aaron's blog

I am writing from a dorm at the Griffith College Dublin. There’s a euchre game going on, The Green Mile on TV and music courtesy of Adam. Our second night in Dublin has been pretty chill by design—my team begins work Monday with a Telecomm Company in Downtown Dublin. However, on Saturday we used a birthday in the group as an excuse to get out and explore the town.

Since being here, I’ve gotten an opportunity to do some historical (and touristy) things including: seeing the Book of Kerry at Trinity College (this was a “must see” according to friends from home that have been to Dublin before) and touring and hiking in Glendalough (mean “glen of two lakes”) a medieval monastery founded in the 6^th century.

At St. Kevin's Church or "Kitchen" in Glendalough

Sunday we had lunch in Avoca, a small town in County Wicklow. I ate with a few of my classmates at a little shop that sat right between the town’s main bridge and the river (also named Avoca). After lunch we toured a small textile operation in town—home to the international line of scarves and blankets also, also Named Avoca.

There's more on the beginning of our consulting project coming soon.

A

I spent yesterday touring the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Center and Innovation Center. The trip turned out to be a unique behind-the-scenes look at how a large institution like the Cleveland Clinic is able to successfully foster an innovative culture and consistently convert good ideas into commercially viable products that lead to better medical care. I thought I would share a few of the highlights.

After a rocky start, Lawrence Noble of Medical Device Solutions took us through several of the labs in the Lerner Research Center.

• Gait Lab – Using motion capture technology to study the effect of joint replacement (specifically the knee) on range of motion and stride
• Musculo-skeletal Robot – Used to measure force, and articulation of cadaver limbs and test artificial joints
• Machine Shop
• Polymer Lab – Mr. Chen discussed the complications in finding a suitable non-toxic rubber material for an artificial heart

After a brief lunch, our group moved across the clinic campus to the Innovation Center. Our host and guide for the entire day, Alan Bentley, took the time to talk briefly about his role in the licensing of new technologies. At the innovation center we also met with:

• Bob Johnson, leader of the BioEnterprise medical devices team, to discuss the BioEnterprise—a non-profit “a business formation, recruitment, and acceleration initiative” designed to create and support new ventures in the region—philosophy on successfully commercializing Cleveland Clinic Innovations.
• R.K. Khosla, the CEO-in-Residence at BioEnterprise who had recently prepared a pitch for funding a new venture (oral delivery of a traditionally intravenously delivered drug) and took this opportunity to “test-drive” it on our group.  This was a great opportunity to see the planning, sales and presentation skills it takes to secure Series A funding.
• Lou Walcer, of the Commercialization Team at the Cleveland Clinic Innovation Center to discuss in more detail the innovation process at the clinic.

As I said before, this was a great opportunity to see a functioning innovation initiative within a large organization. Our hosts’ experience and expertise aligned well with the curriculum of the Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship program that I’ve been working through for the past four weeks. The candid interchange between the class and the clinic and BioEnterprise staff was an invaluable part of the whole experience.

Thanks again to everyone at the Cleveland Clinic, especially Alan for planning a day with a great mix of informative and motivated guides, and then adapting quickly as the plan was quickly derailed.

A

This website has been a long time coming. I recently left my job as a software engineer to start my MBA full time—it was as good of a time as any to start a blog as well as a place to share photos link and other information.

This site is built on the open-source content management system (CMS) Drupal. I’ve been working down the learning curve of this exciting technology and I intend to document some of what I’ve learned about this (and possibly other CMS’s) on the blog. I also plan to touch on:

• Computing—Including Software and Social Media topics

• Drum Corps

• Photography—Including the Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK) and Underwater Photography

• Scuba Diving

• Travel

One note on the last topic: as part of my MBA I am participating in the Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program by working on a consulting project in Dublin, Ireland. I leave in a week and intend to blog about the country, culture and business environment.

Please check back or subscribe to follow my adventure.

A