Projects
2007-2008 InnovationSpace Students Explore Pressing Social Issues
If the students in ASU’s InnovationSpace program had their way, cancer patients could observe their own healing process on computer screens as nanodevices zapped malignant cells, elders could engage in networked games that decreased their social isolation while increasing mobility for arthritic fingers, and nurses could make their rounds with efficiency, leaving more quality time for caretaking patients.
These are just some of the possibilities that are ripe for exploration in this year’s InnovationSpace program.
Included in the trio of partners for the 2007-2008 academic year is ASU’s Center for Nanotechnology (CNS). Sponsored by a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, the CNS will help three student teams to visualize socially beneficial opportunities for nanotechnology in the areas of human health and enhancement. CNS partnered with InnovationSpace in the 2006-2007 to investigate nano-based technologies that ensure the freedom, privacy and security of citizens and communities.
The global design giant Herman Miller has renewed its sponsorship of student teams for the second year in a row. The Herman Miller teams are charged with developing product concepts that improve the quality of healing environments. Students will investigate a wide array of facilities ranging from emergency rooms and operating theaters to nursing homes and ambulances. Their task is to study the needs of the multiple users in healing environments and to identify the failures of the existing products and services. Student teams will create new solutions in response to rapidly changing social, cultural, technological and financial conditions.
Intel Corporation’s Digital Health Group has renewed its sponsorship of InnovationSpace for another year as well. The Intel teams will investigate product concepts that seek to support the strengths and capacities of elders afflicted by several common physiological, cognitive and emotional problems such as dementia and social isolation. Throughout the research, development and design phases, the students will be guided by psychologists and social scientists from ASU’s Resilience Solutions Group, an interdisciplinary team of researchers, educators and public health-minded citizens who work to develop interventions that foster resourcefulness within people and their communities. |
