MaRS

The gecko: A disruptive innovation

Imagine a laboratory devoted to the research and development of complex systems. It costs nothing to run and doesn’t have any senior managers. All of its products are open source. And it’s managed to remain relevant over 3.8 billion years of changing market conditions.

Many scientists use the products of this laboratory (aka “nature”) as inspiration for cutting edge technologies. Velcro is the oft-cited example, a manufactured version of the tiny hooks on burrs that cling to fabric. The philosophy is biomimicry.

MaRS wins architecture award

The Ontario Association of Architects’ (OAA) annual awards recognize buildings that represent the best in Ontario architectural design, innovation and business. Last month, the OAA announced its 2010 winners—the MaRS Centre (designed by Adamson Associates Architects) was one of 15 buildings across the province honored with Design Excellence Awards.

At Design Thinkers 2009, a very eclectic audience including myself were asked to consider and reevaluate our impressions of what graphic design is.  We were asked to revisit the steps we take towards being “creative” and “innovative”.

This was — and is — no simple feat.

Designing for the crowd

So you’ve got the killer social application, community, feature, software. The idea is going to make mint! Now what?

According to IDEA2009 – the conference for social and experience design, held here at MaRS yesterday – you need to design an experience that will make that idea sing with users. For that, Christian Crumlish and Erin Malone, authors of O’Reilly Media’s Designing Social Interfaces, present: 5 Steps, 5 Principles and 5 No-No’s for your killer social media innovation.

Faster than a speeding inventor

This month we have left the “golden umbrella” of the Biodesign fellowship here at Stanford University (a team of two physicians and two engineers designing medical devices) to step into industry as interns. I am taking my internship with an inventor who is making a name for himself in this industry. Though I have been working for less than a week, the differences I have noticed between the two are stark. Industry is fast: honesty and simplicity are critical.