TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013

TechCrunch Disrupt NY took place just a few weeks ago and it was amazing.

For more information on the speakers and the winners, click the following link:

TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013

After three days of startup demos at TechCrunch Disrupt NY, data startup Enigma won both the Startup Battlefield and the Disrupt Cup, taking home $50,000 and beating out six other finalists.

Enigma aims to make sorting through public data a breeze. It pulls info from over 100,000 data sources and finds connections between them. Think SEC filing, state and federal records, lists of frozen assets and even CrunchBase.

Sure, the data is already out there, but it's not easily accessible. The founders also maintain that it's
hard to see the connections between those sources of public data.

It will be interesting to watch their success during the following year!

Mobile Health Without Borders- And More Stanford University Classes

Stanford University has just opened two more classes: "Mobile Health Without Borders" and "Sustainable Design and Product Management" and they both look incredibly interesting.

I have always been passionate about science, discovery, medicine, technology and how all four areas intersect and overlap. And that is why I am super excited about the Mobile Health Without Borders Class and I think you will be just as excite!

A course description of the Mobile Health Without Borders class is below:
"Today, more people have access to a mobile phone than to clean drinking water. At the same time, health systems around the world struggle to deliver cost-effective care. For example, where the United States confronts unsustainably soaring costs and millions of underserved citizens, Sub-Saharan Africa endeavours to provide medical care in the context of infrastructural challenges, economic shortfalls, and the highest disease burden in the world. Throughout India and China, investments in mobile entrepreneurship are reshaping how health care is delivered to massive populations. Meanwhile South America is experiencing a surge of entrepreneurial activity that promises to reshape how its citizens interact with the health system. To expose you to the breadth of activity and opportunity, each class will consist of multiple short presentations from renowned experts. Each lecture will be streamed live and a recorded copy will remain available on the course website through the duration of the course. Class discussions about these presentations will also take place online."

The course description for the Sustainable Design and Product Management course is below:

This course focuses on strategies and techniques for development of sustainable products and manufacturing processes. Using case studies, we will examine strategic decisions and best practices in new product and process development when environmental and resource externalities are accounted for.

Environmental sustainability has emerged as the imperative management undertaking for business sustainability in the face of rising global demand for natural resources and environment services and of environmental problems such as climate change. We will examine how regulatory and voluntary requirements for sustainable development affect the ability of a firm to achieve its business and corporate objectives. We will assess how sustainable products and operational practices contribute to the firm’s competitive advantage and operational efficiency and to enabling entrepreneurial opportunities.

Students will examine the industrial ecology and life cycle assessment techniques in integrating traditional product and process development requirements with those of the environment and society. 
The emphasis in this course is on sustainability requirements in management of new product and process development from the perspective of the senior-level executive who is responsible for the firm’s business and operational strategies. Student teams will develop a new sustainable product, or undertake field study projects to gain firsthand experience with sustainability practices in a company.

If you are interested in learning more about Stanford's Venture Lab or keen to sign up for a class yourself, simply click on the link below. Enjoy!

Stanford's Venture Lab

More Interesting Free Classes Available on Coursera!

If you haven't yet signed up for any online courses from any of the reputable institutions offering them (Stanford, Harvard, MIT, just to name a few), I wholeheartedly encourage you to consider taking a course through Coursera.  Coursera recently won "Best New Startup of 2012" from the Tech 2012 Crunchies. According to a Tech Crunch article, "Coursera has opened up access to proprietary content, with over 200 courses from over 33 top international and domestic schools like Stanford and Princeton, and is one of the bright points of light pointing towards value and job creation in the creative space."

While over two million students have at some point taken a Coursera course, there are still some controversies. For example, it remains to be seen whether the universities will continue to let Coursera proliferate with their intellectual property. And its main criticism is that the company currently has no clear way to monetize.

Click here to learn more about it:

Coursera


I recently signed up for "A Beginner's Guide to Irrational Behavior." It is taught by Dan Ariely of Duke University and the subject matter is something that I'm incredibly interested in. 

Beginner's Guide To Irrational Behavior

White House Science Fair

I am feeling very inspired as I read about the amazing and talented young group of students invited to the White House for their extraordinary science fair projects.

100 students from more than 40 state were invited to an all-day, hands-on celebration of the power and potential of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

As the President said in 2009, when he announced the first ever White House Science Fair: “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you've produced the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.”

That’s why young inventors of everything from portable windmills to oil-producing algae, and from underwater robots to dehydration-preventing football gear were invited to share their wares at all corners of the White House -- from the South Lawn to the State Dining Room -- for today's event. The cohort of kids included app-coders, rocket-builders, video-game designers, and city-planners—many of them, as the President pointed out, not yet old enough to drive. One team of innovators even helped the President hop onto a bike and test out their pedal-powered water filtration system.

It's amazing to read stories like these of young innovators using technology and design to create solutions to existing problems. However, whenever I learn about a student's mind blowing scientific or technological achievement, I cannot help but think of all the many other students who, because of an obstacle in financial resources/educational support/familiar support or something similar, were not able to reach their potential.

It is motivating to continue to use Studio C and all our collective resources to keep brainstorming ways to provide a strong foundation of STEM education to all students globally, regardless of economic background.

White House Science Fair