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Interview with the President of the University that Turned Israel Into a Start-up Nation

July 6, 2015

Peter High, writing at Forbes, interviews Paretz Lavie, president of the Isreal Institute of Technology, also known as Technon. Lavie explains how the university has become a hotbed of entrepreneurship:

I have been asked this question many, many times and I have come to the conclusion that a world class university that plays such a major role in the economy of its environment or its state must have three ingredients: excellent students, excellent faculty members, and this is obvious, but it must have also a third ingredient and it is not so clear when you think about universities. This is a statement of mission. A mission statement must be part of the DNA of the university. […]

Being entrepreneurial and being innovative is affected by a multitude of factors. First, how the student or the entrepreneur is educated. The ability to take risk or the ability to sustain failure is very important. Remember, among startups only one in ten is successful. Some entrepreneurs are successful only in their seventh or eighth attempt, so you must be resilient to failures. The need to achieve is very important. These are characteristics of sometimes immigrants as you said yourself, or people who need to live in an environment or a neighborhood that constantly challenges them. What you can do in order to direct them or to make them a better entrepreneur is to give them some tools. You can provide them with role models, and this is what we are doing in the Technion […]. […]

You cannot rely on your own knowledge, you must bridge different areas. So most of the research centers in the Technion now are interdisciplinary.

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Filed Under: Innovation, Learning, STEM

This is What a Female Engineer Looks Like

May 22, 2015

Erin Summers, writing for Quartz:

The few articles that specifically showcase women in tech create an unattainable archetype of a woman that somehow manages to run marathons, raise a family, always looks impeccable, and marginalizes the amazing technology that she built. […]

We decided to take control and do something about it, and that’s how project “wogrammer” was born. We interview our fellow women engineers and showcase the cutting-edge technology they’ve built. The more voices of real, authentic woman engineers we can share, the greater hopes we have of breaking stereotypes and focusing on the technical achievements of women.

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Filed Under: Moving Forward, STEM

Wednesday Assorted Links

April 29, 2015

1. Defining Mobile: 4-5.5 Inches, Portrait & One-Thumb in which Luke Wroblewski discusses smartphone interaction.

2. Apple iPad App Glitch Issue Causes American Airlines Flight Delays We’re simultaneously experiencing the benefits and drawbacks of relying on consumer grade electronics in high-stakes situations.

UPDATE: The root cause wasn’t an iPad glitch. It was a problem with a map update of Ronald Reagan airport. Also, I should clarify: the situation wasn’t high-stakes. I used that term loosely to refer to flying as having high-stakes situations. But this issue wasn’t related to such a situation. As an American Airlines spokesman said:

“That’s why it was not system-wide or a fleet-type problem,” said American Airlines spokesman Casey Norton. “It’s when the pilot accessed a particular map.” […] “We operate 7,000 flights per day,” said Norton “This is not anywhere close to a thunder storm.”

3. Bill Gates made these 15 predictions in 1999 — it’s scary how accurate he was. Great predictions with great accuracy. It shows how wide the gap is between idea and execution.

4. Tracxn, Which Aspires To Be The “Gartner Of Startup Data,” Grabs $3.5M Series A

5. U.S. Is Faulted for Risking Edge in R&D

A a report published Monday by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology […] warned that the U.S. government was spending an ever-smaller percentage of its budget on basic research and development, fundamental exploration in a variety of fields that lays the groundwork for commercial products that may not emerge for years or decades, if ever.

The cutbacks might appear to be economical, but the report says they come at a high cost to both national prestige and long-term economic opportunity. “We are undercutting ourselves by not supporting basic science,” said Andrew Lo, a finance professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management who helped write the report.

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Filed Under: Assorted Links, Data, Forecasts, Interface, R&D, Smartphones, STEM

Your Country + Innovation + Women: All Inextricably Linked

March 31, 2015

1. Why America’s obsession with STEM education is dangerous, in which Fareed Zakaria argues that we risk dismissing broad-based learning.

First, I don’t think promoting STEM careers and broad-based learning are mutually-exclusive pursuits. Second, this would be the MF (Mobile Forward) quote of the day, if there were such a thing:

Critical thinking is, in the end, the only way to protect American jobs.

(Or substitute with the geography of your choice.)

 

2. An Action Plan For Getting More Women in Tech

  1. improvements to education, to raise awareness about technology and tech careers and counteract negative perceptions
  2. making the business case for more women in tech, and offering guidance to corporates to help them shift entrenched, male-dominated company cultures
  3. creating positive narratives and championing rolemodels to combat negative stereotypes, whether in the media or because of a lack of parental awareness about career opportunities for girls in tech
  4. strengthening female networking and mentoring opportunities
  5. access to funding to encourage more female entrepreneurs into startups

As the father of a smart young girl, I find #1 (e.g., sharing what I do and that “nerd” is a badge of honor) and #3 (highlighting women who did/do advance technology forward) the most straightforward to talk about day-to-day. But you may have a different view or experience. Email me.

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Filed Under: Innovation, Moving Forward, STEM

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