Engineering Innovation Stanford EE15n January 6, 2015 Judy Estrin, CEO, JLabs 1
Engineering Innovation One engineer's path Innovation Opportunities and challenges
Shaping My Career (and Attitudes) Academic/scientific family - strong role models Fell in love with computer science - appealed to my problem solving skills Involved in early development of TCP/IP and the Internet with Vint Cerf First job with a small company: early move into management interacting with people, applying technology Never thought I would be an entrepreneur, business leader or author
Range of Experiences Academic Entrepreneurial Corporate Computer science UCLA Stanford Early networking research Advisory Boards Bridge Communications NCD Precept Packet Design EvntLive Investor Mother! CTO Cisco Board member of: Disney FedEx Rockwell Sun Microsystems Author - Closing the Innovation Gap, McGraw-Hill, 2008 Over 100 interviews with innovators, leaders, educators
Imagine Our World Without Safe buildings or bridges Dustbuster, HDTV, home gyms, video games Mobile devices or GPS New forms of clean energy and transportation Advances in healthcare The Internet, web, facebook, twitter.. New materials for bikes, clothes, packaging
Engineering: Practical application of the knowledge of pure science or Building things that solve problems Engineers truly can change the world
Entrepreneurship is a State of Mind Passion, flexibility, intelligent risk, operating lean, identifying needs and disruptive approaches, discipline and drive Willing to tackle seemingly impossible problems Able to balance a strong vision and persistence with assessment and flexibility Comfortable with ambiguity - often need to make decisions without hard data Navigating exits is as hard (and as important) as the start of a company You only hear about the home runs, which are very rare
Innovation Something new or different in science, engineering, arts, social sciences, business...or all of the above Needed to drive economic growth and solve the major challenges that we face energy/environment, healthcare, security, education. But it is also very personal, impacting our lives at home, school and work Copyright Judy Estrin 2008
Innovation Process Innovation is about identifying human needs sometimes before people realize they have them Innovation is messy - you need to be willing to invest without knowing the outcome. It doesn t just happen, but needs to be nurtured like a garden Copyright Judy Estrin 2008
Innovation Builds on Innovation 1 Breakthrough Innovation Invention of something completely new (transistor, credit card, packet switching/internet) 2 Incremental Innovation Enhancement of current product or process (social networks, private labeled credit card) 3 Orthogonal Innovation Combination of existing innovations for use in a completely new way (ipod, debit card, Square) 1 & 3 can be disruptive creating new markets and industries 2 is necessary, just not sufficient Only incremental innovation is directly customer driven All are need driven Copyright Judy Estrin 2008
Ecosystem For Sustainable Innovation Ecosystems must be in balance to sustain life
Core Values = Capacity for Change Questioning Curiosity, self-assessment, non-judgmental, free flowing Risk Vulnerability, attitude toward failure, fail early, learn from failure Openness To imagine, new data, sharing, surprise, change Patience Tenacity, patient capital Trust In oneself, in others, safety net (bankruptcy, healthcare, education) Values need to be in balance.
Many Opportunities Energy independence and sustainable environment Technology: Focus on affordability, security, mobility Intersection of disciplines: bio, nano, IT, social sciences, design Creation of new industries Disruption of existing mature industries (edu, commerce, food, health, transportation, entertainment ) Changing demographics: Age, ethnicity, economic Healthcare: Expanding to include wellness, delivery of care to sick, elderly or disabled and additional focus on affordability Infrastructure upgrade requirements: Physical and Digital US and Globally
BEWARE OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES MEDICINES CARS TECH SIDE EFFECTS ACCIDENTS DIGITAL EXTREMISM
BALANCING OUR DIGITAL DIETS www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p-w_te5sgk
THE INTERNET THEN AND NOW FAMILY TOGETHER FAMILY TOGETHER, BUT APART
Questions? jestrin@jlabsllc.com www.jlabsllc.com www.theinnovationgap.com