Perspectives on Innovation

I am an American student currently working towards a master’s degree at BOKU (Universität für Bodenkultur/
University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Science) in Vienna. I spent the previous year studying at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. I am enrolled in a two-year scholarship program, entitled the European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics (EM-ABG). This Erasmus Mundus program gives international students an opportunity to obtain graduate degrees through European universities. Following completion of my degree, I hope to work as a conservation biologist for a zoo, preferably aiding in the design and implementation of breeding programs for endangered species.

Through the Erasmus Mundus program, I have learned to appreciate the impact of cooperation between researchers with various perspectives. In my opinion, this cooperation is also an important aspect of the unique solving opportunities offered through InnoCentive.

I received my undergraduate degree in biology from Cornell University, and my concentration was animal physiology. I drew on my understanding of physiology, and on my practical knowledge of animal care and handling, to solve the Challenge titled “Animal Disease Marker.” The challenge was to describe a non-invasive marker for Feline Odontoclastic Resorptive Lesions (FORLs). I am excited about my idea being put into practice, and benefiting not only the Seeker, but also, on a practical level, veterinarians, and also cats suffering from this condition. 

I am grateful to InnoCentive for giving scientists such as myself the opportunity (and motivation) to step a bit outside of our areas of expertise, and to develop creative solutions for thought-provoking problems on a wide range of topics. I first learned about InnoCentive from a fellow scientist, and I’ve gone on to tell many other people about InnoCentive, recommending that they check out the site. I have submitted a solution for another challenge recently, and I intend to try many more in the future. 

Leia este post em português. I am an IT Manager with around 18 years of IT experience. During this time, I worked as a software engineer in government departments, as an IT consultant for the United Nations and, during the last few years, as an IT manager in a multinational company. I live with my wife in Porto Alegre, south of Brazil.

The good thing about innovation is that everyone is always trying to reach it or work with it. You will never see someone saying something like “My job is very boring – all we do is innovate and innovate”. As a manager, I know how important is to stimulate people to think “outside-of-the-box”, to innovate, and to find new ways to do things (sometimes, new ways to do the same task). Innovation not only results in ideas that can solve problems in an easier way, but it encourages people to keep learning and stay self-motivated in their day-to-day activities.

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From a “Jack to a King”, a True Story. After years of being a company man and team player, I found myself trying to rescue my floundering career after being given my walking papers. My resume didn’t open the doors it used to, and nobody wanted my skills as a design engineer in the local marketplace. The usual reason given by prospective employers for not hiring me was ” too diverse a set of skills and experience” or, “not a good fit” for our needs. If I was to hire someone to be a design engineer, I would regard any extra pertinent knowledge the applicant has, a positive attribute. After many years, I found that there aren’t many people like me doing the hiring out there in the real world. Apparently, I found that during the course of an interview, a trivial matter such as the color of one’s shirt or tie can influence whether or not you get the job. An interviewer always had a hidden agenda and criteria by which the final decision was made. My qualifications, most often, had little to do with that decision. After giving up jumping through many inteviewers’ hoops, I decided to strike out on my own to survive in the jungle.

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I am 50 years old and I live with my wife in our house in a small village in Sweden. Our three children have moved out a few years ago. I am a food chemical engineer with extensive experience in the food manufacturing process like quality control, research, processing and raw material chemistry. .

The first time I came in contact with InnoCentive was when I read a magazine in which there was an article about this new way of doing product developments. Today I do not remember exactly when this was, but I think it was in the beginning when InnoCentive started up.

I became curious about it and went to the homepage to see what it was. I found it very interesting, and the chance to win a great reward if my proposal was chosen, made me shiver. How exciting! A chance to show your competence, work with your brain without limitations and the possibility to compete with others to find the best solution and get money for it! I was directly hooked on the idea and registered as a Solver.

At this time of life I was what you call “fed up” with my work, and wanted to find a new way of developing my personal knowledge and I really needed something which could make my brain “wake up” again. InnoCentive turned out to be this injection! Many times I thought that my employer did not fully use my knowledge and competence in their business. Now suddenly an opportunity popped up for me to let the creative part of my brain operate again and at the same time being able to do the regular work for my employer. This was possible because the InnoCentive work could be done in my spare time after work. An extra hobby work, so to say.

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