Perspectives on Innovation

Gregg A. Micinilio recently won the Challenge Communication Platform to Connect Vulnerable Communities with Climate Change Solutions. Previously, he was awarded for Design of a Solar Water Treatment System based on TiO2 Nanoparticles and Detecting and Indicating Signs of Discomfort (in partnership with Sean Lukan).

This was a Challenge completely out of the realm of my area of expertise as an Industrial Designer; however, I was so intrigued by the complexity and the global need of the project that I could not walk away from it. Putting my talents to use in a humanitarian cause is an incredibly humbling and rewarding experience and I was motivated by the fact that some of my ideas could possibly, in a small way, be put to use to help a world desperate for solutions.

The World Resources Institute (a global environmental think tank which works with governments, companies and civil society to build solutions to urgent environmental challenges) had initiated this Challenge to create a communication platform to connect vulnerable communities with climate change solutions. The requirements for solutions were not limited for use in just 1st world communities, but had to be broad enough to encompass ideas for 3rd world countries as well. A link was required between businesses, governments, and local communities, which would create an infrastructure game plan to attack climate change issues.

My solutions encompassed the use of inexpensive technologies such as cell phones and cell phone apps, and free social media to simplify and track the flow of information. I also created meaningful incentives for business and academia to offer solutions beyond just feel-good humanitarian charity, and introduced a more lucrative and enticing program where everyone would walk away having gained something real.

As a product designer I tend to think in pictures, and as this was a written proposal, I really struggled to get all of my ideas into a coherent format. I leveraged the strength of my day to day job of creating communication links between different disciplines, such as marketing and engineering, and applied that to the given Challenge. Approaching this problem as I would any other engineering or design project, I researched and gathered as much information as possible, identified the different groups of people involved, mapped a path to the most efficient/economical solutions; then I found technologies to link all the elements together. The final steps were to look beyond the obvious and to creatively expand solution directions, then figure out how I could reach desired results as inexpensively as possible, without losing value (”cost downs” in the product design field).

I have found that the more I branch out into areas outside of my career path, the more successful my solutions are in my own area of expertise. I truly appreciate the InnoCentive format of anonymous submission of proposals in which the Seeker looks at just the ideas and judges the work on its own merit–an innovative and fair idea that we often don’t see in the business world!

I would love to reach out to other Solvers in other disciplines to do a group project. If you have not entered a solution before, I urge you to do so. Even if you have just a tingle of an idea; pursue it, work it through, run it through a sieve and post it. I have lost more Challenges than I have won but I always come away intellectually expanded.

Adrian Perez won the Challenge Communication Platform to Connect Vulnerable Communities with Climate Change Solutions.

Currently I live in Savannah, Georgia, USA. I moved to Savannah from Honduras for tertiary schooling at the Savannah College of Art and Design. My academic specialty is the built environment with specific interests in systems thinking, interaction design, and sustainability.   Upon completion of my schooling, I moved to Kenya where I was doing work with the United Nation Human Settlements Programme under the Disaster Management Programme looking into subjects such as appropriate technologies, human displacement, and climate change. I eventually returned to Savannah and became involved with an organization called the Emergent Structures Projects (ESP). ESP’s mission is to increase the value and accessibility to building material waste streams through facilitation, collaboration, education and advocacy.

I heard about InnoCentive at a lecture by Jonah Lehrer titled “How We Decide”. He spoke about how the human mind comes to a moment of epiphany, a solution; he talked about how out-of the-box thinking is a product of interdisciplinarity, open-mindedness and moments of rest.  In discussing this subject matter, he mentioned InnoCentive.com. I remember making a mental note of this for future investigation. I have since been a loyal frequenter to the site.

On one of these ‘frequent visits’ I found a Challenge posted by the World Resource Institute for creating a communication platform to connect vulnerable communities to climate change solutions. As I read through it, I became excited, as I was able to relate to certain thematic areas due to my previous experiences in Kenya. Shortly after, I began doing my research on the three main subjects of the challenge: climate change, communication platforms and human vulnerability. Over time, I began to form parallels between the three subjects and eventually began presenting my ideas to friends over coffee. After much frustration, moments of rest and a fast approaching deadline, a final idea was decided on and submitted. After that, one can only wait. It wasn’t after losing hope that I received a congratulations email from InnoCentive.

I find that InnoCentive reflects the spirit of the age; it takes advantage of today’s connectivity, allowing for disassociated and wildly diverse input of human experience, targeting the same problem, equating to well-rounded, inclusive solutions. Thank you InnoCentive!

In March of this year, we started sending a “Certificate of Performance” for winning Solvers to put on display in recognition of their accomplishment. This month, due to feedback from Solvers in the Winning Solvers LinkedIn group, we decided to send out certificates for every single Challenge awarded to any Solver who had logged in to InnoCentive within the past two years. This translated to over 800 certificates to be printed, stuffed in to addressed envelopes, and then mailed all around the world. I documented the whole process so that you guys can get a peek inside InnoCentive!

A stack of Challenge certificates, all for top Solver Yury Bodrov

The massive pile of certificates. We're going to need some help...

First, we lured everyone in to the conference room.

Then we put them to work

Fueled by pizza, we made short work of addressing and stuffing the envelopes. Here's Mike Bittarelli sorting the enveloped by country.

If you’ve won a Challenge, you should receive a certificate in the mail any day.

Keep on Solving!

Ivan Skachko won the InnoCentive Challenge Mechanical Joint with High Ultrasound Conductivity.

PhD in Physics, Rutgers University, NJ, USA
MS in Physics Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow, Russia

Starting from high school I faced the dilemma whether to become an engineer or a physicist. I chose the latter because it seemed to me essential to get a good understanding of physical laws for either path. Eventually I understood that my true passion is designing and building things as well as solving engineering challenges. While these inclinations were of some value in my career as experimental condensed matter physicist, I was never able to apply them to a full extent. The difficulty I faced when trying to switch to something more applied, is that the employers were usually seeking for a set specific relevant skills. My assumption — that with a solid background in physics I can do anything — seemed to be disproved.

And then, reading Nature journals, I noticed InnoCentive Challenges. These I can just play with! Ideation (I did not know such word exists) is what I often tend to do. I picked the Challenge “Mechanical Joint with High Ultrasound Conductivity“ because even though I had no direct experience with ultrasonic waves, the wave phenomena are very similar whether they are electromagnetic waves or sound. I was majoring in optics as an undergraduate, and was using radio-frequencies in my PhD work. I also have interest in mechanical engineering: I greatly enjoy working in machine shop or repairing my car or doing CAD. Surely I learnt a great deal about ultrasound while working on the Challenge.

I think that it is not a specific expertise that is crucial for solving problems but a special connection that is created between Solver and the Challenge. I am eagerly anticipating my next Challenge on InnoCentive.

The InnoCentive Challenge referral program rewards potential Connectors like you for referring the winner of any Challenge. Use the referral tools to generate a unique referral link for any Challenge to send to your friends, family, or anyone else — if they win the Challenge, you receive a 10% referral award (up to $10,000)!

Since Ben Sikora’s blog post about his experience referring the winner of the Games for Health Challenge, subsequent Connectors have referred several more winners and shared Challenges with thousands of potential Solvers. We’ll be featuring more Connectors on the blog in the near future. For this post I’ve compiled some great advice and strategies used by successful Connectors. Follow these tips, and you can be in the running for a referral award on every Challenge — it’ll only be a matter of time until you refer a winner!

Focus on interests as well as capability

Capability is necessary but often not sufficient for solving a Challenge. Winning Connector Ben Sikora advises that “it isn’t about who you think is the smartest, most innovative, or even most creative (even though these help), it is about the interests of the people around you.” One clever Connector referred several solutions of the craft beer packaging Challenge by posting his referral link to Beer Advocate — an online community of craft beer lovers. For technical Challenges, a quick literature search will often uncover relevant papers with authors whose interests may be aligned with the Challenge.

Take advantage of viral Challenges

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