Necessity of innovations in college is not just an
issue among our country.
Arizona State University is located in the
southwest side of the U.S.
Although this university has not received much attention
in the past, it has been getting much
attention regards to innovation.
It ranked number one in Innovation among the
U.S. colleges in 2017
Pushing over the world’s famous university such as
Harvard, MIT and Stanford, ASU was
ranked as number one.
This remarkable result was led by President Michael
Crow who was appointed in 2002.
While holding office at an Ivy League school, he found
the main reason behind the university’s difficulty
in innovation and found a solution.
The more established, or older universities, or those
universities which consider themselves to be “elite”,
in quotes.
Some people, and universities in particular,
they want to argue against all change
They are very conservative in that sense.
And that most universities are trapped inside
bureaucratic models.
They look more like the government.
They look like agencies of the government that move
more slowly, and can’t adjust, and can’t adapt.
So, what did Arizona State University look like
25 years ago?
Because of the endless parties, it was known to be a
“party school” and ASU was actually chosen
as the best party school.
Their quality of education was low and many
students dropped out of the school.
A school that was known for binge-drinking,
Arizona State University…
However, beginning in 2012, they put much effort into
clearing themselves of the false accusations and
became the most innovative school in the nation.
Recently, ASU has become one of the most
high-tech research institutes.
This university’s research team invented a way to control
drones by brainwaves which has surprised
the world again.
So, we started this collaboration about three years ago
through funding we got from DARPA air force,
and so far, we have been testing in the lab, this control
interface between a human pilot and multiple drones.
Strategies used by this eccentric president has
never been practiced in the past.
Although there were many opposition by previous
faculty members, he discontinued about 80 different
degree programs and added 20 new programs.
By blending different types of programs, they created the
only degrees in the world and moved away from the
traditional lecture style and introduced a
new way to teach students.
Then, we begin to wonder exactly how
different their class is.
Students are building robots. It doesn’t seem
like it demands a high degree of skill.
It turns out that the goal of this class is
not to just build robots.
On wheelchairs. Specifically, wheelchairs.
It collects all the data necessary
to follow traffic laws, turn right, turn left, that kind of
thing. Using all its sensors and what we have there.
They are testing out if the robot is able to take its
passengers with restricted mobility safely on
a maze-like road.
At ASU, all of the classes are team project based.
Students focus on finding out the real-world problems
on their own and finding the solutions to them.
Is it going to automatically drop off?
No, not yet. Okay.
Not all teams succeed in the entire project, but that’s
not the important part of the project.
It’s the effort put into it
and learning the engineering design
process, and following that
and understanding how to apply it to
solve complex problems.
So, it’s switching back and forth really fast?
In class, professor is not behind the podium
but interacting with students.
Instead of teaching, his role is to observe.
I’m trying to just help each team and help each
individual learn that next piece
of engineering and problem solving.
So each student can advance as far as that
individual student is capable of.
ASU has many space exploration projects
that they are working on with NASA.
This is because they have received a credit for their
ability to connect and blend different degree programs.
As the leader, there is
School of Earth and Space Exploration.
There is an extraordinary course offered by this college.
It is “What would Earth be without Life?”.
This topic alone is covered throughout the
whole semester.
The professor is only asking questions, students begin
their process in finding answers through discussion.
Brilliant ideas come out through this process and
students obtain problem-solving skills.
Is a model where no one in the class knows the answer
that we are seeking over the course of the semester.
So instead of having a sort of adversarial classroom
where here I am, the professor, professing
to the students who accept the information,
and then they give me something back.
. Instead, we are all on the same side looking
outward at a different question.
It’s actually really inspiring when no one knows the
answer, and we are all practicing the art
of learning an answer.
Degrees such as Astronomy and Geography along with 14
other programs were blended together to
create this new degree program.
This class begins with one question which then creates
more questions for students to be led
into different subject areas.
Because this is such a broad subject to study,
, it may seem too extensive, but students
choose to attend ASU only to take this class.
Sure, #1 in Innovation, that’s what they say.
I’ve only been here a couple months, but they are poking
into a lot of subjects that aren’t traditionally poked into.
They are approaching it in a way that lots
of other schools aren’t.
I got here, and I had the option to move around in
different directions and pick my own way to get there.
One of the unique and innovative curriculums
by Arizona State University is ProMod.
This project based curriculum is for the engineering
majoring freshmen students
ProMod is a course combining 3 programs such
as engineering and communication.
Through this project, students experience the real-world
and apply what they have learned how to solve
issues related to community development.
So, in this class, we’re making a project to design
an intervention that gives clean and accessible water
to a setting in Badam.
It’s a small village around a couple 100 people,
and so, we want to build an intervention that’s
accessible, affordable, and it’s very safe
for people who are using it.
They are in progress of the “Clean Water Project”.
If this inexpensive and simple water purifier is
successful, they can change the lives of people
who struggle with water issues.
... and so now we are making the...
these buckets, so now we are going to make holes and
make funnels, so like these ones right here,
and then we are just going to filter the water from the
top all the way to the bottom, and it’s
hopefully going to water more sanitary.
ASU’s curriculum innovation is
blooming at this Sky Song.
Ideas from classes become real skills
to change the world.
Since the opening in 2008, there have been numerous
companies created in this place.
Sky Song has been receiving attention for its innovative
model in industry-university collaboration.
By students, faculty and local business owners
coming together in a collaborative space, they
create synergy effect that is beyond imaginable.
There are many new ideas that are coming in in
just this overall environment.
If ASU is the kind of place that says we welcome you,
we welcome you, we welcome your ideas,
we want to engage with you. We would like you
to develop your venture because it’s for the
greater success overall.
There is a virtuous cycle that happens.
So, there is something about the fact that
it’s a give and a flow.
The students generate ideas. The faculty generate ideas.
The faculty try to shape the ideas, as well.
Students give the faculty more ideas.
Currently a graduate student and a CEO, Mr. Heather.
He has changed a normal bicycle into a brilliant idea.
Innovation to put on and off the handles easily,
what made him think of this idea?
Billibars is a space saving device, so by taking off
the handlebars.
You eliminate over 14 inches, so like it a scenario where
You live in an apartment or something, then this now
can sit right up against the wall, or on the wall, so that
when you are going through your house and stuff
like that, you are saving a lot of space.
While traveling in China, he saw how difficult it was to
park a bicycle which resulted into a business idea.
This was a result of applying what he had learned
in the class to the real world.
Because of one innovative idea, this young
businessman says that he received a significant
amount of investment.
$100,000. In Korean won, he received 100,000,000 won.
What on earth was his idea?
What you see here, the device is called Skylife.
It will be the world’s fastest and most powerful
device to treat jaundice in infants.
Its affordability and mobility will allow children in
developing country to be treated.
The reason this idea was commercialized and became
a start-up was through the support of Sky Song.
I think one of the unique qualities about ASU is it’s
not just about supporting entrepreneurs,
but it’s about, it’s also about
ASU having its own culture of entrepreneurial thinking
So, ASU itself functions like a startup.
As this university’s classes changed, it even
impacted Arizona’s community like a wild fire.
It resulted in creating more companies and
numerous job availabilities.
Even today, there are talented students being raised
in Sky Song to come up with innovative
solutions by confronting the world.
Even if they are an employee for a large company
moving forward. Even if they decide themselves
that they will never become an entrepreneur,
they never want to remain the CEO of the founder,
All of those skills: identifying problems,
understanding needs, understanding how to meet
those needs, solving for “x”,
building teams, working together to even
promote those ideas, all of those are
transferrable, not only
for future employment, but also for your life.
That you become the master of solving any problems
that you might see.
Any time you bring about change in anything,
there are going to be people that oppose
the changes, so what I said
along the way is “we’re changing, and we are
changing to be better servants to our students,
we are changing to produce better solutions for
our society.
We are changing to make sure that we can economic
growth continue to accelerate,
and not leave people behind.
We need to change if we want everyone to be
employable and have jobs, and have meaning
and purpose to their lives, and so if you want to
do all these things, we need to change.