iFoundry students and others may be interested to view Emily Pilloton, who wants to create things that aren’t just well designed, but have a positive social impact.  See clip from 18 January 2010  Colbert Nation presentation here.

Steven L. Goldman will speak on Beyond Satisficing: Design, Trade Offs and the Rationality of Engineering at the 2010 Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology to be held at the Colorado School of Mines 9-10 May 2010 (Sunday-Monday).  More information about the talk and the speaker is available here.

Co-authors of the newly released book, The HP Phenomenon: Innovation and Business Transformation, Charles House and Raymond Price, will be visiting the Illinois campus on 11 February 2010.  House and Price will be holding a book talk from 3-5 pm in 106B1 Engineering Hall. The HP Phenomenon, which was released in 2009, discusses the many innovations and transformations that Hewlett Packard was able to make throughout the years while most of their competitors were unable to make even one significant transformation.

House is currently the executive director at Media X, Standford University’s Industry Affiliate research program on media and technology.  To read more about Chuck House visit here and to view his blog visit here. Price serves as a Professor, Severns Chair for Human Behavior and iFoundy co-director at Illinois.  Students and faculty from UIUC may sign up to attend this unique event here.  Other guests may phone the iFoundry office at (217)244-3821 to register.

On 20 January, the SSE (Service and Systems Engineering) iTeam elected Ramy Cohen as iChair for the Spring 2010 semester. Cohen is a student in the computer science department. The SSE iTeam is concerned with the increasing role of technology-based human-centered services and systems as a source of innovation and engineering work.

On 20 January, the EI (Entrepreneurship and Innovation) iTeam elected Islam Sharabash as their spring semester iChair. Sharabash is a student in the electrical and computer engineering department. EI is concerned with the role of technology entrepreneurship in new enterprises and new product intrapreneurship and innovation in existing corporations.

On 20 January, the ESS (Engineering in Service to Society) iTeam elected Peter Mouche as their spring 2010 iChair. Mouche is a student in the nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering department. The ESS iTeam is concerned with direct action to apply engineering to problems of sustainability, poverty, and societal improvement.

On 20 January 2010, the AED iTeam elected co-chairs Matt Johnson (left) and Jeremy Kaiser (right) to lead their team throughout the spring 2010 semester. The AED (Art and Engineering Design) iTeam is concerned with the intersection of art and human-centered engineering design as well as traditional areas of product design.  Johnson is a computer engineering student and Kaiser is a civil and environmental engineering student.

Cory Levy, an 18 year old entrepreneur from Texas, is returning to the Illinois campus on 15 February, 2010 to meet with students and discuss his social networking and entrepreneurial successes. Levy visited the campus once before in October and spoke during a WOW (World of Work) lecture series about young entrepreneurs. Since then, Levy hosted the NextGen Conference at Stanford University, where young entrepreneurs had the opportunity to meet and learn from mentors in the innovation field.  Several iFoundry students from the E. I iTeam attended the NextGen Conference. Levy will be meeting with all interested students and faculty throughout the day, and all are welcome to attend a dinner gathering that evening at 6pm at Papa Del’s on Green Street, Champaign. If interested in attending, email Tracey Johnson, iFoundry coordinator at tjohnsn@illinois.edu. To see an interview with Levy from his first visit to the Illinois campus, visit here.

iFoundry students and others may be interested to know that Mattel recently announced “Computer Engineer” as the newest profession for Barbie.  (Original post from NAE.edu website)  See flyer here.

Professor Bill Hammack, an iFoundry fellow in the Department of Chemical and Bio-molecular Engineering, uses his giant chopper to search for the perfect golf ball. He reveals the amazing creativity of engineers by explaining how they devised a way to put liquid in the center of a golf ball. To view this video along with others featuring Professor Hammack, visit here.