.tv/article/11643/SmartBricks_will_turn_walls_into_displays.html http://www.magink.com/page.php?id=7

37. #62 - Energy for automobilesFrom an unlikely source, MIT engineers have found a way to make electricity to power the electronics and charge the batteries in heavy vehicles. They have combined shock absorbers with electric generation. They call it GenShock. It converts the up and down actions of the shock absorber into electricity thus reducing the work of the alternator. The end result for heavy vehicles is a 10% improvement in gas mileage. For companies like Wal-Mart, Fed Ex, UPS, and Coca Cola, this could be millions of dollars per year in savings while reducing CO2 emissions. Levant Industries, the company the students started,  is producing the shocks under a license with MIT. This is another great example of innovation at the verge!You gotta love those MIT folks. They are really contributing to a better world!Google: GenShock, MIT electric shock absorber URL: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/shock-absorbers-0209.html http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/02/power-harvesting-shock-absorbers-can.html http://www.levantpower.com/genshocksavings.html