IDDS Team Building

The day started with discussion on conference logistics. Then we started talking about the list of proposed projects. People asked questions for clarification and elaboration on the projects. Which didn't help me at all, because the more questions people asked, the more all the projects seemed interesting! We broke up into groups and talked about What Makes a Good Project. We came to conclusions such as consideration of time, scalability, scope of project. The group I was in decided the most important aspects were personal passion and experience, thinking about how we can grow personally and contribute.

To that, I am now working on a Charcoal Crusher. Which I will elaborate on more as my group discusses problem framing and stakeholder analysis.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing team building exercises. Telling other members the story of our names, and working on constructing simple structures together. I got video of my groups name explanation, and will post it when I get their consent. The final exercise was to find a place to go and have dinner together, and discuss the project (there was another challenge built in there, which I don't want to spoil for future participants). Before the dinner, we got a tour of the MIT Libraries. Which was pretty amazing, I just wish I had more time to use it for research on biomimicry, materials and a list of other geek-out-able topics.

The night ended with a lecture by Anil K Gupta of Honeybee Networks (www.sriste.org). The overall goal of his venture is to reward indigenous creativity and innovation. To often these inventors don't realize the power (scope) of the ideas and solutions they've created. He wanted to pay back the people who's knowledge he used to only document.

A person is at their best when they are Learning, Living and Loving. Mr. Gupta has a great spirit and his heart is in this from hearing him speak. His closing remarks; "Creativity counts, Knowledge matters, Innovation transforms, Incentives inspire."