Topomorphic Display ~ MIT's Reformable Surface!

RISD President Maeda spots MIT Media Lab Tangible Media maestros...

Dotswatch ~ Stunningly Enabling Timekeeper!

Blind and sighted people both grok time on the MIT+RISD Dotswatch!

STEM to STEAM ~ RISD's Maeda on a Betternym

STEM is a true craponym -- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths are surely important and yet the resultant moniker is totally uninspiring and even demoralizing. In no small measure this is because it misses what inspires and motivates and uplifts us -- namely the Arts! RISD President John Maeda's been among the champions for rectifying this oversight and his STEAM betternym is a pretty good improvement. In homage to our recently felled giant, Maeda writes in the Huffington Post, Jobs Added Art to STEM to Create STEAM...

"Were it not for Jobs' influence, I may not have come to believe -- as I do so fervently today -- that you need the "A" for Art to turn STEM to STEAM. Jobs fueled my career as a technologist, artist, designer, and now as a leader of the art and design school by which all others are measured in the world. All of my artistic work -- like the five works that went into MoMA's permanent collection -- was written on a Mac. [...] Jobs foresaw that innovation now extends beyond smaller, faster and cheaper technology -- that technology didn't have to be a rational thing. The MP3 player wasn't a new thing when the iPod came out, nor was the iPhone the first smart phone. But they were the ones that made you give a damn. In his own words, the reason why the Macintosh was so successful was that it was created by artists, musicians, poets and zoologists. Jobs saw that artists and designers could make the technology emotional, desirable, human. [...] On a grander scale, I thank Jobs and Apple for proving that art and design are poised to transform our economy in the 21st century, like science and technology did in the last century. It is this realization that will keep America competitive; the next Apple will be born if America invests in turning "STEM to STEAM" in its research and education."

I think even STEAM could be improved. How about DREAMS skills maybe? Design, Reasoning, Engineering, Arts, Maths, and Science?

Evolved Virtual Creatures ~ Karl Sims Simulants!

Thanks to RISD's John Maeda for reminding us of Karl Sims epic Evolved Virtual Creatures! These simulants are...

"...simulated Darwinian evolutions of virtual block creatures. A population of several hundred creatures is created within a supercomputer, and each creature is tested for their ability to perform a given task, such the ability to swim in a simulated water environment. Those that are most successful survive, and their virtual genes containing coded instructions for their growth, are copied, combined, and mutated to make offspring for a new population. The new creatures are again tested, and some may be improvements on their parents. As this cycle of variation and selection continues, creatures with more and more successful behaviors can emerge."

Learning Unlimited ~ MIT Edu Ventures Spinout!

Good to see MIT Educational Studies Program (ESP) alums scaling-up and spinning out from MIT as the non-profit edu venture Learning Unlimited! Learning lessons from source inspiration ESP, LU aspires to spread widely and help college students at an ever growing number of schools run ESP-like outreach programs for middle and high school students hailing from their respective near neighborhood and metro areas. LU are building a support organization for these member groups from multiple colleges who aim to dial up the excitement about learning, teaching, exploration, and discovery. Naturally, LU have a special focus on STEM, but I personally hope they expand into the general realm of Maeda's IDEA too!

STEM of an IDEA ~ RISD's Maeda on Education!

RISD President John Maeda adds raison d’etre to a STEM education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math by marrying it with IDEA or Intuition, Design, Emotion, and Art...

RISD Works ~ Showcasing the Product's Products!

I had an excellent chat with Beth Garvin this morn about MIT alumni initiatives, but her next move naturally got me thinking about RISD and Providence (and comparing with MIT and Cambridge which I'm inclined to do anyways for the sake of my Understanding MIT class). She noted that in addition to private-reserve "insider" blogs there is also an outward-facing our.risd.edu! So I went surfing. President-Elect John Maeda's opensource administration and grassroots approach to engaging the RISD community is a breath of fresh air in contrast with the blackhole of feedback and top-down style of the current regime at the 'tute. Maeda's blogged already about dozens of RISD experiences and interactions, including a serendipitous connection with a visiting newly admitted student, an emergency call with the campus safety officers, and other very intentional explorations. From this view through the blogoscope many things excite me about RISD, but one tidbit stands out just now, namely RISD Works, an art and design retail gallery featuring works from both students and alums worldwide. How cool!

P.S. John Maeda writes just now glowing support for AS220, a Providence community arts space -- a place unjuried and uncensored -- a forum for exhibits and performances. They call themselves...

...a kind of an anti-institutional institution. We've done our best to present the various facets of the organization without using the word "program" to box in what are simply organized human activities in pursuit of a common mission. AS220 is part Incubator and part Bazaar. We also build new audiences and infrastructure for artists to stimulate the cultural mulch in Rhode Island.

RISD Resurgent! ~ First Maeda, Now Garvin...

Rhode Island School of Design in Providence has now recruited both Professor John Maeda as President and Beth Garvin as VP for Institutional Engagement! I've known John from his decade as Media Lab professor and Beth from her work first on Tech Day reunions (she roped me into Chairing the committee;-) and most recently her role as CEO of the MIT Alumni Association. RISD is a wonderful but heretofore somewhat underappreciated epicenter of the arts in all their forms. The School's a bit of a microcosm for design as a field and Providence as a city, curiously enough: all are finally blossoming as people realize they're diamonds in the rough, just as my MIT alum entrepreneur friend Owen Johnson -- founder of Connect Providence -- has long clued me onto!