Ends Lecture 4/21/09

These are some notes from class about what should be in my final essay.  I need to make sure it is a reflection of who I am, and I need to show how I can utilize what I learned in class.  I need to make it personal to myself, my major, and my life.  The word limit is 1000 but can add pictures.

For the team final I need to show how we see the future.  It can be humorous or can include anything we talked about in class.  We need to demonstrate what we got out of this class.

Focus on the future: 

The video, "did you know 3.0" was an eye opener to how fast the world is changing, so we have got to get going, and be prepared.  As a country we always think we are the best, but we are being lazy and staying in our comfort zone.  This is causing us to get left behind, we are not at the head of change and innovation anymore.  

There are four groups of people:  1.  Are we going to contribute to make the future we want to happen?  2.  Are we going to just wait and see what future will happen?  3.  When the future arrives, are we going to ask what happened?  4.   “huh, something happened?”  I read the book George Orwell’s 1984 my freshman year of high school and I have always thought their look into the future interesting.  

 I liked what Dr. Vanegas said about the cat.  You can’t sit a cat on a hot stove twice. Cats aren't stupid!    I think the boiling pot syndrome is a classic saying and more people should pay attention to it, including me.  Change temp fast the frog will jump out, if you gradually heat up the water, the frog doesn’t notice.

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.

                                                                        -Albert Einstein

Nothing ever is everything is becoming –John Danvers ;nothing is actually static.

Rather than just seeing people as they appear, one can also focus on who they are becoming.    Ex) susan boyle

I wanted to cry when I first saw this video, My priest sent it to me and I thought it was awesome!  She should be someone people look up to, not someone like Britney Spears.

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, READ!

 

The job market is changing, it is globalized and America is not the only source of trained workers.  We need to be learning and preparing for our next job because most jobs that we have now will not even exist in 20 years. 

The five pen computer was amazing. I never expected that!

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail -Ralph waldo emerson

Soft Innovations Part 2

My four innovations were an 'always warm hat', a hot wing machine, a personal cart, and the feeder pro.

Soft innovations Part 1

My ideas were a stick shift cover, a airplane gum dispenser, an easy find livestock ear tag, and bicycle alert.  I got all of these ideas at random moments where they just popped into my head, luckily I had just learned in class that when you get an idea write it down, so I did and I actually remembered them for once!

Ends Lecture 4/16/09

Idea challenge presentations:

The Governator:

This helps prevent accidents that are from differences in speed, helps regulate fuel emissions, there will be no more speeding tickets, and no more dangerous highspeed chases.  I like the idea but there are a few flaws I would have like clarified, like how are you going to pass somebody or slow down if there is an accident if you are not in control of your own car.  Could this be seen as a loss of our freedom?

The Feedback Meter:

This is environmentally friendly because it conserves our energy usage, and it will save you money.  I thought this was the best idea yet, it is cost effective, has a large market, a need is met, and would be just plain awesome and convenient to have. 

The Duct tape Key Chain:

This was a good presentation; they were the first group to actually sell their product after class and to throw prototypes out to the audience, which really gets their attendance.  It was neat, but I really don’t use tape that much.

The Hoffice:
This was a good use of space, but I don’t really think this is possible, I guess it would work in large cities or near a large airport where people only stay the night.  What would people store their things during the day would be the major problem. 

Smork (the smart fork)

I think this would be a great product to sell because the biggest issue today is obesity and everybody is looking for a way to help lose weight or stay at a healthy weight.

Interflow Gloves

This is definitely something I would buy I am always cold!

www.Hotspot.com

This is a good idea, but I think it would be better as an application on a phone.  Now that we have iphones taking over it would be better to sell this idea to them. 

Intelligent Blood Bag

Was a really practical idea and would be something that hospitals would invest it, and I believe it could save lives.

Bottle buddy

I like this idea, but I feel that there are so many ideas out there like this that it would not really get noticed and would be hard to sell.

Fish eyes

Cool and fun idea, I thought the video presentation was attractive and humorous and was one of the few to catch the attention of the whole class. 

High Ride

This would be a fun mode of transportation around campus, but I think it would be a bit dangerous and really expensive to install.

Wall tattoos

Was a really good presentation but I didn’t really like the product, and I think it is too similar to the fathead posters.

 

Ends Lecture 4/14/09

We finished the lecture on knowledge production.  What I thought was interesting was that universities are still in a medieval setting, which I never actually noticed.  The other point was that higher education institutions focus on giving credentials rather than educating their students.  

I don't really see this soo much in major universities and professional schools, but I do see it in our lower grades.  All the schools want is the teachers to teach to this TAKS test which is a minimum requirement exam.  How are kids going to pass a minimum requirement if they are never taught anything but the minimum?  I would love to take a class and not even mention TAKS to them the whole year and just push them and let them learn the subject, then see how they do.  I bet a hundred dollars they will do better because the test will seem easy compared to what they have been doing. 

 Dr. Vanegas also showed us academicearth.com.  I had never heard of this before and I was in shock all this information was just sitting there on the internet!  

Ends Lecture 4/9/09

More Idea challenge Presentations!

Ends lecture 4/7/09

Rodney Hill came, and that of course means a really fun lecture.  He spoke to us about old culture paradigm, basically where women are today and the battle of the genders.  He showed usa few videos that were hilarious.  I recommend looking them up on YouTube if you have not seen them:  Why men don't ask directions, newspaper, budlight history, how men screw up romance, blonde, Instructional Video 1.  He went through a history of women's rights and one realize's how far women have come.  I thought it surprising that universities are having trouble with reverse gender discrimination.  This is due to the fact that more women qualify, so to have equal gender ratios universities have to accept males with lower scores.  I see this with veterinary school here at Texas A&M which is now 70% female.  Also I see it in my classes, my chemistry professor noticed that most of the highest grades on tests were girls.  Dr. Hill also told us a shocking statistic that 80% of new businesses are managed by women.

Ends lecture 4/2/09

This was the first week of Idea Challenge Presentations, and this is when we presented our LeviPack idea.  

There was a maroon balloon that consisted of a personal hot air balloon that was incorporated into a backpack for transportation around campus.  This was a neat idea but what really made it impressive was the awesome, and funny, video.  They had a digital creation of their product flying a guy around and even demonstrated how it worked using a digital model, it was awesome!

Another good idea and presentation was unHarmony.com which was a service to help you break up with someone.  I thought this was really original and a great example of taking advantage of an area where service has never been provided before, a totally new and open market.  Anyway what was really neat was how they presented it just like eHarmony, the guy who presented even sounded authentic.

There was Aggie wheels for Africa which was a not-for-profit service that rented bikes on campus and then sent the gently used bikes to the needy in Africa.  I thought this was the most practical and applicable idea, and was my favorite for the day.

There was a waterproofing phone business which was also neat.

Collapsible rain boots that looked nice and fit easily into a bag or purse were a sweet innovation  that would definitely be nice to have with the college station weather.

There was the Tan-can-kan that was a really good idea and their presentation was creative and hilarious. The only fault was who is going to fund the money that you get when you recycle?   There were boots that charged your electronic device when you walked which was cool.

There were more presentations but the ones mentioned were my favorites.

Ends Lecture 3/31/09

The group check during lecture was eye opening, only a few groups had everybody there and mine was definitely not one of them.  But whoever was not there missed a good guest speaker, so oh well.

Guy Deidrich was our guest speaker and he is the Vice Chancellor at Texas A&M.  He spoke to us about inertia and what we were going to do with our lives when we graduated from college.  What I thought was interesting is he recommended that the best time to start up a business is right out of college, unlike the usual advice which is continue with school or find a steady job and do that later.  His argument was that when you are in your 20's you have no dependents, you have energy, and you can deal with the stress more effectively. 

He told us how he got to where he was today, and I thought it was an awesome story that complimented his advice.  He was about to graduate and had gone to interview with some companies, but he wasn't satisfied.  Then he met a guy named Roger and they talked about starting a business together, and eventually actually followed that path.  They bought a building in Plano, but had no idea what their business was going to be yet.  They saw there was a lot of large companies coming to Plano and decided they could provide a service as a management consulting firm.  It turns out their first job was to lay off the people at Frito-Lay.  He told us how horrible it was firing people who needed their jobs and had been working there for 10 plus years.  After that experience they decided to change their business plan.  So they adapted and learned how to write software.  I thought this was an important part of their future as a business, because if they hadn't changed the face of their business to become part of the software revolution they probably would have been left behind.  I thought this was a good real life example of how we should never be static, but always pushing ourselves.  So he and his friend Roger began making software programs to help large companies become more efficient.  His business grew in three years to 150 people and he sold his company.  His next move was an online business called GSE market where he sold airport junk to get it out of the airport's hair.  Then eventually came to work at Texas A&M.  

I will have to say that his lecture was one of my favorites.  I always forget the resources this university has and all the great people that work here and are always available.

Ends Lecture 3/26/09

Unfortunately I had flu during this lecture, and trust me would have rather been going to class then sick in bed.  I would like to add that the flu is horrible, I swear it is the worst combination of every random common sickness you can get thrown into one.

Ends Lecture 3/24/09

An interesting point Dr. Vanegas mentioned was that equilibrium is a precursor to death.  I had never really contemplated that, but now that I think about it, it’s the truth.  This should be everybody’s motto because nobody should be in a daze; it is no fun and cannot be good.  I liked the example of when you are driving and you just get into this daze and a few minutes later you have no recollection of that period in time.  So, if you just spend your life in equilibrium, staying the way you are, what will you have to look back on later in life?  The lecture made me realize how important it is to keep pushing myself.  On the same note if a persons work environment isn’t constantly changing and they are threatened, or pushed out of their comfort zone then they will adapt and get into action.

            Another topic discussed in lecture I thought was interesting was his comment on how no living system follows a linear path.  The challenge is learning how disturb the system, and keep going. 

            The five blind men and an elephant was a great story too I thought it was hilarious. 

            The millennium development goals and the engineering grand challenge were interesting websites.  It is nice to see that challenges to improve our world are out there and people are participating.

Dr. Vanegas also discussed servant leadership.  I think everybody should understand because it is a part of interacting with people in our everyday lives.  A leader should have empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, and forsight.