Inspiration can come at any time. One evening, Jessica Jackley went to hear Mohammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and modern microfinance, who was giving a talk at her business school. He spoke about the power of microcredit to change lives and help people with little money but big hopes become entrepreneurs. Excited by… Continue reading How to Test Drive Your Social Impact Idea
Category: Engineering
Finding the Sweet Spot
Around the world, 15 million preterm and underweight babies born every year aren’t able to regulate their own body temperature and will die without support. In the developed world, modern hospitals have state-of-the-art incubators where these newborns can grow safely until they are ready for a world much colder than the womb. In the developing… Continue reading Finding the Sweet Spot
Teen Inventor Changes Lives:
How Siddarth Nandyala’s STEM Innovations Bring Second Chances From a chance meeting in India to global impact, Siddarth Nandyala is inventing a better future. Have you ever met someone limited in life because they couldn’t afford something essential? During a family trip to India, thirteen-year-old Siddarth Nandyala met a boy about his age who was… Continue reading Teen Inventor Changes Lives:
From Frost-Forming Bacteria to Off-Grid Refrigeration:
Nature’s Cool Solution In our last post, we examined how Antarctic fish survive freezing waters using antifreeze proteins, which prevent ice formation in their bodies. But what about the opposite case? What if we could make water freeze more easily at slightly warmer temperatures, using less energy? Isabel Pulido solved that puzzle after experiencing firsthand… Continue reading From Frost-Forming Bacteria to Off-Grid Refrigeration:
Ice is Cool!
How Water Freezes (and Why It Matters) Ice—Simple Yet Strange Ever wondered why ice cubes float or why sidewalks become slippery when they’re covered in frost? Ice might seem ordinary, but it’s packed with fascinating mysteries. In our recent post, we introduced Isabel Pulido’s groundbreaking invention, NanoFreeze, which uses special proteins to freeze water at… Continue reading Ice is Cool!
Design Thinking: A Guide to Innovation
Many people say that kids are the future, but we are here now, and we can make a difference —Gitanjali Rao, at age 11, in 2017 I’m excited to share a preview of my new book, Design Thinking: A Guide to Innovation. The following excerpt showcases how young innovators applied design thinking to solve real-world… Continue reading Design Thinking: A Guide to Innovation
The Catapult Project:
How Supporting a Neurodivergent Student Sparked a Hands-On STEM Challenge The clatter of wood and excited student chatter filled the air as a small projectile arced across the courtyard. At the center of this commotion stood Maya as she demonstrated her handcrafted catapult to her delighted classmates and sparked an evolution in our physics unit.… Continue reading The Catapult Project:
When Robots Meet Reality:
Lessons from the “Confused” Waymo Taxis of San Francisco For weeks, Randol White dealt with a persistent and annoying problem right outside his San Francisco condo. His building overlooks an open-air parking lot that Waymo recently leased to store its vehicles. He and other residents were repeatedly roused at 4 a.m. by honking car horns.… Continue reading When Robots Meet Reality:
Do Something
Is technology a tool or is it a substitute for us having to do anything? Guest Blog: Dale Dougherty, CEO Make Community I can find a lot of charts comparing passive vs active learning, and none of them favor passive learning. Wikipedia defines passive learning as “a method of learning or instruction where students receive… Continue reading Do Something
Enabling Technologies
Raspberry Pi Sometimes one good idea leads to many others and the Raspberry Pi computers are a great example. The Raspberry Pi is a set of small, single-board computers created for to help teach computer science in schools and to other interested learners. Released in 2012 by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, an educational charity focused… Continue reading Enabling Technologies