by Ariel Yeh
I would like to share one of my most interesting learning experiences, an NTU course called “Principles and Practices of Global Innovation,” a special course involving three universities around the world, including the University of Southern California, Peking University, and National Taiwan University. Lectures are designed to take full advantage of the fact that a single classroom spans multiple countries and cultures. With the growing influence of globalization in both industry and academia, in addition to the critical need for multicultural collaboration, I decided to sign up for this unique course immediately. The most important thing we have learned is to cooperate with students from different cultural backgrounds on interdisciplinary projects. Each of us teamed up with members from each campus and we made proposals for changing or redesigning our colleges. Our final project was to design a Green Campus. During our discussions, challenges to the formation of practical needs were often brought up. For example, PKU students complained that the food served on campus was inferior and forced students to go outside the university to eat. However, USC responded that they have a meal plan in a cafeteria that provides all varieties of fresh food every day. But then USC students added that even though such healthy food was easily available, they tended to grab food that wasn’t so good for them. Another challenge we had in the discussion concerned how to save more electricity in dormitories. This was initiated by the USC group since they felt guilty about not utilizing daylight more, as they tended to stay up late and sleep during the daytime. However NTU students have to purchase an electricity card, which constrains the way we spend our time after dark. Nevertheless, we were all astonished to learn that on the PKU campus electricity is automatically shut down between 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. We felt very sorry for them! Also included are lectures on Innovative Design Thinking (IDT), which incorporates market and lifestyle insights to support systematic reasoning from abstract to detailed innovation. For example, just few years ago the Sony Walkman was a hot seller because of its portability. However, Sony couldn’t keep that niche for long as soon as iPods hit the market, and they were able to beat out Sony because Apple envisioned the future needs for personalized products with user friendly design. Among many unique advantages of the course, I was able to spend twelve days in Beijing, which allowed us to meet face-to-face and also gave us the chance to visit three successful companies, Cisco, Lenovo, and Google. The CEO of Cisco reminded us that innovation might be critical for one company, but in practice Cisco itself would not overemphasize it. He explained this by using charts to show how moderate a role innovation played in the company’s investment projects. During the Beijing trip we had such a great time with PKU students that we even went to karaoke together to sing popular Chinese songs. By exchanging our experiences, we not only learned a lot but also built up close friendships that will be beneficial for future projects. I learned to perceive cultural differences not as obstacles to be overcome but as wonderful tools to be used in developing new and different ideas in innovation. On top of that, networking with outstanding elites is one more important skill. Some other information for your reference: “Principles and Practices of Global Innovation” is open to 20 students per year with applications and interviews held by Professor Wei-Cheng Tian of the Creativity and Entrepreneurship Program at NTU. According to Professor Tian, “We are looking for open-minded students from all majors. However, you have to be prepared that the course will take a lot of your time as well as effort. Only when you fully participate can you learn about the abstract concept of innovation.” I sincerely hope that everyone who is interested in the course will find it a great opportunity to join our big family! a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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