DisruptED

When the US Centre for Advanced Manufacturing launched in June, Cynthia Hutchison, the Head of the Centre, met up with me and Kevin Czinger, CEO of Divergent3D & Czinger Vehicles.

Czinger is simply a phenomenon.  He comes from a proud family of mechanics and drag racers in Cleveland who influenced his interests at an early age, and encouraged him to become a voracious reader. 

Kevin burst onto the scene from there.  A lifelong learner at Yale, he received undergraduate and advanced degrees in biophysics, biochemistry, and electrical engineering at Yale and Arizona State.  Afterward, Czinger cofounded a successful EV battery manufacturing company in California. 

“When first researching how to transform an internal combustion engine vehicle into an EV, Czinger realized, “I spent more on the conversion of that car than all the capital that we spent on technology development for that car.” 

Although uni-body construction systems were automated, they were also analog and not optimized. Czinger points out, “It’s still the architecture of a fundamental analog system and here we have an industry being digitized everywhere except at its core.”

Czinger knew he needed to figure out digital assembly to create an entirely new factory model and digital manufacturing system. So he did! 

Inspired by Kelly Johnson’s pioneering work as the first team leader at Lockheed Skunkworks, Czinger shares his own gripping story. A blank slate, seven years, over 500+ distinct patents, and over $400M in invested capital, his 3D printed high performance C21 HyperCar just beat the McLaren P1 at the Laguna Seca Roadway by 6 seconds/ 

As Hutchison insightfully suggests during their multi-episode podcast, the two common ways people respond to this kind of massive disruption are through the lens of fear or opportunity. Czinger is clearly one of the latter-- a generational visionary who is leveraging his voracious American-born competitiveness to bring innovative technologies to scale. And Hutchison is equally passionate about bringing thought leaders together as she launches programming for the Centre.  

The US Centre for Advanced Manufacturing is a proud sponsor of DisruptED Advanced Manufacturing.  As Hutchison shares, “We want to shine a light on advanced manufacturing here in the US.”  It is electrifying listening to these two firsthand as Kevin’s digital manufacturing system launches, as the world watches and takes notice. 

When the US Centre for Advanced Manufacturing launched in June, Cynthia Hutchison, the Head of the Centre, met up with me and Kevin Czinger, CEO of Divergent3D/Czinger Vehicles.

Czinger is simply a phenomenon. He comes from a proud family of mechanics and drag racers in Cleveland who influenced his interests at an early age, and encouraged him to become a voracious reader.

Kevin burst onto the scene from there. A lifelong learner at Yale, he received undergraduate and advanced degrees in biophysics, biochemistry, and electrical engineering at Yale and Arizona State. Afterward, Czinger cofounded a successful EV battery manufacturing company in California.

“When first researching how to transform an internal combustion engine vehicle into an EV, Czinger realized, “I spent more on the conversion of that car than all the capital that we spent on technology development for that car.”

Although uni-body construction systems were automated, they were also analog and not optimized. Czinger points out, “It’s still the architecture of a fundamental analog system and here we have an industry being digitized everywhere except at its core.”

Czinger knew he needed to figure out digital assembly to create an entirely new factory model and digital manufacturing system. So he did!

Inspired by Kelly Johnson’s pioneering work as the first team leader at Lockheed Skunkworks, Czinger shares his own gripping story. A blank slate, seven years, over 500+ distinct patents, and over $400M in invested capital, his 3D printed high performance C21 HyperCar just beat the McLaren P1 at the Laguna Seca Roadway by 6 seconds/

As Hutchison insightfully suggests during their multi-episode podcast, the two common ways people respond to this kind of massive disruption are through the lens of fear or opportunity. Czinger is clearly one of the latter-- a generational visionary who is leveraging his voracious American-born competitiveness to bring innovative technologies to scale. And Hutchison is equally passionate about bringing thought leaders together as she launches programming for the Centre.

The US Centre for Advanced Manufacturing is a proud sponsor of DisruptED Advanced Manufacturing. As Hutchison shares, “We want to shine a light on advanced manufacturing here in the US.” It is electrifying listening to these two firsthand as Kevin’s digital manufacturing system launches, as the world watches and takes notice.

Returning guest Pete Hall, executive director of educationhall.com and author of YA novel Chasing the Show, joins hosts Ron Stefanski and Dr. Ceasar Mickens to talk about his new book and the valuable lessons of communication and empathy between parents, coaches, and kids.

While Hall’s other books focus on lessons of self-reflection, this story takes on a new approach: “How do I navigate what my life is going to be?,” said Hall. To create an audience receptive to learning while also engaged in the story, Hall focused on figuring out what people wanted most, “Part of the motivation beyond writing it was to build connections,” he said.

Schools today are trying to figure out the metric for success and part of that equation needs to be building connections. The human need for interaction was reflected sharply in the pandemic-era remoteness and isolating digital aspect, taking a toll on many people’s mental health. When Hall’s friend returned to the office, one of the reasons he stated was, “‘I miss interacting with human beings,’” said Hall.

The book is reflective of those human connections, “It’s a young adult novel…It follows the rises and falls of that dream [of an athlete],” explained Hall, “As the story unfolds, it also follows the interactions between the kid and his parents, the kid and his classmates and teammates, the kid and one of his teachers in particular, the parents and their friends who are school psychologists.” The book is aimed at explaining the importance of providing and nurturing support for his goals while also communicating effectively and developing a “Plan B” in case Plan A does not pan out.

Not only does Chasing the Show help facilitate conversations between parents and kids, but it’s an important tool for learning how to communicate effectively. A lot of kids “don’t have the skills and knowledge to go and talk to their coach…” said Hall, this book aims to disrupt that.

Returning guest Pete Hall, executive director of educationhall.com and author of YA novel Chasing the Show, joins hosts Dr. Caesar Mickens and Ron Stefanski to talk about his new book and the valuable lessons of communication and empathy between parents, coaches, and kids.

While Hall’s other books focus on lessons of self-reflection, this story takes on a new approach: “How do I navigate what my life is going to be?,” said Hall. To create an audience receptive to learning while also engaged in the story, Hall focused on figuring out what people wanted most, “Part of the motivation beyond writing it was to build connections,” he said.

Schools today are trying to figure out the metric for success and part of that equation needs to be building connections. The human need for interaction was reflected sharply in the pandemic-era remoteness and isolating digital aspect, taking a toll on many people’s mental health. When Hall’s friend returned to the office, one of the reasons he stated was, “‘I miss interacting with human beings,’” said Hall. 

The book is reflective of those human connections, “It’s a young adult novel…It follows the rises and falls of that dream [of an athlete],” explained Hall, “As the story unfolds, it also follows the interactions between the kid and his parents, the kid and his classmates and teammates, the kid and one of his teachers in particular, the parents and their friends who are school psychologists.” The book is aimed at explaining the importance of providing and nurturing support for his goals while also communicating effectively and developing a “Plan B” in case Plan A does not pan out.

Not only does Chasing the Show help facilitate conversations between parents and kids, but it’s an important tool for learning how to communicate effectively. A lot of kids “don’t have the skills and knowledge to go and talk to their coach…” said Hall, this book aims to disrupt that.

“Getting Shit Done” is the outstanding theme highlighted in DisruptED. Hosts Ron Stefanski and Dr. Ceasar Mickens  sit down with two extraordinary women, Kristin Harrington and Elizabeth Hofreuter, both with high GSD index scores to talk about their impact on fearless learning in the education space.

Hofreuter originally began her journey in the education space when her dyslexic daughter struggled to adapt to classroom learning. Now, as the Head of the Wheeling Country Day School, Hofreuter noted the importance of providing a flexible learning opportunity to all.

“On a national level 20% of children have…dyslexia,” said Hofreuter. Combined with the widespread learning loss due to covid, kids need structured literacy to catch up.

After a phone call sparked a shared passion between Hofreuter and Harrington, a founding partner for a nonprofit leadership consultancy, they teamed up to create a program aimed at building fearless learning.

“So, we used the pandemic as an acclerant. We learned over the pandemic that our kids who needed tutoring could be tutored remotely and, out of necessity…So we took our program online and once we were online we realized it could go anywhere,” said Hofreuter.

To branch out to kids who need to the most help, Hofreuter and Harrington work through out of school network programs, such as the Boys and Girls Club, which provides mentors for each kid and help them learn during their “power hour.”

Hofreuter explained, “So, we’re providing life changing literacy work within a life-changing program.”

Hofreuter and Harrington’s program teaches to the edges, so that no one is excluded. Their goal is to help kids learn that school shouldn’t be about survival - it should be about being fearless. For many kids with learning challenges, learning how to be fearless in education will transform their lives.

“We are happy to talk to anyone who wants to work collaboratively on this effort to bring fearless learning to students across Appalachia,” said Harrington, noting that their efforts don’t have to just be about dyslexic students, but rather can be applicable to all, “...Every intervention we are offering is just as applicable to students who are experiencing learning loss or interrupted learning as a result of the pandemic…Students are just struggling coming out of the pandemic.”

“Getting Shit Done” is the outstanding theme highlighted in DisruptED. Hosts Ron J Stefanski and Dr. Ceasar sit down with two extraordinary women, Kristin Harrington and Elizabeth Hofreuter, both with high GSD index scores to talk about their impact on fearless learning in the education space.

Hofreuter originally began her journey in the education space when her dyslexic daughter struggled to adapt to classroom learning. Now, as the Head of the Wheeling Country Day School, Hofreuter noted the importance of providing a flexible learning opportunity to all.

“On a national level 20% of children have…dyslexia,” said Hofreuter. Combined with the widespread learning loss due to covid, kids need structured literacy to catch up.

After a phone call sparked a shared passion between Hofreuter and Harrington, a founding partner for a nonprofit leadership consultancy, they teamed up to create a program aimed at building fearless learning.

“So, we used the pandemic as an acclerant. We learned over the pandemic that our kids who needed tutoring could be tutored remotely and, out of necessity…So we took our program online and once we were online we realized it could go anywhere,” said Hofreuter.

To branch out to kids who need to the most help, Hofreuter and Harrington work through out of school network programs, such as the Boys and Girls Club, which provides mentors for each kid and help them learn during their “power hour.”

Hofreuter explained, “So, we’re providing life changing literacy work within a life-changing program.”

Hofreuter and Harrington’s program teaches to the edges, so that no one is excluded. Their goal is to help kids learn that school shouldn’t be about survival – it should be about being fearless. For many kids with learning challenges, learning how to be fearless in education will transform their lives.

“We are happy to talk to anyone who wants to work collaboratively on this effort to bring fearless learning to students across Appalachia,” said Harrington, noting that their efforts don’t have to just be about dyslexic students, but rather can be applicable to all, “…Every intervention we are offering is just as applicable to students who are experiencing learning loss or interrupted learning as a result of the pandemic…Students are just struggling coming out of the pandemic.”

Industry 4.0 has something exciting and powerful up its sleeve in 3D Printing; Project DIAMOnD, or Distributed, Independent, Agile Manufacturing on Demand. Automation Alley established DIAMOnD through the 2020 CARES ACT. The funding provided Automation Alley with the ability to accelerate digital transformation among Michigan manufacturers to strengthen supply chains to develop PPE. So, why all the excitement? DisruptED got down to business with several experts involved with the project.

“Project DIAMOnD started as an idea in the middle of one of our darkest times, the pandemic,” said Pavan Muzumdar, COO of Automation Alley. “We came up with this idea that what would you do if you had this opportunity to deploy capital into the small and medium-sized manufacturing space. And we quickly converged to this idea that if you give someone a 3D printer, they will figure out how to use it.” And use it; they have. When the call came from Ukraine in desperate need of tourniquets, Project DIAMOnD’s network was ready to answer the call.

“When we had this crisis happening in Ukraine, that network mobilized, and we just delivered 3,000 tourniquet clips to Ukraine a couple of weeks ago,” Muzumdar said. “So, it is not only something companies are using internally in their organizations, but it’s also something that is saving lives.”

Ravi Venugopal, CEO of Giggso, and Pierre Viaud-Murat, Founder of Qualified3D, helped build the Project DIAMOnD platform. They introduced DIAMOnD to the public at the recent Integrate 2022 exhibition. This show was the first time people outside of a group of 300 companies saw the project. “It’s exciting to show the community aspects of it, the productivity aspects, and the business and production management aspects of it,” Viaud-Murat said.

Cynthia Hutchinson, Vice President of Automation Alley, also in attendance at this year’s Integrate 2022, was excited to talk about the great things going on with digital integration in the manufacturing industry. She said soon; that Project DIAMOnD will expand to companies throughout the entire state of Michigan with long-term expansion for Automation Alley’s international partners.

Life is full of challenges. Often, it can take a while to learn how to overcome and succeed in the challenges presented to us. For Dr. Howard Liebman, CEO of Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE) and Kari Greenfield, VP - Academic Partnerships, accomplishments coincide with a high GSD index - get stuff done. DisruptED hosts Ron Stefanski and Dr. Caesar Mickens invited Dr. Liebman and Greenfield to share how their mindsets help them overcome stifled progress along the education spectrum.

“I think, you know, passion is important because if you’re going to try mindsets and you’re going to change schemas of thinking you really have to be passionate about what you’re trying to do,” stated Dr. Liebman.

Disruption along the traditional education system can be extremely positive. For Dr. Liebman and Greenfield, this meant building a program that helps to re-engage adults back into the educational system to complete their high school diploma.

Dr. Liebman noted, “There’s 40 million adults in the country who don’t have a high school diploma. If we’re going to reengage that we’ve got to take a very tactical and strategic approach to how we’re going to do that moving forward.”

To do this, SHCOE designs their program around mitigating the traditional flight stimula presented in students' brains, “We want to eliminate that stimula in the brain to activate the flight [response],” Dr. Liebman said, and to do this, “Our students declare a major upon point of enrollment.” In addition to taking just their major over the first four months, SHCOE also provides a relatable academic coach to help students re-engage.

Greenfield noted that many SHCOE students lead busy lives, “Our average age student is mid-30s, 70% are women…63% of our students are parents…these are busy individuals…”

Through SHCOE, students are able to learn occupational skills and obtain their GED to provide a better life for themselves and their families.

Education is about growth. Growth of skills, learning, and communicating. When Pete Hall, founder of educationhall.com was an educational leader, growth was his priority. The problem was, no one else seemed to know where to start. Hosts Ron Stefanski and Ceasar Mickens  sit down with Hall to discuss his role in education as a disruptor and what he learned along the way.

Hall was shocked when he transitioned from teaching into an administrative role. Some teachers had brilliant methods of course design and concepts, others were decades behind. To challenge this, Hall recongized the need for growth in educational faculty. A school of great teachers comprises of positive self-reflection, “It’s how we oriente energy towards what we’re doing that makes the greatest impact,” said Hall.

Though, finding the time to implement and reflect as a teacher is hard-pressed, Hall said that it’s pertinent others learn to look at it like a necessary exercise for growth, afterall, you can’t build muscle if you’re not in the gym. He said, “We need to take our teachers to the reflective gym.”

In this, administrators must make it explicitly clear how self-reflection is a great learning tool. Using methods like free-journalling or assigning specific reflective writing prompts helps create strong and empowered teachers.

In utilizing these methods, Hall learned that educators threw away words of doubt like “but” or “should” and replaced them with action, which, in turn, created a positive learning environment for the students.

These methods can be actioned individually, but to really transform an education, schools and districts must work together and make self-reflection a cultural habit.

To learn more about Hall’s work, check out his authored and co-authored educational titles: “Creating a Culture of Reflective Practice”  and “Building Teacher’s Capacity for Success” as he continues to disrupt education in a positive way.

Education is top of mind for Jeffrey J Mimms, Jr., Mayor of Dayton, OH, and Dr.  David Lawrence, Education Advisor for Dayton, OH. Mimms, a longtime educator himself with over forty years in education, is a pioneer in establishing equitable funding for public schools across Ohio. DisruptED’s Ron Stefanski and Ceasar Mickens spoke to Mimms and Lawrence about an extraordinary concept they’re championing: creating a city of learners in Dayton.

Mimms said the challenge in education today, especially in underserved areas, is getting kids engaged and excited to come to school and learn every day. Mimms listed the four A’s essential for education success: attendance, attitude, activities, and achievement. When schools provide the programs that allow students to hit the four A’s, those lessons carry through beyond school and into life. The City of Learners concept design will make education equitable and expansive throughout Dayton and allow children to achieve their goals.

“The City of Learners rests on five core principles,” Lawrence said. “Every child must attend a high-quality K-12 school. Every child must have expanded access to preschool for all children. We must grow our partnerships with businesses, recruit mentors for young children, and increase the number of high-quality summer and after-school programs.” And Lawrence knows the power of mentorship because Mimms served as his mentor, and the lessons he imparted were invaluable.

Mimms has ambitious goals for education, but they are all connected with the mission to build a better, more sustainable community. “Those communities experiencing a high quality of life have three major pillars,” Mimms said. “One is high-quality education. Two is safety. We are involved in a very strong police reform effort that we started about twelve months ago. The other thing that is a key issue is recreation. We are in the process of how we can improve the quality of recreation.” Local businesses that recognize the benefits when everyone works together for the common good bolster these efforts.