The LiveWell Collaborative was featured in a newly renovated old Sears building. The fact that this no spring chicken building a century ago was a titan of industry became a striking thing to keep in mind while at the innovation center. Being told this by Craig Vogel set the stage for our visit.
Craig went on to present about some of the key products the center had produced in conjunction with local industry, focusing on Proctor and Gamble and Children’s Hospital. While the intellectual property professors, grad students, and coops created in conjunction with P&G was not allowed to be shared with us the developments with Children’s Hospital were. One example that was showcased was a simple tracking tool that was able to influence children going through chemo’s behavior. The children going through chemo have to conduct exercise, shower, and brush their teeth multiple times a day as it is greatly important to their health and well-being. This proved hard to track and promote with Children’s and therefore the collaboration was sought out. I was very impressed by the out of the box approach to the optimization problem. Not only did the collaborative find a way to efficiently track data but also to influence its creation.
After the presentation we walked around the upper floor of the collaborative and saw several product ideas and prototypes. One particularly interesting concept was a series of profiles that described certain archetypes. For example the stressed out mom or the physically and mentally exhausted middle age man. The personalities and personas could be applied to topics or products and an investigation into this audience could be conducted, what a cool concept!
At the end of the trip we went down the ground level where we saw the mechanical tools, 3D printer, drafters, and anything a hands on entrepreneur could need. I was astonished by the amount of quality equipment at the disposal to whoever is willing to innovate. I found it inspiring and it made me want to push myself to take advantage of the space while I still can and strive to learn more rigorously.
Craig went on to present about some of the key products the center had produced in conjunction with local industry, focusing on Proctor and Gamble and Children’s Hospital. While the intellectual property professors, grad students, and coops created in conjunction with P&G was not allowed to be shared with us the developments with Children’s Hospital were. One example that was showcased was a simple tracking tool that was able to influence children going through chemo’s behavior. The children going through chemo have to conduct exercise, shower, and brush their teeth multiple times a day as it is greatly important to their health and well-being. This proved hard to track and promote with Children’s and therefore the collaboration was sought out. I was very impressed by the out of the box approach to the optimization problem. Not only did the collaborative find a way to efficiently track data but also to influence its creation.
After the presentation we walked around the upper floor of the collaborative and saw several product ideas and prototypes. One particularly interesting concept was a series of profiles that described certain archetypes. For example the stressed out mom or the physically and mentally exhausted middle age man. The personalities and personas could be applied to topics or products and an investigation into this audience could be conducted, what a cool concept!
At the end of the trip we went down the ground level where we saw the mechanical tools, 3D printer, drafters, and anything a hands on entrepreneur could need. I was astonished by the amount of quality equipment at the disposal to whoever is willing to innovate. I found it inspiring and it made me want to push myself to take advantage of the space while I still can and strive to learn more rigorously.