Glowing guilt

 We'd all like to be more energy-efficient. But most of us have no sense of their energy usage until they receive their monthly utility bill. And by the time you get your electrical bill at the end of each month, it’s too late.

What if you knew from the moment you plugged in your cell phone charger or turned on your PC how much energy you’re using right then, at that very moment? Maybe if you could actually see how much energy you're using, you wouldn't leave that PC running all night. That’s the idea that inspired the Power Aware Cord. This object indicates how much energy an appliance is consuming through glowing pulses and intensity of light. These lights speed up or slow down depending on the amount of energy being used. Since the current use of electricity isn’t hidden, users can see how a TV, for example, still sucks energy as long as it’s plugged in, without us noticing. Another example is the mobile phone charger, that is an energy thief that is easy to forget.

It’s a different approach to sustainable design, one that’s not rooted in materials but in changing behaviour. Think about it! How can you use less energy if you don’t know how much energy you’re using? Are you ready to accept the confrontation with your monthly electrical bill? Try it out!

Stephanie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG88n3Yk6qA

Save the frogs!

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=BLBCA_20120226_001&utm_source=nieuwsblad&utm_medium=artikel&utm_campaign=crosspromo

As mentioned in the video, wild animals cause 20 000 car accidents in Switzerland every year. Especially at night, cars collide with wild animals due to reduced visibility conditions. That’s why Audi designed a system that recognizes people and animals in the dark with the help of an infrared camera. Thanks to the Audi Night Vision Assistant the driver should be able to anticipate a crash on roads that have nearly no lighting.

This system will prevent car accidents and consequently save lives of people and of animals. The way I see it, taking care of animals is also a way to take care of the environment. If we continue to disrespect animals and in that way upset the biological balance, the human race won’t be able to survive for very long.

Personally, I would love to have such a system as well, since the chance that I would hurt frogs, rabbits or cats would substantially decrease. This is really something that I fear every time I use my car, therefore I would definitely appreciate assistance. Unfortunately I can’t afford an Audi… yet.

Have you ever run over an animal? Do you feel guilty about it?

Eline Moens

Let’s talk fashion: Green Carpet Challenge

Hello dear MTB students!
 

Are there amongst you any movie freaks like me? We all know that last Sunday was the most exhilarating day of the year for us. You all know that I’m talking about the Oscars. Unfortunately Bullhead did not take home a statue. I don’t want to talk about all the amazing movies, but I want to focus on the “green” aspect of the Oscars. I think you all know Colin Firth, but do you know his amazing wife Livia Firth? She accompanies her husband to all the important award shows. She realized that red carpet events were actually the perfect opportunity to showcase her passion for eco-fashion. She wants to promote a sustainable style and ethical fashion. Therefore she set herself the Green Carpet Challenge: everything she wears to a red carpet event is made by designers who prioritize environmental and social justice. The designers try to be eco-friendly throughout the entire design process: the materials they use (materials with the lowest ecological impact), the way they produce their work, their supply-chain values and what their intentions are after the piece of clothing has been worn. Livia Firth was not the only one to take on the challenge. Take a look at our “green” stars:

Three-time Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep wore a gold-lamé gown by Lanvin to the 2012 Oscars. The full-length gown is made from an eco-certified fabric. 

 Livia Firth wore a Valentino gown created from a blend of silk and recycled PET plastic. She accessorized with sustainably sourced pink diamond jewelry by Calleijia. Her husband, Colin Firth, "recycled" his organic-wool Tom Ford suit from the 2011 Oscars. 

"The Artist" actress Missi Pyle wore the winning design from Suzy Amis Cameron's "Red Carpet Green Dress" competition. Valentina Delfino created the cruelty-free, mineral-dyed silk gown.  

Kenneth Branagh, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing Sir Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn, wore a custom-made Ermenegildo Zegna tuxedo made with eco-friendly merino wool. The wool is sourced from Australian non-"mulesed" merino sheep.

Best Actor nominee Demián Bichir wore Ermenegildo Zegna as well . 

Check out Livia Firth’s blog for all her red carpet adventures: http://www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/livia-firth 

Leen Leus

Charge your phone on the go!

Your cell phone has a dead battery, but you have to leave right now, so you don’t have time to wait until it’s charged… Now, what can you do?

With the bike-powered phone charger, the solution is nearby! Whenever you pedal your bike, you tend to generate energy, which just goes waste. Nokia wants to recycle this energy for charging your mobile phone. They have introduced a charging kit that resembles a dynamo attached to the wheel of your bike for generating power as you pedal. That ‘dynamo’ contains a charger, which transfers the energy to your cell phone held by a rubber phone holder fixed to your handlebars. The charging of your cell phone starts as you start biking with a walking speed of 6km/hour and it charges like an ordinary Nokia charger when you reach a speed of 12 km/hour.

This method of charging the dead battery of your cell phone is very efficient, reliable and last but not least: eco-friendly!


Karen Van Overbeke.

Stop killing trees ánd ink cartridges!

Stop killing trees Stop killing ink cartridges!

Since killing trees became a major crime at the start of our second semester, I enjoyed the blog postings from my fellow MTB-students Laura and Pieter about alternative printing solutions. Unfortunately, none of these solutions seem to be easily accessible or affordable.  Therefore, I felt morally committed to join Laura and Pieter on their quest and help Astrid achieving the goal of “teaching green”. I did some desk research about eco-friendly printing solutions, and found an interesting sustainable software package called “Ecofont”.

This new software adopted a novel strategy to save money on print supplies. By inserting tiny holes in the middle of every character of the used font at printing, the software enables people to save up to 50% on toner and ink usage, meaning that each letter requires less ink to be printed, without having an effect on legibility. This technique is comparable to printing in draft mode or grayscales. However, these printing modes always result in a lower toner usage at the expense of the printing quality. With Ecofont, the outline of every character remains intact, which means that people will immediately recognize the character while reading, and the text doesn’t look fuzzy.
The Ecofont-software has several other features helping people to minimize printing, for example by automatically removing all of the unnecessary background pictures and white space. All of these easy-to-use options can save a lot of ink and paper as well.
Given the industry is charging extremely high prices for cartridges or toners, the use of the Ecofont software can save us some important cash on yearly base. And least we can do the environment a small favour!

So even if we can’t prevent Astrid from killing trees, at least we can prevent her from killing ink cartridges! ;-)

Interesting note: The Ecofont-software was announced winner of the Dutch Accenture Innovation Award  in 2011 in the consumer products category. The Accenture Innovation Award jury consists of several directors of famous international companies such as Unilever, Heineken and FrieslandCampina. Innovations are judged on the degree of innovation, their success and potential. 

http://www.ecofont.com/

Thomas Catteeuw

Hybrid meat.

If the name Alexia Leysen does not ring a bell, you shouldn’t be ashamed, because you’re not the only one that doens’t know her. Yet her facebook-action ‘Dagen zonder Vlees’ (Days without Meat),  has reached out to loads of people. She started her crusade in 2011 and managed to convince 1000 Belgians to stop eating meat for forty days. Now, in 2012, she is dedicated to expand this number and make an ever expanding number of people vegetarian. That is, at least  for the forty days that the christian fasting period is long.

Her purpose is quite simple:
Deminish the amount of meat and fish that one eats for forty days. The action however is not religiously inspired, but should help us reflect on the impact of our eating habits on Mother Nature.
Now, being a vegetarian or even fasting is not that innovative, but what makes this action so unique is that it has been put up by meat-eaters for meat-eaters.

The ultimate purpose is helping people realize that we are perfectly capable of functioning without or with less meat, and by doing so reducing our ecological footmark and helping nature.

Inspired by this great project I decided to take up the challenge, and in doing so convincing other people to join me. Except for my nitwit-boyfriend who is a carnivore to the bone.
It’s only been five days and in my search for alternative products I stumbled across something called hybrid meat. Having never heard of it before I decided to have a better look at it and it makes perfect sense!.
It consist in part vegetable ingredients, part meat. In this way, it would be possible to reduce the quantity of meat per person in a quick and effective way. 

The perfect innovation for meat-loving environmentalists!

Wouldn't you like to take a bite?!!

Lore Ott

Think green, print green!

To be honest, I’m not the most ecologic person. However, a few months ago, when I saw the huge piles of books and papers I had to study, I came to notice that maybe I could reduce my ecological footprint by reducing the amount of documents I print weekly. Good intentions, right?

Unfortunately, I failed.

So now, quite some time later, I was browsing the Internet and this new green product immediately caught my eye: the pencil printer. This laser printer works on pencil cartridges instead of ink cartridges. And there’s more! To erase your mistakes, it uses an eraser. And there’s even more! It’s possible to recycle the paper, in the sense that you can reuse it as many times as you want. The first thing that came to mind when I saw this printer, is that it could offer me the opportunity to make my good intentions come true. It could also brighten up my life because, when my ink cartridge is empty, I have to order new ones online, which really bums me out because it mostly takes more than a week before they are delivered. With the new pencil printer, I will be free from this burden, since I only need pencils and an eraser.

As you can probably notice, I’m really fond of this innovation. That being said, I believe that as far as goes the ecologic aspect, it can still be taken to a higher level. The printer now works on electricity. However, to become a true nature lover, it can be worked out using solar power. That would make the (green) circle complete!

That's all folks! Blog you later!

Laura Hoste




If you loved this article, make sure to read "Stop Astrid from killing more trees!" by Pieter Glorieux for some more knowledgeable information about green printers!

The Vessel: sleep in your backpack and wear it as a coat

Like Katrien wrote in her article Connect smart in the cold!, the sudden cold this year surprised us all, and we felt the need to wear warmer coats. But now that the temperature is rising again, we  tend to leave that warm coat in our closet until next winter. Wouldn’t it be great if we could continue using this coat during the rest of the year? Let’s say as a backpack? Or – why not – as a tent?

This must have been exactly what went to Justin Gargasz’ mind when he designed the Vessel Coat Tent. It’s a coat that can be folded and used as a backpack, or stretched out and used as a tent.

Since an MTB-student always needs pen and paper or a laptop, an agenda and some water and food to get through the day, an MTB-student without a bag to transport all these things is a very rare species. So if it gets warmer, you can easily use your coat as a bag. And maybe, when you can’t find your house after a night out, or when the National Railway Company of Belgium is on strike again, you can just stretch it out and sleep in it! Isn't that convenient?

http://trendsupdates.com/a-cool-vessel-coat-tent-by-justin-gargasz/

Freya Van Durme

Robotic arm controlled by thoughts

Lost a limb? Don't despair, help is on the way! Scientists are working on a project to create a robotic prosthesis to replace a missing hand. Okay, that’s not new. What is new, is that the robotic hand can be controlled through thoughts! The device is called LifeHand and is the result of a €2 million, five year project funded by the European Union. In 2009, it was successfully tested on Pierpaolo Petruzziello, an Italian who lost his left arm in a car crash. Through the implantation of four electrodes into the nervous system of his arm, he was able to control the hand with his mind and to achieve complex movements. He could for example make a fist, grab objects and make rude gestures. That sounds great, but we’re not there yet. The experiment only lasted a month and scientists still have to find out a way to attach the prosthesis to the arm permanently. Nonetheless, it’s already an important step forward in helping people with a disability, wouldn’t you say?

If you want to find out more about the project, check the video below!

Annelien Liessens

Connect smart in the cold!

I think I can speak for the entire MTB-community when I say that the last couple of weeks have been ‘fingerfreezing’ for all of us. This year, low temperatures arrived rather late but left us unexpected in the cold, and we were in a strong need for gloves, snowboots, scarves, hats and winter jackets. While the rest of the student world was still enjoying cocktails on Ibiza, we were trying to avoid undercooling, with the result that the majority of us experienced some illnesses in recent days.

The worst thing about this kind of weather is the use of your cellphone. Try typing a message or dialing a number while wearing three-layer woolen gloves, wear nothing and you risk losing a finger. In the context of the MTB-community we had to face similar challenges: a last-minute change of location or hour of appointments, meetings and teamworks made it impossible not to use your smartphone. So they invented Smartouchgloves, gloves that you can wear while still being able to type a message, to “Connect in the cold”! Although they seem a bit futuristic, I think these gloves are yet another – farfetched? – gadget for our modern time environment. 

Katrien Cailliau

http://www.smartouchgloves.com/smartouch.htm

And the award goes to...

AND THE AWARD GOES TO…

No, I’m not talking about the MTB Award (the winner will only be revealed in one month!). I’m talking about the SEED Award, a prize that rewards Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development in developing and emerging economies. Each year, the most promising, innovative, social and environmental initiatives are judged by an international jury. Instead of money, the winners receive technical support, advice and networks (we all know how important networking is by now…).

Some of the winning projects include “Karam” and “Man and Man Enterprise”. The first one is a local Egyptian partnership initiative. Rural artisans make traditional handicraft products from natural or recycled resources, which are sold to tourists. “Man and Man Enterprise” is a project in Ghana. It produces cooking stoves that run on biomass, substituting the traditional charcoal-fuelled stoves. This way, they avoid harmful emissions, stop deforestation AND create employment for the local population.

You see, innovations don’t always have to be flashy and technologically complicated. These small initiatives can improve the world, probably more than any I-cat, information ring or pop-up toilet can. Are there any of you interested in starting their own business or initiative after graduating? Take a look at the SEED winners, you can find some great examples.  

For more winners of the SEED Awards 2011, you can always consult: http://www.seedinit.org/en/awards/winners-database/2011-awards.html

Karen V.

Androids: humans or robots?

When I think of innovations, robots immediately come to mind. I guess everyone has seen at least one of the Terminator movies. I am particularly fascinated by them, because the robots are so human-like. You can barely see the difference between a robot and a human being: they look like us, talk like us, behave like us. Today, such robots don’t exist yet, but scientists are continuously searching for better ways to humanize robots. And they’re not doing a bad job so far. In the YouTube video below, you can see some of the latest creations. They are called “androids”: robots designed to look and act like a human, and with a body having a flesh-like resemblance. As you can imagine, the main challenge is to give them human facial expressions. It’s up to you to decide whether their creators succeeded in doing so!

Annelien Liessens

Masters in innovation

While surfing on the Internet, looking for some ideas for the blog, I found the following website:

http://www.mastersininnovation.com/

Masters in Innovation is an open platform on product innovation, technology transfer and new products management. The site organizes an Innovation Day, which is, and I cite: “an exclusive day for professionals, academics and managers who are eager to explore new innovation opportunities, looking for creative ideas and exchange insights and thoughts with colleagues.” I believe this to be a perfect way to stimulate innovation!

After having explored the website I found myself wondering if it wouldn’t be interesting to set up more lessons on innovation or even to organize an Innovation Day at the university. In these events students would be stimulated for example to brainstorm, to create innovative projects etc.

The students attending these lessons or the Innovation Day would receive a certificate stating they are now Master in Innovation.  Possession of such a certificate could certainly help students in their further career life.

Wouldn't it be great to receive such a certificate after our English lessons? :-)

Nathalie Adam

Stop Astrid from killing more trees!

Last week’s hot topic was without any doubt Astrid wasting far too much printing paper during her course session. Since this behavior is totally in fight with the ecological thinking of nowadays, I asked myself: “How could we stop our dearest teacher from killing more trees?” This acute question led me to the discovery of an amazing equipment: The Prepeat: an ecological printer that makes the purchase and the consumption of paper and ink superfluous. Hard to believe !?

Just what I thought, so I gathered some more knowledge about the product. Of course, inkless printing can hardly be called cutting edge,  but the novel approach of the Prepeat consists in the recycling of the printed paper. Its Japanese inventors (not occasionally originated in the second most inventive country of the world) developed a special heating system which simply erases the printed text that was on the paper before. The only ‘but’ is that the Prepeat doesn’t rely on normal copy paper. Instead, it uses special rewritable sheets made of plastic that can be recycled one thousand times! 

Unfortunately, its current cost of 500.000 yen (ca.4000€) still hampers the individual purchase of the Prepeat. Rather than that, I should highly recommend the MTB-community a common purchase of this product in order to become the first 100% paperless community of the University of Ghent!
Convince yourself by this demonstration video:

A must have for ecologically thinking,  future professionals, don’t you think? *wink wink nudge nudge*

Pieter Glorieux

Innovate or die ..

Today everyone has to become more innovative to find solutions for the new (green) challenges of our modern world. However, a lot of entrepreneurs come up with innovative ideas but they fail immediately at the execution level.

Were those ideas truly innovative?

In his new book “Transformative Entrepreneurs”, Jeffrey A. Harris shows how to deal with the right elements and how to become a real transformative entrepreneur like Ingvar Kampräd, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs or Fred Smith. Harris distinguishes 8 key elements to build up a real transformative business, really interesting for the MTB award as well!

v It’s all about the people.

v Seek innovation that begets invention.

v Find enough venturesome capital.

v Create a formidable and durable business model.

v Grab the next-mover advantage.

v Failure is an option.

v Government matters.

v Innovate or die.

This book highlights how difficult it is , yet it illustrates that it can be done, and has been done many times! 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2012/01/29/8-key-elements-make-your-business-transformative/

Charlotte Verbeke

Almost everything can be converted into energy!

Nowadays, Belgium is very innovative when it comes to producing alternative energy. The stuff they convert into energy is so out of this world you won’t believe: the fat of a washed up sperm whale, algae oil or even chicory, melon and cactus!
The Walloon enterprise GreenWatt , a spin-off of the university of Leuven, invented a system that converts vegetable waste into durable and clean energy. At the moment, GreenWatt is in the commercialization stage. It’s already closely collaborating with Joluwa, a cultivator of chicory, and with Boyer, a wholesale business in fruits. The GreenWatt installation on their site enables them to reduce their waste without additional costs. On the contrary, they will be able to save money on their energy bill and they can even sell their energy surplus. Unfortunately, there is still a major drawback: not everyone can afford such an installation since it requires a considerable investment. But for the companies that can afford it, it’s worth the money because the project has a good return on investment. Currently GreenWatt is even building a biogas installation in Chile that will run on cactuses. This project will kill two birds with one stone: it responds to the rising need for energy in Chile and the cactus plantations will help in preventing the desertification in Chile.
Proviron, again a Belgian enterprise, is convinced that algae oil will replace fuel in the future to feed cars and is working on its commercialization right now. If you would like some more information on this technique: I have an interesting article on the subject so you can always contact me, or just check out the website: http://www.proviron.com/product-groups/microalgae
By the way, perhaps you know any other crazy examples of products that are used to produce energy (maybe invented by other innovative Belgians) ?

Eline Moens

Charging batteries with a stove

Imagine you’re on a camping trip or at a festival and the battery of your phone is dead, your flashlight doesn’t work at a crucial moment, … . As you’re in nature you can’t recharge your phone or flashlight. BioLite found a green solution for this problem!
They invented the BioLite CampStove. With this stove you can recharge your phones, lights and other gadgets while preparing dinner. By using this CampStove you reduce your carbon footprint but also support a charity project organized by BioLite. BioLite will use the profit obtained by selling the CampStove to invest in the HomeStove, a stove that can be used in the developing countries. It’s obvious, this green stove has nothing but benefits!

Why would you use the CampStove?

In order to cook your meals on the stove you only need some twigs and pineapples you easily collect on your journey. So there’s no need for heavy and polluting petroleum gaz. This gives you the opportunity to reduce your footprint and contribute to a better world. Other benefits are: the stove is quick to light, fast to boil and easy to clean.
The heat of the fire can be converted into usable electricity so that you can recharge your phone, flashlight or other gadgets.
The stove also can be associated with fun. It can be used as a little camp fire where you experience unforgettable moments with friends or family while roasting a marshmallow and singing cheerful tunes.
Interesting is also that the stove can be used when the power goes out in a storm or another natural disaster. You can cook meals and charge electronics while power lines are down.
And last but not least. Buying this stove gives you the chance to help people in the developing countries. Half of the planet cooks on open fires, leading to 2 million premature deaths each year worldwide and contributing to global warming. BioLite uses the profits of this CampStove to build the HomeStove. With this stove they can provide families with clean, save energy access all over the developing world.

So when you’re planning a camping trip or a festival, don’t forget to order the BioLite CampStove! Not yet convinced, watch this video: http://biolitestove.com/CampStove_Video.html

After seeing the video, do you agree with the ideas and projects discussed ?

Source: http://biolitestove.com/CampStove.html

Dial R for Retro

Believe it or not, cell phones have not always been around. Although today we all have a cell phone, that thing at home known nowadays as the “landline”wasonce the only phone people had. Today we use our cell phone constantly, and we all know the accessories that go with it, like Bluetooth headsets. But forget those headsets! Let’s go back to the old days. Go old school with your cell phone and turn yourmobile into a retro telephone!

This retro phone handset is a replica of the Western Electric 500-series model, which was the classic phone handset for several decades. It has been slightly modified to work with the headset jack of most cell phones. Just plug-in and dial!

It may seem crazy at first, but users claim that talking into this phone is a lot more comfortable than holding your cell phone to your ear. Depending on how good the conversation is, you may need both of your hands for purposes besides holding your phone. With only a cell phone, you would have to squeeze that tiny mobile between your shoulder and ear only to get a bad crick in your neck. Using this retro phone however, you can comfortably hold the handset using your shoulder. Besides that, the design may serve to improve call quality. Having the microphone near your mouth instead of halfway down your cheek makes it easier for people to understand what you’re saying. And a last reason to buy this headset concerns the rumour that heavy cell phone usage may cause brain cancer. True or not, this headset will get that phone away from your head just in case.


This full-size, old-fashioned, haven't-seen-one-since-the-'80s corded handset is a must have for every MTB-student! It makes having to call around for projects much more fun - and comfortable! Above, this phone really resurrects the long-lost and greatly missed experience of talking on the phone with old friends you haven’t been able to meet in a while.

What do you think about it? Isn’t this the craziest accessory ever? Hit the comments and get talking!

Stephanie Van den Broeck

Innovations to make us think more green!

I read on this blog the latest new green innovations like the water pebble, a charger for your phone when your cycle and even a urinal that doesn’t need any water to flush! They are the kind of innovations, easy to use, that make it even easy to look after the environment!

We are confronted daily with the current ecological problems. Those problems provoke leaders, organization and the common man to think and live differently, with the environment as centre of their decisions. Maybe small changes like these fun little tools will encourage people to adapt their way of life for real in a “green” way.

Another example creating of green energy that amazed me was related to the pot whale which washed up last week. The animal weighted twenty five ton, of which the half was fat. Instead of burning the cadaver, the fat will be used to provide twenty five families one year from green energy. Fun application, isn’t it?

Karen A.

Read the article “ "Theofiel" wordt omgezet in groene stroom” or watch the clip on http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/regio/westvlaanderen/120209_Potvis_Fup for some more information!

The use of potable water to flush our toilets, a bit exaggerated don't you think?

One of the biggest environmental problems that we have to cope with, besides greenhouse gas emission, is the freshwater shortage. Personally, I think it’s mind-blowing that half of the planet’s population uses potable freshwater to clean themselves and to flush their excreta, while the other half is dying of thirst. That’s why I think the following innovation is worthy of our attention.



The concept is very simple; it’s a urinal that doesn’t need any water to flush. The inside of the toilet is coated with a very smooth surface to make sure all the fluid flows into a siphon. This siphon contains a biodegradable liquid: Urilock. Because Urilock is lighter than urine, the urine flows through the biodegradable liquid, into the sewer. Besides, these waterless urinals are 100% odourless because the Urilock is always placed above the siphon and the urine and sewer are always cut off from the outside air.

In a nutshell, this innovative product reduces the amount of drinkable freshwater we flush down the toilet. Every day we use massive amounts of potable water for the lavatory, and I think it's time we do something about it! Do your share my opinion?


Mathieu Biemans

Charge your phone when you cycle!

When you ride your bicycle, you produce energy. Up to now, this energy is only used to feed the light that enables you to bike more safely. But in Germany the manufacturer of bicycles Silverback came up with the idea to use this energy for recharging small electronic devices. Thanks to USB ports integrated in the bike, it’s possible to recharge your mobile phone, your MP3, your GPS... while you are biking.
Apparently, Silverback isn’t the only one with this idea. Nokia designed a green add-on device called ‘The Nokia Bicycle Charger Kit’. It can be easily installed on any bike, which seems to me a great advantage. In addition, you are able to listen to music on your phone's speakers as you cycle. With just 20 minutes of cycling at 10 km/h you can power up your Nokia mobile phone for 1 hour of talk time or 74 hours of standby time, so from now on you never risk that your battery is running low. Since a lot of people take the bike to university and everyone is using a smart phone and an MP3, I am convinced that this is a very interesting device for the MTB community. Would you like to have one as well?

Eline Moens


http://www.silverbacklab.com/2011_website_SILVERBACK/urban_dynamics.htm
http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/accessories/all-accessories/power/chargers/nokia-bicycle-charger-kit

The water pebble: a solution to water waste or just another gadget?

If you not only are environmental-minded, but also a gadget freak, the water pebble, a device that helps you to decrease your water waste, is something you should have!



It is publicly known that water waste is a big environmental issue. Therefore, people are often encouraged to take a shower instead of a bath to reduce the amount of water used. However, a shower that takes more than 5 minutes can squander more water than a bath does.

But nowadays, there’s a solution to this problem: the water pebble. The fact is, this nice-looking gadget measures the amount of water you use when showering. But how does it help you to reduce your water usage exactly? Well, it sets a benchmark during the first use by which later showers are measured. Traffic-wise, you can be confronted with three lights. When you’re using less water than the first time, a green light will blink. A red light on the other hand signifies that you have to shorten your shower time. Each use, the quantity of water you are allowed to utilize to stay ‘in the green zone’ decreases. That means that, if you follow the guidelines, you will gradually cut down on your water usage AND energy bills!

It is true that this gadget doesn’t reduce the water amount as such. But in my opinion, it’s a good tool to make people aware of their water waste and to help them in their fight against global warming. Do you agree or do you think it’s just another gadget?

Innovation is out. Transformation is In. Literally

According to Bruce Nussbaum, innovation died in 2008. It was replaced by “transformation”. I’ve taken this concept quite literally and I would like to present to you the UNO III Street bike. Forget about those boring electric cars. Most electric cars look as if they were created for senior citizens. The future MTB students need a cooler way to get to class or to cruise the Overpoort. Let me introduce you to the UNO III Street bike. This electric bike can switch from a two-wheeled dicycle to a three-wheeled sports bike, and back again. The UNO III is very compact when it is in its two-wheel mode. You can pick it up and take it with you to class. When you’re driving the UNO III the third wheel automatically pops out when you pick up the speed. Who thought being green could be that cool and sexy? This urban bike is eco-friendly because the electric motor produces zero emissions. Plus, it only takes about 3 to 4 hours to recharge and a single recharge will last about 55 kilometres. This bike is the perfect example of innovative and creative thinking. Its inventor Ben Gulak came up with the idea of a cool and eco-friendly bike during a trip to China when he was just a teenager.

This might remind you of the Segway… But unlike the Segway, the UNO III has a much more appealing look. Today, the Segway is mainly being used for guided tours but the UNO III just might become a daily feature of our urban lifestyle.





Doesn’t this remind you of Transformers? But sorry boys, the UNO III does not come with a sexy Megan Fox.

Check out this video of the UNO III Street bike:
UNO Development Video


Leen Leus

The Eight Pillars of Innovation

The greatest innovations are the ones we take for granted these days, like light bulbs, refrigeration and penicillin. But in a world where the miraculous very quickly becomes commonplace, how can a company maintain a spirit of innovation year after year?

Every company once faces the classic innovator’s dilemma: should we invest in brand new products, or should we improve existing ones? Even a company as big as Google once comes to face this dilemma. That is why they have picked up eight principles of innovation along to way, to guide them.

1. Have a mission that matters
Work can be more than a job when it stands for something you care about. Create the potential to touch many lives!

2. Think big but start small
No matter how ambitious the plan, you have to roll up your sleeves and start somewhere.

3. Strive for continual innovation, not instant perfection
Our iterative process often teaches us invaluable lessons. Act on feedback! It’s much better to learn these things early and be able to respond than to go too far down the wrong path.

4. Look for ideas everywhere
Some of the best ideas are sparked just like that – when taking a break on a random afternoon and start talking with others about things that excite them.

5. Share everything
By sharing everything that’s going on within the company and why decisions are made, you encourage the discussion, exchange and re-interpretation of ideas, which can lead to unexpected and innovative outcomes.

6. Spark with imagination, fuel with data
Believe the impossible can become a reality! What begins with intuition is fueled by insights. Data can either back up your instincts or prove them totally wrong.

7. Be a platform
Believe strongly in the power of open technologies. They enable anyone, anywhere, to apply their unique skills, perspectives and passions to the creation of new products and features.

8. Never fail to fail
It’s okay to fail as long as you learn from your mistakes and correct them fast. Knowing this can free you up to take risks. And remember : people remember your hits more than your misses.

Let these eight pillars guide you as you face the innovator’s dilemma. And let me know if they were helpful, facing this dilemma! Want to read more about these eight pillars of innovation? Check out the entire article : http://thinkwithgoogle.com/quarterly/innovation/8-pillars-of-innovation.html

Stephanie

WARNING: the danger of innovation

WARNING
The danger of innovation

Before we all start searching the web for green innovations, I would like to give you all a warning. Green innovations should be encouraged, but in the current rush of new and green technology, scientists will invent practically anything. A warning is in place: not every invention is a good one.

Inventors sometimes skip the third role of the Walt Disney Strategy in the process of brainstorming: they forget to be critical, and to question their own inventions. In this blog entry, I will describe how some green inventions went completely wrong, and how they can even damage the environment!


I present to you: the human-powered floating gym! Looks smart, huh? The efforts made by the people working out inside generate electricity, so that the floating gym can transport them to their work or school. This would be the perfect solution to the traffic jams and to the increasing amount of obese citizens in New York. You combine transportation and working out. But when you think twice, you realize that a method of transport that keeps you fit already exists. It’s called a bike.

Secondly, here’s an example of an ambitious green innovation that brings along a lot of unintended consequences: biofuels. Again, an American invention. Logical, since the United States would love to be less independent from the Middle East when it comes to oil. But the fabrication of biofuels has cost tragic collateral damage: entire forests have been cut down. It has even caused a food crisis.


Let’s conclude with this wonderful invention: a satellite that beams electricity from space. Japan is already heavily investing in this new source of green energy. Personally, I’m not a fan of sending junk into space. But if this makes it possible to send limitless clean energy to earth, maybe it’s worth considering? There’s one problem: the beam could theoretically miss the receiver and fry, say, a neighborhood…

I’m not saying all of these ideas should simply be thrown overboard. As we’ve seen during our first class, all ideas are welcome. However, we should think twice about the use of an invention, and it’s possible side effects. Something to remember during our search!

Framing the Challenge: Tips and Tricks from the Big Boys

Yesterday, we saw how President Obama was rooting for Innovation in his 2012 State of the Union speech. But truth be told: innovation has been on the President's mind since the very beginning of his term in office: in his September 2009 Strategy for American Innovation, Obama called on agencies to increase their ability to promote innovation by using tools such as prizes and challenges to solve tough problems. His plea was heard - and answered - because in March 2010, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a Memorandum on the use of challenges/contests and prizes to improve government and encourage innovation. Basically, the OMB provides a policy and legal framework to guide agencies in using prizes (money, scholarships, internships, ...) to stimulate innovation to advance their core missions.

Shortly after, Challenge.gov was created. This is a website where the government and the public work together: government agencies post challenges on this site and the public can post submissions to these challenges. But what exactly is a challenge?

Challenges can range from fairly simple (idea suggestions, creation of logos, videos, digital games and mobile applications) to proofs of concept, designs, or finished products.
Once a challenge is created, other people can join the challenge to propose a submission, discuss the challenge, and show support.

But why is this interesting to us, the MTB community? Well, just have a look at the wide range of challenges (http://challenge.gov/search).  Feast your eyes upon the great, clear and concise ways in which the agencies are able to frame their "proburtunities". Often, using a single sentence, they are able to put forward the issue(s) at hand and trigger the audience to accept the challenge. The substantial awards offered at the end might help as well, of course.

As all of you are starting your search for a great (GREEN) innovation, keep in mind that it should also solve an important 'challenge' within the MTB community. Take a look at your lives and that of your students and decide what is missing, can be improved, should be changed, ... Try to frame it clearly, i.e. put it into words, using no more than a single sentence. This is where Challenge.gov might help. And, should you be inspired and want to take up a challenge posted by the US agencies, feel free to let the entire MTB community be a part of your fame and fortune!

Astrid

(Check out: http://challenge.gov/)