Design-thinking, making, and innovating: Fresh tools for the physician\u27s toolbox

Medical school education should foster creativity by enabling students to become \u27makers\u27 who prototype and design. Healthcare professionals and students experience pain points on a daily basis, but are not given the tools, training, or opportunity to help solve them in new, potentially better ways. The student physician of the future will learn these skills through collaborative workshops and having dedicated \u27innovation time.\u27 This pre-clinical curriculum would incorporate skills centered on (1) Digital Technology and Small Electronics (DTSE), (2) Textiles and Medical Materials (TMM), and (3) Rapid Prototyping Technologies (RPT). Complemented by an on-campus makerspace, students will be able to prototype and iterate on their ideas in a fun and accessible space. Designing and making among and between patients and healthcare professionals would change the current dynamic of medical education, empowering students to solve problems in healthcare even at an early stage in their career. By doing so, they will gain empathy, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills that will extend into clinical practice. Our proposed curriculum will equip medical students with the skills, passion, and curiosity to impact the future of healthcare

Requirements: The Key to Sustainability

Software's critical role in society demands a paradigm shift in the software engineering mind-set. This shift's focus begins in requirements engineering. This article is part of a special issue on the Future of Software Engineering

The interaction between non-governmental organisations and marginalized communities to build self-sustaining capacity to transfer, absorb and use building technologies in indigenous housing

Different organisations outside the public and private sectors, such as non governmental organisations (NGOs), are involved in generating, introducing, and promoting capacity building and technology, particularly in marginal areas of less developed countries (Farrington and Biggs, 1990). Non-governmental organizations have become important players in the field of social development, with increased expectations shifting to NGOs as the “Magic bullet” to fix some of the on-going developmental problems of developing countries (Edwards and Fowler, 2002). NGOs use strategies such as capacity building to promote self-reliance. Capacity building is an important strategy for fostering sustainable social, political and economic development. Accordingly, grass root communities are said to be an important section of the community capable of transforming the state and society (Fisher, 1997). Hence, the reason many NGOs work with marginalised communities who have been marginalized by the either the market or deprived of social infrastructure. Previous research to date has tended to focus on NGOs activities in communities. However, little attention has been paid to how such strategies and organisation could fit with the community’s needs, especially in housing which is a major problem in developing countries. This paper proposes that many development initiatives by NGOs to build self-sustaining capacity to transfer, absorb and use building technologies in indigenous housing are hindered by inadequate interaction with the beneficiary communities. This paper gives a synthesis of literature review on the background of NGOs and capacity building as a strategy for self-reliance. The paper offers an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon, which will allow certain questions to be raised regarding the interaction with marginalised communities. This study is important because it adds to existing literature and opens up a whole new debate on NGO/ community interaction. This paper argues that capacity building ought to be incorporated with the needs and culture of the community and special attention paid to participatory process

Some challenges facing scientific software developers: The case of molecular biology

It is apparent that the challenges facing scientific software developers are quite different from those facing their commercial counterparts. Among these differences are the challenges posed by the complex and uncertain nature of the science. There is also the fact that many scientists have experience of developing their own software, albeit in a very restricted setting, leading them to have unrealistic expectations about software development in a different setting. In this paper, we explore the challenges facing scientific software developers focusing especially on molecular biology. We claim that the nature and practice of molecular biology is quite different from that of the physical sciences and pose different problems to software developers. We do not claim that this paper is the last word on the topic but hope that it serves as the inspiration for further debate

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE IN PROCESS-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

This paper investigates the role of the organization structure in process-based organizations. We argue that companies cannot be designed upon organizational processes only or that process management can be simply imposed as an additional structural dimension on top of the existing functional or product dimension. It is more promising to consider process-based companies as organizations with a multidimensional structure with process ownership as a dominant dimension. The paper focuses on a number of consequences of the implementation of process-based organization structures. First, the complementary role of different types of processes is clarified. Second, we focus on the question how processes can be translated into the design of organizational units. Two key ideas underpin a process-based organizational structure. First, organizational units are organized around core processes. Second, other processes are added to these units minimizing the necessity of cross-unit coordination. This has several implications for planning and control activities and the way how process-based business units fit together to create a performing corporation. The latter can no longer be conceived within the traditional strategy- structure paradigm because of the fundamentally different role of middle and top managers.management and organization theory ;

SciTech News Volume 71, No. 3 (2017)

Columns and Reports From the Editor.........................3 Division News Science-Technology Division....5 Chemistry Division....................8 Conference Report, Marion E, Sparks Professional Development Award Recipient..9 Engineering Division................10 Engineering Division Award, Winners Reflect on their Conference Experience..15 Aerospace Section of the Engineering Division .....18 Architecture, Building Engineering, Construction, and Design Section of the Engineering Division................20 Reviews Sci-Tech Book News Reviews...22 Advertisements IEEE..........................................

Supporting End-User Development through a New Composition Model: An Empirical Study

End-user development (EUD) is much hyped, and its impact has outstripped even the most optimistic forecasts. Even so, the vision of end users programming their own solutions has not yet materialized. This will continue to be so unless we in both industry and the research community set ourselves the ambitious challenge of devising end to end an end-user application development model for developing a new age of EUD tools. We have embarked on this venture, and this paper presents the main insights and outcomes of our research and development efforts as part of a number of successful EU research projects. Our proposal not only aims to reshape software engineering to meet the needs of EUD but also to refashion its components as solution building blocks instead of programs and software developments. This way, end users will really be empowered to build solutions based on artefacts akin to their expertise and understanding of ideal solution

Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence: Three Fresh Ideas

Human-Centered AI (HCAI) is a promising direction for designing AI systems that support human self-efficacy, promote creativity, clarify responsibility, and facilitate social participation. These human aspirations also encourage consideration of privacy, security, environmental protection, social justice, and human rights. This commentary reverses the current emphasis on algorithms and AI methods, by putting humans at the center of systems design thinking, in effect, a second Copernican Revolution. It offers three ideas: (1) a two-dimensional HCAI framework, which shows how it is possible to have both high levels of human control AND high levels of automation, (2) a shift from emulating humans to empowering people with a plea to shift language, imagery, and metaphors away from portrayals of intelligent autonomous teammates towards descriptions of powerful tool-like appliances and tele-operated devices, and (3) a three-level governance structure that describes how software engineering teams can develop more reliable systems, how managers can emphasize a safety culture across an organization, and how industry-wide certification can promote trustworthy HCAI systems. These ideas will be challenged by some, refined by others, extended to accommodate new technologies, and validated with quantitative and qualitative research. They offer a reframe -- a chance to restart design discussions for products and services -- which could bring greater benefits to individuals, families, communities, businesses, and society

Service-Learning Times : semester 1, 2018/19

Service-Learning (S-L) is a pedagogy that drives learning, innovation, contribution and transformation. It provides experiential learning opportunities for students by connecting academic knowledge to impactful community service with ongoing reflection during the process. The diverse and insightful S-L experience enables students to discover their potential, address the challenges faced by the community, as well as transform beneficiaries’ lives by providing support to collaborating partners. This booklet highlights the courses with S-L elements offered this semester. Students wishing to experience the best of S-L should plan and act quickly while places are available.https://commons.ln.edu.hk/sl_times/1002/thumbnail.jp