Just print up a friend

Do you think this 3D printing is as smoking as I do?

I saw a documentary about a comedian who "prints" his own ventriloquist dummies.

This involves loading in resins that are laid down in thin layers until a three-dimensional object gradually is created. I have heard this could even stymie gun control--no background check if you are building your own gun in the basement.

Check out http://inmoov.blogspot.com. French artist Gael Langevin posts printer instructions for a robot he is building. You can download these open source files and build your own.

Is this creativity? Or magic? Wow--so neat.

Youngsters send tiny experiments into space

Coty Dolores Miranda, AZ Republic, Mar 15, 2013, says kids in the Kyrene de los Cerritos elementary school in Chandler AZ (where I live), made tiny experiments that fit inside a pingpong ball and grabbed the last slots to get into space courtesy of JP Aerospace.

The vehicles will be sounding rockets or weather balloons.

A parent sawed the pingpong balls in half to keep the experiments small.

One kid sent his father's dried blood on a towel to see how that fared compared with sitting around on earth.

Another child is testing the temperature variations on milk chocolate, dark chocolate chips, and a ball of wax.

A third kid is putting up some buckyballs to see if space changes their magnetic properties.

Will space make popcorn pop? yet another child is asking.

JP Aerospace, by the way, is all-volunteer, Check it out at http://jpaerospace.com.

Pretty cool stuff, kids. Science Fair raised to ..um...a whole new level.

Too much awready?

Microsoft is going gangbusters thinking of new ways we can live, work and play.

They have created an Envisioning Center and a video about the house of the future.

You can see this video at: http://www.govtech.com/e-government/How-Will-Technology-Change-Our-Lives.html.

This spare, modern home, with well-scrubbed Asian-American family members, was writhing with wall-size videos, including Grandma reading a story to the youngsters from her own home--and the story being acted out on another wall.

Then the Dad goes to the fridge and asks it to inventory its own contents and suggest a meal he could make.

Jeez--make a sandwich, guy, bread and something in between. Of course, you'd have to open the fridge to see what appealed.

I stay home all the time--what if my house were thinking away for things I could do--or things it thinks it could do for me.

I would go nuts.

Watch out--here come the $marties

Peter Diamandis is the CEO of the X Prize Foundation (see Leonard, below). With the internet--he said in the Wall Street Journal, Jan 22, 2013, by 2020--we will have three billion more people able to communicate new ideas, people who would not have been heard before.

This amounts to tens of trillions of new technology--multiplied by artificial intelligence.

Ripe for rocketing innovation are biotechnology, computational systems, networks and sensors, AI, robotics, 3-D manufacturing, medicine, and nanotechnology.

Does your company have the right people? Do you have an emphasis on innovation? Incentives?

Bigger companies tend to be risk-averse, Diamandis says.

In a study done by the IESE Business School and Capgemini Consulting, only 42% of companies surveyed had an innovation plan. The desire to have this comes from the top, the CEO, according to 69% of those polled.

Still, only a quarter said the company's innovation efforts boosted the bottom line. Where does that leave us?

I would say innovation is still being innovated.

I read today about a guy who said every time he thought of something he wanted to do and there wasn't a way or an app, he got irritated. He said he felt entitled to have that ability then and there!

Who can invent first tricorder?

Eliza Collins, USA TODAY, says the X Prize Foundation, which pays big prizes to inventors, is offering up to $12.5 million for the first generation tricorder a la Star Trek.

The money is being offered by Qualcomm and Nokia.

The thing does not have to look like Mr Spock's--but it must take vitals and detect 15 diseases. It also must be under 5 pounds.

Leonard Nimoy is onboard--he says he always thought the show projected into future developments.

One company, Nanobiosym, will be entering a nanochip onto which you drip bodily fluids.

For more info, go to: http://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org.

I always liked the Transporter, fevently wishing to be beamed anyplace I was not. But that's just me.

Creativity knows no age limit

iSpeak4U, a company in Connecticut, has developed a handwriting-to-speech app to help people with disabilities to communicate.

It was developed by a 12-yr-old, Eric Zeiberg, whose sister suffers from autism.

You can write in any of 13 languages and the writing is converted to speech.

It costs about $30 and is available from the Apple App Store or go to http://ispeak4u.com for more info.

Want to see it in action? Go to http://www.ispeak4u.com/newscenter.html.

Cool, Eric. We expect more great things.

Got an idea to help the sick or injured?

Applications Now Being Accepted for the
Medical Devices Center Innovation Fellows 2013-2014 Team

The application deadline is Friday, April 19, 2013.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD – GANDHI

Be an Innovator!
The University of Minnesota is recruiting a cross-disciplinary team for collaborative medical device innovation. Those encouraged to apply include: postgraduate engineers, experienced physicians as well as those in their residency or fellowship training, bio-scientists, seasoned medical device professionals, business professionals, IP attorneys, medical practitioners and others with a special interest in medical device innovation. Applicants must be dedicated to improving human health and well-being. Successful candidates are self-driven and highly motivated individuals with entrepreneurial spirit and committed to working in a collaborative team setting.
The University of Minnesota Medical Devices Center Innovation Fellows Program is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Medical Devices Center, part of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine. The program already has seen much success with more than 100 invention disclosures and more than 50 patent applications filed on those inventions in the program’s first four years.
Responsibilities:
• Identifying clinical needs, inventing, and building & testing prototype solutions
• Generating 15-20 patentable disclosures on medical devices for diagnosis and treatment
• Working closely with clinicians at the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center and partnering with established medical device corporations
Eligibility:
• Degree in Engineering, Medicine, or Biosciences. Medical or Doctorate degrees preferred
• Evidence of creativity and innovation
• One or more years of research training
Benefits:
• Monthly salary and health benefits provided duration of the Fellowship
• Use of first-class facilities in engineering & medicine at the University of Minnesota
• Access to top MDs, PhDs, and innovators at the University of Minnesota and local industry
How to Apply:  
• Fill out and submit the online application, cover letter, and curriculum vitae for Requisition Number 183027 at the University Employment Opportunities website.
• Follow the instructions provided at the Medical Devices Center website to prepare and upload supporting/additional documents required for the application
• Contact three people to send us letters of recommendation. Read the detailed instructions for information on format, content and where your references should email letters.
The application deadline is Friday, April 19, 2013.  The online application and all supporting documents must be uploaded and/or submitted by the application deadline. Candidates for the fellowship are selected on an ongoing basis.  Apply now!
Please direct questions regarding this application process to ifpinfo@umn.edu.