Seminar: Innovation by Design - Humanizing Science & Technology
Thursday March 21, 2013
12pm - 1pm
ETB 533
Presenter: Dr. Battula Chakravarthy, Professor at the Industrial Design Centre at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, and Distinguished Visiting Professor , Ryerson University
Seminar Abstract:
When students and researchers from different disciplines and cultures collaborate in a team environment, the result is innovation. This is the future of academic learning. In this seminar, Dr. Chakravarthy will discuss his research in this area, and his empirically tested Collaborative Model for Innovation. From gasoline dispensers to sustainable and affordable housing, Dr. Chakravarthy will present diverse case studies showcasing how collaboration leads to innovation.
About the Presenter:
Dr. Battula Chakravarthy is a Professor at the Industrial Design Centre at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IITB). His research and teaching focus on bringing industry and academia together to foster innovation. He holds a Master of Design (M.Des) in Product Design from IIT Bombay. From 1988 to 2001, he worked at Larsen & Toubro and designed a number of innovative products, the most notable being the Z-Line petrol pump. He began his teaching tenure at the Design Centre of IIT Delhi, where he was one of the core faculty members responsible for founding the industrial design program. In 2001, he joined his alma mater IIT Bombay, where he has been instrumental in bringing industry projects to the classroom. Dr. Chakravarthy's research interests lie in the areas of design strategy, humanizing technology, disruptive new product innovation and collaborative innovation methodologies. He consults for a number of national and international companies such as Whirlpool, Electrolux, and Hero Motors, and is the founder and head of the Shenoy Innovation Studio at IITB, which works towards developing innovative products and services by leveraging new and futuristic technologies developed at IITB and other R&D organizations.
Human Development at the Crossroads: An urgent and immodest manifesto to transform engineering, to give society the engineers we deserve
Wednesday, March 27th, 2013
4:30 pm
McMaster University, Information Technology Building 137
During the first half of the 21st century, humanity is facing what amounts to an existential crisis. Western democracy is fraying, our economic model based on unyielding growth is proving not viable over the long term, the carrying capacity of our global ecosystem is reaching its limits, and opportunity and power continue to become more unequally distributed.
The central question for engineers is: How will we respond? Are we going to continue the trend of the past five decades, seeing our role as a profession narrow into solving the problems that others define, delivering technical solutions? Will that suffice? No. Society needs the engineering profession to transform. The way we teach engineering, the leadership we take as a profession and individuals, how we define ourselves and our success, all need to change.
George will present an immodest proposal for engineers to rise to the occasion.
This is a free public lecture with reception to follow.
For more information: click here
SEP Seminar: McMaster As a Catalyst For Regional Prosperity
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
MDCL 1309
Dr. Patrick Deane is the President and Vice-Chancellor of McMaster University, and a professor in the Department of English and Cultural Studies. His seminar will focus on how McMaster University, through research, technology, and innovation can be a catalyst for economic development and regional prosperity.
All SEP students are required to attend this seminar.
Just click here and register so we know to expect you.
Seminar Series: Focus Your Mind, Change the World
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
ETB 535
Dr. Brian Baetz, an associate member of the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Centre for Engineering and Public Policy, will speak on how we individually and collectively view the world, and how making the world a better place starts from within.
All SEP students are required to attend this seminar.
Seminar: CLEANING UP HAMILTON HARBOUR
Presented by Dr. Chris McLaughlin, Executive Director Bay Area Restoration Council
Tuesday, November 27 4:00 pm to 5:15 pm ETB 535
Hamilton Harbour has seen much change and taken much abuse during previous decades of growth in our built environment, but slowly things have taken a turn for the better. The Bay Area Restoration Council represents the public interest in efforts to remediate the Harbour and foster sustainable systems of nature and economy in the watershed. This presentation will explore challenges and opportunities inherent in such efforts, and the importance of community support and sustained engagement.
Chris McLaughlin is the executive director of the Bay Area Restoration Council. He previously ran the Niagara Escarpment Foundation and was a consultant to governments and not-for-profits. During that time he completed a part-time PhD at McMaster University investigating the characteristics of success and failure in Great Lakes policy implementation, and has published numerous reports and articles on water policy and management. He currently serves on the board of City Housing Hamilton Corporation and as vice-chair of the Hamilton Future Fund, and was previously on the board of the Hamilton Public Library and the Hamilton Conservation Authority’s Water Management Advisory Board.
All SEP students are expected to attend this seminar.
Design Thinking - Student Projects
11/01/12
Work by students in the Design Thinking course illustrating concepts for an Ankle Foot Orthosis for clients with foot drop.
Projects: Design 1, Design 2, Design 3
McMaster Students Go Local
7/16/12
Renew Hamilton has teamed up with the Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice at McMaster University to help design and deliver a new graduate course called Development of Local Sustainable Communities.
The goal is to introduce students to community building practices using the principles of sustainable development — a balanced commitment to the economy, environment and social well-being. The course is helping produce the next generation of engineers needed to create the liveable cities of tomorrow.
Full Story »Lecture - Local Business, Local Economy in the Age of Globalization
Presented by Michael Shuman, Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Convocation Hall, 2nd floor, University Hall
McMaster University
Michael Shuman, will discuss how a community can build a strong network of locally owned businesses that contribute to a vibrant community and thriving regional economy.
Michael H. Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and one of the world’s leading experts on community economics. He is director of research for Cutting Edge Capital, director of research and economic development at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), and a Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute. He holds an AB with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University and a JD from Stanford Law School.
He has authored, coauthored, or edited eight books. His most recent books are:
Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Move Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity and The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006)
Storytelling puts new twist on pediatric pre-op
7/16/12
Ali Shahzada and fellow student Luis Michelangeli are the co-founders of Storytelling Medicine, a new company formed to market their idea of a storybook-based approach to taking the fear out of a hospital stay. “We found there were almost no tools on the market to distract and educate children about this,” Michelangeli said. “What we’re doing here is taking traditional engineering knowledge and using it to look at how people interact with machines, their environment and other people.”
Their idea is simple — they tell the story of a kid-friendly raccoon character named Rodney who has to go to the hospital. But, since the story is told on an iPad, all of the pictures the child sees will be of the specific hospital he’ll be going to. The story can also be customized to the specific procedure the child be facing ... Read full story
Mac students' big business ideas boosted with grant2/28/12
A new federal grant to McMaster University will give science and engineering students with big ideas for their own businesses a chance to make the jump from lab bench to shop floor.
The government has given the university $787,500 to help finance up to 75 graduates and graduate students launch or expand up to 30 business ventures.
Andrew Forde and Mahmoud Hashim, both students in Mac's Master of Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation program, will both cash in that support: Hashim to perfect a new way of administering classroom tests and Forde to put a computer tablet beside every hospital bed in the world as a way of making it easier for doctors to treat their patients.
Don Pether's vision realized as incubation centre opens
10/04/11
Helping engineering students through the challenge of converting their entrepreneurial ideas into business reality is the goal of the new Don Pether Incubation Centre that is now officially open.
