Innovation without Direct Utility
Innovation without Direct Utility
Brought to swissnex Boston by the ETH Alumni New England chapter, Professor Raffaello D’Andrea stimulated minds Thursday evening (August 4, 2011) with his presentation titled Innovation without direct utility: the benefits of an unconstrained research environment. Prof. D’Andrea, who is known for the development of the Kiva Systems and collaboration on various robotic sculptures, outlined the benefits of learning and creating in an unconstrained research environment, or a “culture of play.”
“It is never my motivation to do anything specific,” said Prof. D’Andrea. “One should explore different ways of doing things without having direct utility.”
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Prof. D’Andrea laid out the main benefits of indirect innovation- unconstrained exploration, unanticipated results and detachment and perspective- for the audience at swissnex Boston. His insightful ideas and thought-provoking examples, like his work with the Cornell Robot soccer team or the late Geo Robson's highly-developed wingsuit system, painted a vivid picture of what learning at the university level can potentially become.
“Research today is target oriented,” Prof. D’Andrea explained. “We need to show[students] how to explore different ways of doing things."
Since starting at ETH Zurich in 2007, Prof. D’Andrea continues to act as a crucial connector for swissnex Boston and its mission to promote knowledge exchange between Switzerland and New England in technology, higher education, innovation, science and the arts. As co- head of the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control at ETH Zurich, Prof. D’Andrea leads undergraduate, graduate, Masters and PhD students through a novel learning environment perfectly suited for exploring mathematics, engineering, system designs and the arts.
