Steve Wozniak poses for a quick "CHEESE!"
I signed up for Entrepreneurship Day at Rutgers University for November 14, 2011. Weeks after signing up for this conference, Steve Jobs passes away and perhaps the focal point may change due to the impact of Apple's loss.
Thinking the turnout would be huge for such a technological icon, we got there rather early and waited for the conference to begin.
We were submerged with important figures, presenters, posters, and others who shared their knowledge and experience openly. Some new companies were there in hopes of getting financial backing from influencial people while also using this as an opportunity to market and/or promote him/herself. Examples of some of the companies who were participants of posters include, but are not limited to the following: Rapid and Direct Production of Large, Clean and Highly Conductive Graphene; Composite Floor System & Method; Sub Millimeter Wave Imaging, SmaprtPin, Fluimetrics, - Microfluidics - Commercialization; TAG Lens: Revolutionalizing Adaptive Optics Through Acoustics; Heart Juice; ScamAvert, Detection & Alarm against Ingredient Harm: CarboMet; Global Renewable Energy Education Network; Hands2Go; SmartShunt; E-sports; Sportsvision; QR Yellow Pages "Welcome to the Future of Yellow Pages"; Parkly, Viometric; Zingberry.com; New Age Gaming; Real Estate Blogging; The RED Factor; Relationships Evaluate Decide; HackerLeage and many more.
As one can assume the most important aspect of attending such an event is to get inspiring words while listening to the journey of Steve Wozniak. Steve was nervous and sweating at the beginning of his presentation, but quickly warmed up to the crowd and became fun, entertaining, and educational. It has always been evident to me that Wozniak is truly the "father of apple" while Jobs was the "marketer"and promoter of each product that Woz created. Through his speech today, and others heard previously, Wozniak was the man who could create amazing innovations within a small window of time. For example, he created a floppy disk in 4 days even though the project should have taken 3-6 months. To me, he is the mastermind behind Apple and has created innovations that will forever change the way we interact with people globally.
Wozniak walked us through his life experiences in technology and his thirst for knowledge. He reminded us many times that there were no books to read in order to understand how technology works so he had to explore freely through trial and error while using previous knowledge to understand future goals.He used much of the knowledge embedded from his father (he was an electrical engineer too) in order to question the world around him and explore into the unknown. Much of his previous knowledge in power grids, circuits,switches, atoms, and electronic configuration provided him with a great foundation in order to explore unknown entities. Using the tic-tac-toe board as a means for solving algorithms and finding all possible pathways provided him with the basis of understanding greater things in the future. He used his knowledge from every experience coupled with his desire to learn in order to produce things that were unimaginable. Steve Wozniak was a man who never became molded into the traditional box of learning. He never accepted no for an answer and was willing to explore his questions even at 4am (maybe I could skype him!). He broke into libraries, worked on projects all night long, and never seized to question even his own concepts. He truly depicts what it means to be a lifelong learner while also challenging all aspects of the world around him daily.
In summary, meeting Steve Wozniak was inspirational and reminded me to go beyond what is comfortable and challenge the things that are unimaginable. As I have watched him over the years, he has really gone from shy to displaying witty comedy. It was a great opportunity for all and one that I shall cherish forever. One of the greatest lessons I learned is that sometimes the front man "Jobs" isn't necessarily the person who should get all the credit. Instead, it is Wozniak whose vision, dedication, knowledge, and creativity has created those amazing products that have forever shaped the world as we know it. Wozniak is humble and we should emulate all of his practices. He doesn't search for money and create a product that will generate such, but rather creates a product out of his own curiousity and then makes millions.
Thanks STEVE WOZNIAK for being genuine, real, and the ultimate innovator!
Below is a quick snapshot of various people that talked about important things coming to either Rutgers and/or the state of NJ. Below is a man who works internationally and is highly recognized to help college students be the next innovators. One great focal point of this section of the conference is that new companies are created by young people and produce more jobs than any other situation. As a result, Rutgers is putting a lot of emphasis and financial support to promote young entrepreneurs. In fact, one guy is going to present one student ($100,000) and one faculty member ($500,000) in order to produce the next company similar to Facebook, Linkedin, Netflix, etc. The colloborative working environment is known as the Startup America Parnership (
http://ar.gy/rutjoin) and the future plans of
Start-Up N.J. is on its way in the next year or so.
It was great to see Rutgers on display and how their financial endorsements have reaped great benefits such as RU Lost and RU studying apps for Iphones, Solidia Technologies (green materials to build), Hydrogel for wounds, PowerMap, Bright Cloud International (therapy for stroke victums), Tokutek, along with many others. This conference was an eye opener regarding the integration of technology and science and how globally we have become a better nation. While drinking juice (heartjuice.com) I was able to better my cardiovascular health while also learning so many new things. An area that I would like to do more research on is "hackerspaces" and the influence of it and innovation.
Brief Explanation w. links on hackerspaces and
What is a hackerspace?
In hindsight, our class was quite comical on the first day as we calmly reacted to outside triggers of technology problems, fire alarms, and many others. These problematic issues neither stopped our class nor was any type of hinderance for each other. We moved from one issue to the next never losing sight of the idea of learning, working through issues, and maintaining a sense of humor throughout every step. The first day of class was a huge learning curve for me in so many ways and provides the baseline of where I was then and where I am today.
In reflection, I think I can now say that I have a clue and I am more aware of technology from my classmates and their contributions throughout this course. The presentations, discussions, emails, colloboration, and time spent on wimba was priceless to obtain the knowledge I have today. I enjoyed my time spent with all of you and have grown immensely.
