Some of us are old enough to remember the rap on the screen door, the gruff voice announcing “Gas man!” and how readily mom told him to come on in. He was already halfway down the basement stairs, flashlight in hand, heading for the gas meter. Just as quickly, he was back out the door and on to the next house.

It was a painfully inefficient means of calculating gas and water usage by thousands of customers and the energy industry had long sought a solution.

Larry Sears found it circa 1982. By designing a system of dedicated radio channels, long before cell phones or WIFI, he made it possible for utility meters to be read remotely. Today his technology dominates the market, but this is not a story of overnight success.

The 1969 graduate of Case Institute of Technology endured an entrepreneur’s odyssey after launching his electronics startup in Cleveland’s Little Italy, next door to campus. He still shudders to pass a Holiday Inn, he says, having spent so much time at trade shows trying to sell his invention.

He persevered. Today, he looks proudly upon Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box], the innovation center that he and his wife helped build with a $10 million gift. He shares his belief in hands-on engineering as an adjunct professor at the Case School of Engineering, and he’s a familiar sight on campus in his exquisitely restored classic sports car.

Listen as we chat with Larry Sears about engineering, entrepreneurship, and coming out a winner.

Think[box] Radio. Episode 6. Larry Sears: The man who vanquished the meter reader

Host: Robert Smith

Producer: Alex Zinni

Guest: Larry Sears

Not many people discover a comet, let alone a galaxy. For stargazer Chris Carr, it’s one of the rewards of a childhood passion he’s been able to nurture at CWRU.

He’s hoping to encourage more students to see what he sees.

Carr, a senior with a double major in physics and astronomy, has been fascinated with the stars since childhood. At Case, he gained access to tools that allow him to peer far beyond his imagination--like the Burrell Schmidt Telescope, a venerable spyglass to the planets that Case keeps pointed skyward at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

During a summer research project in 2017, Carr was studying some of the telescope’s deep sky image when he came upon a peculiar smudge. On closer examination with his advisor, Astronomy Professor Chris Mihos, it was determined he had detected an unknown galaxy—37 million light years away.

Carr and Mihos co-authored a paper describing the discovery for the Astrophysical Journal, inscribing both of their names in space history.

Carr wants to bring the stars closer to everyone. He hosts a show on campus radio station WRUW-FM 91.1, Enter Galactic, which explores space mysteries. One of his pieces of advice for amateur astronomers is to start cheap. You don’t need a fancy telescope to scan the heavens, Carr says. A decent set of binoculars will work just fine.

Join us as we chat with one of the nation’s rising young astronomers and how he is honing his craft.

To see more from the Case School of Engineering, follow us on twitter @CaseAlumniAssoc, and check out our monthly newsletter on our website, Casealum.org.

Thinkbox Radio. Episode 5

Host: Robert Smith

Guest: Chris Carr

Producer: Alex Zinni

Chris Carr in the news:

5 questions with galaxy spotter, science radio show host and undergraduate student Chris Carr—The Daily

https://thedaily.case.edu/5questions-chris-carr/

CWRU at CES 2019. What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay there.

So why do we trek to Las Vegas every January to set up exhibits and display our innovations in the basement of a crowded convention hall at one of the world’s largest trade shows? Bob Sopko knows.

As director of CWRU LaunchNet, he’s the pied piper of startup founders at Case Western Reserve. Recently, he led a dozen teams of students, staff and recent alumni to CES 2019, then brought them home emboldened. It was his sixth straight trip to the consumer electronics show, where Case stages the largest university presence.

In this special edition of Thinkbox Radio, we talk with Bob about the CES experience, why we do it, and what we learned this go ‘round. He tells us we’re seizing more than the opportunity to show off inventions. CES offers students a chance to make connections, woo investors, and learn the very public side of entrepreneurship.

Take Robert Steward, a junior biomedical engineering major who designed an exoskeleton to help people with physical disabilities. A robotics exec from Google stopped by his booth, Enabled Robotics, and now he’s mulling an internship.

We talked to Robert, too.

Join us as we reprise the Case experience at CES 2019.

More stories on CWRU at CES:

“CWRU represents CLE at CES 2019”--WKYC-TV

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/education/cwru-represents-the-cle-at-ces2019/95-fcd34016-

675b-4de4-95e3-c51de92cc00f

“CWRU storms CES 2019”—The Daily

https://thedaily.case.edu/cwru-storms-ces-2019/

“CWRU students rock CES”—Case Alumnus

https://www.casealum.org/cwru-students-rock-ces

Mr. Startup

Prince Ghosh represents a new kind of student and a new generation--the startup generation.

Midway through his 4th year at the Case School of Engineering, Prince Ghosh has already packed more into college than some people do in a career. He invented promising wind technology, launched a company, applied for patents and represented his university at prestigious startup competitions. All on the road to a degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Prince is a great example of what some call the “startup generation”—students who come to college expecting to create something really cool, like, soon. They’re drawn to Case for resources like Sears think[box], the IP Venture Clinic and LaunchNet, the campus startup incubator.

“I tell incoming high school seniors that if you come to college and all you do is school, you’re wasting your money,” Ghosh said. “There’s so much more that a collegiate experience has to offer, particularly at a research university like Case.”

His bright idea was to apply plasma technology to wind turbines to make then spin faster. That idea, which he and classmates tested in an obscure campus wind tunnel, led to Boundary Labs and the finals of the 2018 CleanTech University Prize competition.

The New Jersey native has since pivoted toward improving wind turbine gear boxes with big data and sensor technology. He hopes to display his new ideas at CES 2019--January 8-11 in Las Vegas. Ghosh is one of several CWRU students will showcase their work in the University Innovations section of the world’ largest consumer electronics show.

We talked with Prince about what a young innovator can do with university resources, hutzpah, and an Amazon Prime account.

“People often think entrepreneurship is kind of straight line and there’s one right way to do it,” he said. “But that’s probably the furthest thing from the truth. You have to be nimble…willing to adapt…and pivot to what the market really needs.”

Rocket Woman

Sarah Ryan is taking the Case Rocket Team to new heights The Case Rocket Team has been making an impression at national competitions with rockets that soar high, land softly and deliver creative payloads. That means team members have been achieving in the maker space, where the competition rockets come together. And that’s why we were excited to meet with Sarah Ryan, an engineering student who is taking the Case Rocket Team to a new altitude.

Sarah is pursuing a double major in mechanical and aerospace engineering and a minor in astronomy. She began on the rocket team her freshman year working on rocket payloads. She rose to become treasurer, design lead and is now president.

For Sarah, building rockets helps to fulfill a childhood dream. “Aerospace engineering has been a goal of mine for a very long time,” she said. “When I was really young, I started wanting to be an astronaut.”

Under her leadership, the rocket team is taking on bigger challenges. Normally, the team builds a rocket required to reach 1,000 feet in altitude for the Battle of the Rockets competition in Culpeper, Virginia. This year, the team will be aiming for 10,000 feet, a ten-fold increase, for the Friends of Amateur Rocketry 1030 competition near Mojave, California.

With higher altitudes comes higher thrust and new challenges. The students need to worry about vibrations. Every piece of the rocket must be reinforced to deal with the higher forces. They are also working to build a lighter rocket entirely from fiberglass, which requires new methods of fastening and machining.

The club commands a busy workshop on the fifth floor of Sears think[box]. That’s where we met with Sarah to talk about the designing and tooling that goes into creating a top collegiate rocket and the strategies the team uses to enhance innovation and teamwork.

Think[box] Radio. Episode 2. “Rocket Women”

Host: Robert Smith

Producer: Alex Zinni

Guest: Sarah Ryan

Case Rocket team in the news:

“Sarah Ryan leads an award-winning Case Rocket Team as it aims higher”

https://www.casealum.org/2016-responsive/pages/students/sarah-ryan

Ian Charnas: Cleveland’s maestro of the makers

We launched Think[box] Radio to share and celebrate the innovation happening at the Case School of Engineering and at Sears think[box], the acclaimed innovation center on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. We can think of no better person to launch this series than the quietly audacious Ian Charnas.

He’s director of innovation and Technology at think[box], a well-known catalyst in Cleveland’s maker scene, and the kind of engineer who can draw a crowd. How? Well, he’s founder and conductor of the Tesla Orchestra. And you should hear it—just to see it—as he evokes sound and lightning bolts from twin giant Tesla Coils.

He also gave the world the waterfall swing, again proving that engineering can be performance art. You get the idea. By blending art and technology, Ian tries to connect cool and smart in new ways. At think[]box], he’s able to offer every imaginable tool to help aspiring makers and inventors join him in his crusade. We talk with Ian about his vision for think[box], the essential ingredients to innovation, and why it’s OK to get started making a 30-cent shower curtain ring on a $100,000 3D printer.

To see more from the Case School of Engineering, follow us on twitter

@CaseAlumniAssoc, and check out our monthly newsletter on our website, Casealum.org.

Think[box] Radio. Episode 1

Host: Robert Smith

Guest: Ian Charnas

Tags: thinkbox, case school of engineering, tesla orchestra, waterfall swing

Ian Charnas in the news:

“Tesla Orchestra Fuses Music and Science” – Cleveland.com

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/09/the_two_nicks_podc

ast_clevelan.html

“Out of the (in)box: This Clevelander wants to cure your email woes” – FreshWater

Cleveland

“The Maker Movement Goes to College—Chronicle of Higher Education

https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Maker-Movement-Goes/229473