Technology: The Magic of our Times
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic” — Arthur C. Clarke
What about the course surprised you the most?
With a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Biomedical Sciences, I was exposed to a wide variety of research methods throughout my undergraduate degree that developed my background in coding using R-Studio. After conducting independent projects, I had even designed a tutorial to provide a framework to assist others on their journey into this world. As a result, my journey of ENTI 674 started with the mindset that coding was the embodiment of ‘Technologies of Innovation.’
To my surprise, our first lecture started with the theme that you do not need to know how to code to employ technologies of innovation. Our journey for this class started with our first lab which revolved around the creation of a business idea and developing a website to offer that service. But most surprisingly, there was an abundance of free website creators like Wix and Weebly, each with their own ecosystem of supplementary tools to integrate at one’s own pleasure. As I worked through this lab exercise, I integrated a Typeform that would gather contact information from interested customers. Next, a free tool called Zapier could integrate the responses into a Google Sheets, which could be subsequently utilized to send automated mass emails to anyone that registers.
Within the span of a few hours, I had created my own website with an integrated host of features, and the entire process was a stark contrast to my past experience in coding. Throughout the labs and projects in this course, I have truly understood that (free!) technological tools that don’t require any coding experience are definitely out there, all it takes is the attitude to find and apply them. When you find these tools and employ them as innovative solutions, it truly feels like technology is like magic.
Which part of the process was the most rewarding?
As a Sciences student, the most rewarding part of any project or paper in the past had always been reaching the final destination and the satisfaction of completion. Reading piles of academic papers to synthesize a coherent story and method of tackling scientific problems were always the most grueling part, only dissipating after hitting the submit button. But throughout ENTI 674, my attitude evolved with a shift in finding more satisfaction in the process rather than the ending. As outlined by Martin (2014), adopting rapid prototyping allows for iterative testing of emerging prototypes to effectively generate confidence along each step of the process. The projects in this class served as an epitome of finding a passion and satisfaction in building towards the final solution. In our final project, the visualization of small amounts of progress became a huge motivator in driving continuous innovation in striving to maximize the impact of our solution. Before I knew it, our project had seven Zaps attached to various buttons on our website. Throughout this course, I observed the development of a newfound sense of satisfaction in the process of reaching the final solution and the learnings during the journey rather than just simply reaching the end.
What will you still remember five years from now that you learned in this course?
One of the key learnings that will stick with me from this class comes from one of our first case studies of Kodak’s S-Curve Problems. Kastelle (2012) outlined Kodak’s biggest mistake as their overconfidence in their ability to jump onto the innovation curve at the most opportune time to ride its wave of benefits. As we looked at examples of disruptive innovations shifting the tides in market players, I realized that innovation is a continuous process best embodied by an open-minded attitude and not just a one-time ‘Eureka’ event that you can plan out with a timeline.
As I transition from a student life to the start of my career path, not everything on this journey will follow a linear path of assignments, projects, and finals. Rather, I will embrace the attitude of continuously finding new methods of tackling old problems. With the democratization of technology, there is a world of technological tools at our disposal to explore and implement in the smallest aspects of both our professional and personal lives. Adopting a framework of design thinking has shifted my measure of success to embrace the process of failing forwards to continue striving towards reaching a holistic solution to the new problems I will face as I embark on my professional journey.
Final Thoughts
ENTI 674 has provided one of the most comprehensive, hands-on experiences throughout my studies. Aside from opening the door to the world of technological innovations available to us, my most valuable learnings from this class come from finding satisfaction in the process and striving to innovate on a regular basis. Technology will continue paving the path towards our future, and it is truly the magic of our times.
References:
Martin, R. (2014, February 11). The unexpected benefits of rapid Prototyping. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2014/02/intervention-design-building-the-business-partners-confidence
Kastelle, T. (2012, January, 19). Lessons From Kodak’s S-Curve Problems. The Discipline of Innovation. http://timkastelle.org/blog/2012/01/lessons-from-kodaks-s-curve-problems/.
