Why innovation is important
From the black box recorder and the pacemaker, to Wifi and the bionic ear, for more than 160 years, we've been fostering innovation.聽But what does innovation really mean and why is it important?
University of Sydney Director, Educational Innovation Professor Adam Bridgeman says innovation is vital for our economy and to preserve and improve the world鈥檚 standard of living.
It鈥檚 not only about new inventions; it鈥檚 about using new and current resources in a more innovative way. It鈥檚 about keeping up with the times, while making sure you鈥檙e a step ahead of the pack. It鈥檚 also about doing something better than it鈥檚 already being done.
Take something like transplanting bone tissue. As the second-most transplanted tissue in the world next to blood, fixing bones is a big deal. And even though it鈥檚 been done successfully for a while now: why not make it better?
That鈥檚 what Professor Hala Zreiqat聽who heads up the聽University鈥檚 thought when she embarked on a mission to by using 3D printing biomaterials to create new ones.
Professor Zreiqat聽and her team have since developed a synthetic bone material that is 100 times stronger than anything else available on the market. 鈥淯sing 3D printing, not only can we make it much stronger, we can make the material personalised so we can print it to suit the particular defect in each patient,鈥� she says.
We鈥檙e doing similar things with , , using robots , developing a way to give , and working with Microsoft on .
The same goes for education, Professor Bridgeman says.
鈥淚nnovation in education is often taken to be synonymous with new software or the novel use of technology, however, often the innovation is actually the way these are used to improve learning and engagement.
鈥淥耻谤 is bold and possibly brave in the way it sets out to refocus and extend undergraduate education,鈥� Professor Bridgeman says.
鈥淚t is designed to equip all of our students with the qualities that they will need to succeed and be leaders in a very different world.鈥�
Innovation is increasingly important today
University of Sydney Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Duncan Ivison says while 鈥榠nnovation鈥� was a buzzword at the moment, it had always been part of the University鈥檚 vernacular.
It is also increasingly important today.
鈥淩ethinking how we live and work in the midst of the dramatic technological changes occurring all around us is vitally important,鈥� Professor Ivison says.
鈥淲e are living through the emergence of a new industrial revolution, one where artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other technologies that haven鈥檛 even been invented yet will have far reaching consequences for not just our economy but our society and culture.
鈥淚t is exciting to be at a University where we have not just the leading scientists and engineers helping to drive this extraordinary innovation, working also very closely with our industry partners, but also researchers in the humanities and social sciences who can help us understand and also shape the human dimensions of these challenges.鈥�
Celebrate with us at 聽from Monday 14 to Friday 18 August 2017 and find out more about how we鈥檙e contributing to a better future.
