Open Minis: Topics in I&E
How Does Virtual Reality Integrate with Innovation and Entrepreneurship?
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are taking the world by storm with novel applications in medicine, gaming, travel, research, and sports. We embraced both VR and AR in order to spearhead their introduction into the mainstream community of Stony Brook University in order to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Learn how we developed a new facility, partnered with key campus areas to create new space for this, what we have developed so far and where we want to go for future innovation.
Presenters:
David Ecker, Stony Brook University
Marcin Kielkiewicz, Stony Brook University
From Pathways to the Neckoskeleton: Inter-College collaboration in the development of a new biomedical product
Last year, a team from Western Carolina University was selected to join the 2015-16 cohort of the Pathways to Innovation program. Our team identified opportunities for collaboration between the colleges of Health, Business, and Engineering in the development of biomedical products. In response to these opportunities, we organized a problem pitch for medical professionals in our region. At this event, Dr. Candace Ireton described the need for improvements in the treatment of cervical-cranial instability in individuals who suffer from Ehler-Danlos Syndrome. Utilizing the strategic doing approach we learned from Pathways, we launched a collaboration between Physical Therapy, Business, Engineering, and Dr. Ireton to develop a cervical collar designed for EDS patients. We currently have Capstone students from business and engineering and graduate students from PT working on this project. Our goal is for this project to be the pilot for an ongoing, externally funded collaboration between students.
Presenter:
Scott Pierce, Western Carolina University
J-TUPP: When physics takes on entrepreneurship, innovation, and career preparation
The Joint Task Force on Undergraduate Physics Programs was charged to recommend changes to physics curricula to prepare graduates for 21st century careers. Key to this work has been the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship into physics education. As physics tries to ‘catch up’ with other disciplines, the J-TUPP report guides departments and provides methods for implementing I&E into their programs. There is great challenge to making the necessary cultural shifts in an academic discipline that has traditionally eschewed ‘application’, and where the faculty often do not have the personal experience or connections to the private sector. This talk will discuss these issues and the J-TUPP recommendations that will hopefully revitalize physics education for the 21st century.
Presenter:
Douglas Arion, Carthage College
Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Physics: Building bridges to new STEM communities
A groundswell of interest in physics innovation and entrepreneurship (PIE) education has been taking place among physics educators in recent years. Yet many departments have been developing new approaches and activities in a vacuum, without access to developed materials or a community of fellow practitioners. Compounding the challenges of isolation, practitioners are also faced with persistent attitudinal and cultural barriers within physics against adoption of innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) activities as an integral part of the student experience.
In this talk I describe how this nascent community has gained a foothold through targeted conferences, sessions, and projects (including the NSF-funded PIPELINE project, which will develop and disseminate PIE curricula, and produce research instruments that can be used by other departments for monitoring and improving institutional change around PIE). This process can inform efforts to build innovation and entrepreneurship into a broader set of I&E-resistant STEM communities.
Presenter:
Crystal Bailey, American Physical Society
Track: Topics in I&E