Posted on 04/30/13
Design is an essential part of life. Participants at CIE’s last forum of the acedemic year got a rare chance to work with design mentors to plan, create and prototype a product based on a design goal. Over 150 attendees formed teams and worked on a specific set of directions to create a toy during the PEN (Pitches, Exhibits & Networking) portion of the forum. The results ranged from holographic tigers to iPad-controlled carts. While the prototypes were rough – participants got to work with basic craft supplies – the ideas were well-developed and intriguing. Participants came away with a better idea of the processes behind creation and ideation.
The PEN transitioned nicely into the panel discussion, which featured industry experts from a variety of design backgrounds. Panelists included Darin Dinsmore, CEO of Crowdbrite; Patrick Howell, Executive Vice President of Product Design at Teqspring; Sean Sauber, Principal and Founder of Extending Minds LLC; and Umut Toker, Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at Cal Poly.
Moderated by Jonathan York, Cofounder and Director of CIE, the panel covered the role that design plays in life and the thinking that goes into leading a design team and creating products, services and spaces for different audiences or groups. Photos from the event can be found on the CIE Facebook page here.
Posted on 04/20/13
April 29, 2013
Join us as we explore the role that design plays in your life. Everything from the car you drive to the wallpaper that decorates your house and the apps that manage your day were designed by a team of innovators.
The evening will kick off with a creative PEN (Pitches, Exhibits & Networking) exercise designed by CIE and Sean Sauber of Extending Minds. Attendees will be challenged to stretch their thinking and apply design principles to several concepts in just an hour.
The Panel
Sean Sauber
Principal & Founder of Extending Minds, LLC
Patrick Howell
EVP Product Design, Teqspring
Darin Dinsmore
CEO, Crowdbrite
Umut Toker
Professor of City and Regional Planning at Cal Poly
For more information and to register, please click the button below.
Posted on 04/04/13
Healthcare is perhaps one of the world’s most innovative industries, and our April 2nd forum explored the strides that industry leaders are making in bringing about changes that impact us all.
The evening kicked off with a talented PEN (Pitches, Exhibits & Networking) that featured student enterprises, clubs, health organizations and individual projects. Cal Poly Medical Design club shared their innovative devices and a representative from STRIDE (Science through Translational Research in Diet and Exercise) spoke about the progress the university-wide organization is making in its obesity-fighting mission. Davis Carlin, cofounder of InPress Technologies, and Alex Russell, cofounder of Asta Fluidic Technologies, both shared their journeys from college startups to real companies. Both are working on biomedical devices in the realm of pre- and post-natal care.
A panel of industry veterans took the stage to discuss the state of healthcare, what role innovation plays in developing new technologies, and answer audience questions. One theme all the panelists agreed on was the need to work across disciplines. “The derivation of our technology was a collaboration between five different departments,” said Davis Brimer, Founder and CEO of Active Life Scientific, which develops devices to measure bone and tissue density and properties. “I think participating in programs like this is a great first step.”
Other technologies - like smartphones and increased connectivity – have paved the way for advances in healthcare as well. “I can collaborate across the world on something that’s going on right in front of me,” said Eugene Keller, Vice President of Medical Affairs at French Hospital.
Other panelists included Cyndi Lang, Senior Director of IT & Clinical Informatics for Dignity Health; Trevor Cardinal, Associate Professor of General & Biomedical Engineering and Alexander Dekhtyar, Professor in the Cal Poly Department of Computer Science. For forum photos, please visit our Facebook page.
Posted on 03/15/13
Health-Tech: Innovations and Opportunities as Healthcare and Technology Intertwine
April 2, 2013 – Cal Poly Performing Arts Center Pavilion
This is our medical future: Life science and healthcare breakthroughs enabled by cell phones, apps, cloud computing, robotics, advanced imaging, wireless connectivity, nanosensors, 3D printing, high speed data processing….the list goes on.
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Posted on 02/20/13
CIE’s first Women Who Inspire Conference brought together over 15 successful women in high growth companies. The ladies spent a day chatting with students and community members in roundtable discussions and one-on-one meetings.
The panel discussion covered ways that women can be empowered to lead and innovate regardless of position or career. One of the major issues participants brought up was the confidence that is often required for women to take risks and be entrepreneurial. Several audience members shared examples of times in which women didn’t grab an opportunity due to fear or a lack of confidence. “Think about all the untapped potential in our schools and communities because they walked out the door,” said panelist Alicia Robb, Senior Research Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation.
Keynote speaker Lisa Hufford, CEO of Simplicity Consulting, spoke about passion and being bold in decision making. “Don’t fake anything. Do what you love. That’s what it’s about.”
Follow the links for more information on the moderator & speaker and the panelists & storytellers.
Major thanks to event sponsors PG&E, First Solar/Topaz Solar Farm, Experts Exchange and Wells Fargo.
For event photos, please click here!
