[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

How does a teacher in a rural US school end up in an International School in Thailand? What is it like to feel the blast of a terrorist bombing? How does a teacher navigate learning during an Ebola Crisis in Nigeria?

It’s springtime in the high desert, and I’m starting to get spring fever. For me, spring fever almost always compels me to a road trip. I think that traveling and seeing new places, stimulates the brain in ways that few other activities can. In fact, one of my favorite quotes about traveling is from T. S. Elliot:

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

Road trips also get me to thinking about our Inventor’s Bootcamps, because we always manage to work a road trip into our plans. I love our Inventor’s Bootcamps because students learn so much and see so many new sights. The students build crazy engineering contraptions with 3D printers, wire them up with a little electronic trickery, and program them to do amazing feats. The creativity, confidence, curiosity, and deep thinking of the students in these summer camps is almost unbelievable.

To find out more visithttp://www.TTInvent.com/BootcampNow

or you can just click the Inventor’s Bootcamp button on the menu bar above.

Today’s guest started his teaching career in a rural school with only 63 students and ended up teaching in the primary grades of 3 other countries across the globe. Henrique “Rico” Guerreiro shares insights into education in Americanized schools around the world has some interesting twists. Listen in to today’s podcast for the curious answers to the questions above and a great conversation about education abroad!

About Rico

After beginning his career at a tiny rural school house, Rico moved overseas to teach in Thailand. He believes these new experiences have helped him grow as a person as well as a teacher. He’s spent a total of 22 days teaching online due to having lived under unstable governments for the past 8 years. Technology has played an integral part in his teaching during this time.

Inspirational Quote

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire!” – Keats

 

About a Teacher

Dawn Quintero of the South Bay Unified School District.  My mentor teacher who showed me you can have an active yet orderly classroom.

 

Something Rico Made Recently

Ceviche.  I found cumin in Lagos.  All the other ingredients are readily available.

 

 

 

 

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

Could recent research be a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s treatment? Is science more than equations and logical pursuits? Could it be that science is more about creativity than logic? Listen in to today’s podcast for the surprising answers!

Hey there, Innovation Nation! I am thoroughly enjoying the start of springtime here in the high desert. The flowers are blooming, and our little orchard out back is beginning to come to life. I love seeing the flowers and trees growing and getting ready to bust out in a cacophony of color and excitement. It reminds me of the growth and excitement we experience every summer in our Inventor’s Bootcamps. I get really excited about Inventor’s Bootcamp because there’s so much growth and creativity and excitement as the students build crazy engineering contraptions with 3D printers and wire them up with a little electronic trickery and programming prowess. The amount of creativity, confidence, curiosity, and deep thinking of the students in these summer camps is almost unbelievable.

Today’s interview may bring some surprises. My discussion with Chris Schaffer, a professor at Cornell University, unearths some common myths and dusts off the truth about science. The perspectives in today’s podcast are not for the faint of heart, so prepare for a massive unveiling.

About Chris

Biomedical Engineering department at Cornell University. Chris grew up in Jacksonville, FL and was an undergraduate at the University of Florida, where he studied physics. He received his PhD from Harvard University, also in physics, and then worked in a neuroscience laboratory as a post-doc at the University of California, San Diego. He now runs a lab at Cornell that develops advanced optical techniques that enable quantitative imaging and targeted manipulation of individual cells in the central nervous system of rodents with the goal of constructing a microscopic-scale understanding of normal and disease-state physiological processes in the brain. One area of current focus is understanding the role of brain blood flow disruptions in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Chris is also active in developing novel educational strategies to teach science as a dynamic process for discovery. These approaches are used in outreach settings in middle and high-school science classes as well as in his undergraduate and graduate level courses. Chris also has a strong interest in science policy and recently spent a one-year sabbatical in Washington, DC, working as a science policy fellow for Senator Edward Markey in the United States Congress. He continues to be active in science policy, including through a course he teaches on this topic. Chris is an accomplished surfer, having ridden waves all over the world and surfed some “big wave” spots, including greater than 20 ft. waves at Todos Santos, Mexico. 

Additional Notes

Contact Chris:

* Email: [email protected]

* Website: 

 

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

Where can I find a circus that employs engineers?  Can learning to prepare sushi impact engineering ideas?  How can we rebrand Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math to be fun?  How do we make STEM subjects more like driving a Ferrari than like driving a grocery getter?  

Today, we have a high-energy, fun interview with an engineer who has started a high-tech circus! Creating more intelligent, creative, fun innovators is what we specialize in at Table Top Inventing. In fact, an opportunity is coming this summer to participate in our Inventor’s Bootcamp. I get really excited about Inventor’s Bootcamp because there’s nothing more fun than a room full of teenagers building crazy engineering contraptions with 3D printers and wiring them up with a little electronic trickery and programming fun. It’s enough to make your head spin!

To find out more visit: http://www.TTInvent.com/BootcampNow or you can just visit http://www.TTInvent.com and click the Inventor’s Bootcamp button.

Grab a hold of something solid because today’s podcast is going to rock your world! Brent Bushnell, the founder and CEO of Two-Bit Circus, is going to blow the doors off. Brent and his business partner Eric have started a high-tech circus staffed not with circus barkers and tight rope walkers but with engineers, scientists, and computer programmers. Let’s listen in to a high flying conversation!

Brent’s Favorite Quote 

Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it – Madeleine L’Engle

 

A teacher that inspired you…

Thomas Woosnam, my high school physics teacher. His class was very project-based with us doing a variety of tasks ranging from marble runs to inventing our own solution to a safety problem. It was the most engaged I was in any class.

The last thing you made…

I made my dining room table! When we moved into our current workshop there were three rusted metal banisters. I cleaned them up, bought angled steel and with the help of our lead engineer Dan Busby, welded them all together. Then I got a beautiful, thick piece of glass cut for the top of it. http://brentbushnell.com/2012/12/26/makingfurniture/

What are you learning about…

Hockey only has three periods. (I’m not much of a sports fan)

About Brent

Brent Bushnell is the CEO of Two Bit Circus, a Los Angeles-based experiential entertainment company. Most recently the team launched STEAM Carnival, a modern re-imagining of the midway to inspire kids about science, technology,

 

 

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

What is a Cube Satellite? Can normal schools really get their projects into space? Are there ways to simulate space conditions or run outerspace experiments without breaking the bank? How does a middle school teacher end up working at the National Science Foundation and starting a business getting middle schoolers into CubeSats?Few people understand fun, science, and teenagers better than our guest today. Kevin Simmons has a small business aimed at getting middle schoolers into space projects and satellite experiments. I don’t want to spoil the fun so let’s let Kevin tell us more about it.

Kevin’s Favorite Quote 

Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not as unto men. – Col 3:23

Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. – Nelson Rockefeller.

A teacher that inspired you…

I had three high school science and math teachers that exemplified the best teacher attributes:enthusiasm for learning and interest in me as a person. They were my Chemistry, Biology, and Computer/Calc teachers: Mr. Ferguson, Mrs. Arnold, and Mrs. Norman. I remember them well.

The last thing you made…

My hope is that this process of making a company will come to fruition and we’ll have a great first competition in November.

What are you learning about…

Writing a specific macro for work, learning how to move a start-up towards profitability. 

About Kevin

Having worked in a number of research laboratories, the specialty chemical industry and military prior to teaching, Kevin enjoys working with students at the intersection of aerospace, entrepreneurship, and competitions. His interests also include CubeSats, Aerospace Education and Research. Some of his experiences include:

* Flown Zero G several times with students and bioreactor hardware

* Developing the BLUECUBE kit and CubeSat Challenge

* Alan Shepherd Technology in Education awardee

* Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow (2009-2011)

When not working with cubesats, Kevin researches incubators and conducts outreach activities for the National Science Foundation. He spearheaded the creation of, and is a strong advocate for the Veterans Research Supplement (VRS), and supported IIP academic programs (GOALI, I/UCRC). He has written review analyses and processed proposals for the Small Business Innovation Program.

Additional Notes

Contact Kevin:

* Email: [email protected]

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

What is digital ethnography? How difficult is it to learn to use a 3D game creation engine? How would Maker Schools change how we do education? Why are initiation rituals a critical right of passage into a society?

Speaking of rituals, today’s guest Michael Wesch advocates the adoption of some curious rituals. Keep your headphones in or your bluetooth synced up, because today’s podcast has enough quotable ideas to really stir your noodles. I won’t give any spoilers, so let’s listen in to the conversation Michael and I had recently at the Bakersfield College Learning Technologies Conference.

Michael’s Favorite Quote 

Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to

suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children,

before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily.

–Thomas Szasz

A teacher that inspired you…

Martin Ottenheimer.  He didn’t give me any answers – just really great questions.

The last thing you made…

Lunch!

What are you learning about…

How to make video games using Unreal Engine.

About Michael

Michael Wesch is an associate professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. Wesch’s work also includes media ecology and the emerging field of digital ethnography, where he studies the effect of new media on human interaction.

Wesch is a cultural anthropologist and media ecologist exploring the effects of new media on human interaction. He graduated summa cum laude from the Kansas State University Anthropology Program in 1997 and returned as a faculty member in 2004 after receiving his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Virginia. There he pursued research on social and cultural change in Melanesia, focusing on the introduction of print and print-based practices like mapping and census-taking in the remote Mountain Ok region of Papua New Guinea where he lived for a total of 18 months from 1999-2003. This work inspired Wesch to examine the effects of new media more broadly, especially digital media. Also as a consequence of this trip, Dr. Wesch has gained some command of the Tok Pisin language, a primary lingua franca of Papua New Guinea.

To this end, Wesch launched the Digital Ethnography Working Group, a team of undergraduates exploring human uses of digital technology. Coinciding with the launch of this group, Wesch created a short video, “Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us.” released on YouTube on January 31, 2007. It quickly became the most popular video in the blogosphere and was viewed over 10 million times. Wesch has won several awards for his work with video,

 

 

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

What happens if you sneak through a police barricade in Russia? How can you find a marathon to run in Antarctica? How does traveling help you solve problems? Don’t miss the answers in today’s podcast!

Our guest today on the podcast is a self-declared “Riskologist”. We’ll let Tyler describe what he means by Riskology. By combining travel hacking, introspection, studying introversion and extroversion, he has been helping people understand why traveling expands your ability to solve problems. He explores social psychology and shares research and insights about winning at life, work, and adventure by taking smarter risks. Tyler is the Chief Riskologist at Riskology.co. Without further adieu, Tyler Tervooren.

Tyler’s Favorite Quote 

About Teachers

I try to think of everyone in my life as a teacher. Every person has some knowledge and insight about the world that I don’t, and it’s my job as a student to help them share it with me.

About Making

I’ve been “making” essays and articles at riskology.co every Monday and Thursday for the last 4.5 years. 🙂

About Learning

I learned a new way to organize my day for better efficiency using a tool called Trello. I also learned how to use British Airways miles to book award travel within The U.S.

About Tyler

Here’s what Tyler has to say:

Hi, I’m Tyler Tervooren—independent entrepreneur and founder of Riskology.co. I’ve started 7 businesses and traveled to more than 20 different countries. My life sounds exciting to outsiders, but anyone who’s known me a while knows it hasn’t always been like this.

I grew up in a small town where you were praised for living a simple, conservative life. You were supposed to play it safe and always go for the sure thing. Step out and do something unusual, and you were quickly discounted as a weirdo.

Living that life felt safe, but unfulfilling. So, when I moved away the day after graduating high school, I started to make a priority of stepping outside my comfort zone and trying new things to see where they’d lead me.

There were a lot of false starts and I headed down a few bad paths, but every failure taught a lesson I’d never learned before. Along the way, I met people who were living lives I couldn’t imagine. They had weird, fun jobs I’d never heard of. They’d been to places I didn’t know existed. They were happy because they’d found ways to get around the default life path.

They weren’t broke (in fact, they were usually quite wealthy), they weren’t outcasts (quite the opposite), and they weren’t crazy. A lightbulb went on. It actually is possible for normal people like you and me...

 

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

What happens to trash once it hops into the trash truck from my garbage can? What is the value of a 4-year education beyond the classes offered? Why would federal investigators show up to a landfill? How do we turn play into learning?

Today are talkin’ trash with Mike Ghost! Well, not exactly like that… Today we’ll be talking to a former district manager for Waste Management about what happens to your trash after it leaves the can at the curb. Along the way, we’ll also discover how one man’s journey through high school to college to the workforce and back to college led him to appreciate the value of an education.

This week’s Great Inventor Secrets is actually brought to us by Jonathan Butcher and Daniel Cheung who were featured on last week’s podcast.  We had so much great material that I wanted to share a few more minutes of our conversation with a couple of great inventors. Tune in and learn more!

About Mike Ghost

Mike has been in the waste management and heavy equipment industry for 26 years and has worked his way up from a technician all the way into management.  Mike began his career with the Quinn Company, first as a field technician and then as a service manager.  After Quinn Company, Mike served as the heavy equipment manager for Waste Management Inc.  in their southern CA market for 7 1/2 years.  Currently he is the general manager at Innovative Mechanical Services. 

Mike is also a husband, father, and fellow tinkerer!  (He’s built hot rods, a boat, and even an RV!)

Additional Notes

Waste Management video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GP3JuiX5BY

Innovative Mechanical Services: http://innovativerigging.com/

A day in the life of your recycling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOpYa5OKGgY

More about landfills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci0BVqZNcRo

Link to Jonathan Butcher’s Lab: http://www.butcherlab.com/

Jonathan Butcher’s interview: http://www.ttinvent.com/?p=5244

 

Text Transcript

 Coming Soon!

 

 

 

  

 

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

How does an embryonic heart form? How exactly does one set about 3D printing a fully human, fully compatible heart valve? How does failure influence innovation? Is there more to a 3D printed heart valve than just the printing?

Today we have an exciting interview with Jonathan Butcher, a research professor at Cornell University, and one of his graduate students, Daniel Cheung. Before we get started I’d like to remind you to share our podcast with your friends and colleagues. The ideas you hear on this podcast will literally change your world and your student’s horizons. We discuss innovation, success, inventing, learning, and other crucial life skills. On today’s show specifically, Jonathan and I discuss the role of failure in learning. We discuss the path to research success. Oh, and we jump head first into the topic of 3D printing heart valves. There was so much to cover that we skipped the inventor secrets in lieu of the great interview. This is some heady stuff. Put on your diving gear. We’re going in deep today!

About Dr. Jonathan Butcher

Jonathan Butcher currently directs the Cardiovascular Developmental Bioengineering Laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. He joined the department in July 2007 as an Assistant Professor.

Prior to Cornell, Jonathan graduated in 2000 with a dual BS/MS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia, where he studied impact biomechanics at the automobile safety laboratory. Jonathan earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2004, focusing on the mechanobiology of the aortic valve under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Nerem. There he discovered unique mechanosensitive properties of valvular endothelial biology and developed the first completely biological tissue engineered heart valve leaflet using native cells. This led him to study further into developmental biology as a NIH postdoctoral fellow in the departments of Cell Biology and Anatomy and Pediatrics Cardiology at the Medical University of South Carolina under the mentorship of Dr. Roger Markwald. He trained in cell and molecular biology of embryonic heart development while developing novel technologies for probing biophysical perturbations of these processes. He won the BMES 2009 Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award for the unique way in which he has combined developmental biology with engineering for applications in regenerative medicine. Jonathan collaborates with researchers in several departments across campus as well as at the Cornell Veterinary College, Weill Medical School, and Guthrie Clinic in PA. He sits on the scientific committee for the working group for heart valve biology and tissue engineering within the Society for Heart Valve Disease.

Jonathan and his wife Christine live the small town life in Ithaca with five kids (Maggie, Jack, Thomas, Emeline, and Charlie) and a dog (Daisy). Occasionally you can see him trying to keep up on the soccer field.

About Daniel Cheung

Daniel Cheung was born in Hong Kong, although for the majority of his life, he grew up in Oregon. He attended Oregon State University (OSU) and received his honors baccalaureate degree in bioengineering with a minor...

 

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

Who exactly are Perspicacity and Perspicuity, and why are they on our podcast? What would make an insurance claims investigator participate in renaissance fairs? If the devil is in the details, why are they so important? What can cause a classroom full of budding mathematicians gape in amazement?

Speaking of world change, on the show we have an investigator who pries into the business of large corporations.  Now it’s not what you might think, but I’ll let Mark tell you more about what he does.

Mark’s Favorite Quote 

 

 

About Teachers

Ms. Mary Wrenn, one of my High School English teachers, was highly influential in my overall outlook on life. She always expected her students to put forward their best work and never sugar-coated how unforgiving the world could be to those who did not.

About Making

The last major thing I made was an oil painting of cherry blossoms for my daughter. The most recent thing I made was a large pot of beef vegetable soup for my wife and me using all fresh ingredients.

About Learning

How to start a fire with kindling, a soda can and a piece of chocolate. (Look it up on Youtube)

About Mark

Here’s what Mark has to say:

It has been my privilege to spend the last 28 years in the Insurance and Reinsurance Industry directly handling, managing, or consulting on losses arising from a wide variety of complex/high-value General Liability, Property and other types of risk (both litigated and non-litigated) for self-insured Fortune 500 Companies as well as a variety of major domestic and international carriers. For the past 13 years, my work increasingly involved a significant amount of travel visiting, evaluating and then reporting on the ability of numerous US-based Coverholders, Managing General Agents, and Third Party Administrators to contractually satisfy and professional anticipate the needs of foreign (mostly London Market) insurers. The nature of my work requires that I efficiently and effectively gather a substantial amount of information that I must accurately summarize and communicate to my clients.

Additionally, I spent 13 years working with an amazingly talented and dedicated group of performers, reenactors and educators bringing to life Elizabethan, Regency, and Victorian England for California audiences through song, dance, and interactive theater. I also was an exchange student in college spending my junior year abroad studying in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Additional Notes

Perspicacity and Perspicuity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspicacity

 

 

[In This Episode][Guest Bio][Additional Notes][Text Transcript]

In This Episode

What is the best strategy for starting a makerspace in your school? How long should you take to plan your makerspace before you get started? Is flying by the seat of your pants a good idea or a bad one? What are the key features of an 8 foot tall DIY teeter totter? Stay tuned for the answers in today’s podcast. 

Our guest today is Laura Fleming.  Laura is a librarian and media specialist at New Milford High School in Jew Jersey.  A little over a year ago, she started a makerspace in her library, and the results have been unbelievable.  I’m not a big fan of spoilers, so let’s get straight to the interview.

Laura’s Favorite Quote

About Making

About Laura

Laura has been an educator in the state of New Jersey for 17 years.  She has been both a classroom teacher and media specialist in grades K-8 and currently as a Library Media Specialist for grades 9-12.   Laura is a strong advocate of using New Media and Vanguard Techniques for Interactive and Transmedia (multi-platform) Storytelling.  She has played a prominent role in education as a writer and speaker and has served as an educational consultant on next-generation teaching methods and tools. Laura has also consulted on Transmedia properties, working with producers to help maximize the value of their creations and toolsets for teachers and students. She is also the author of Worlds of Learning: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School (Corwin, 2015).

Laura’s goal is to create learning experiences that empower and equip students with necessary skills to effectively produce and consume content across multiple media platforms.  She is also driven to enable educators and cohorts in applying these innovative methods and cutting-edge technology in their fields of expertise. She is an educational consultant, thought leader and speaker on education, librarianship, and technology.  

Recently, Laura created a digital badge-based professional development platform in which educators all over the world earn badges in acknowledgement of their informal professional learning.  Her library Makerspace has garnered national attention and has served as an inspiration for schools across the country.  She is also a recipient of the National School Boards ‘20 to Watch’ in Educational Technology Leadership for 2014.

Her goal is to create learning experiences that empower and equip students with necessary skills to effectively produce and consume content across multiple media platforms. She is also driven to enable educators and cohorts in applying these innovative methods and cutting-edge technology in their fields of expertise.  Laura is an educational consultant, thought leader and speaker on education, librarianship and technology.