texas innovator: late summer 2011

8/4/2019 Texas Innovator: Late Summer 2011

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T e x a s

Innov torSusan Combs exas Comptroller o Public Accounts oday’s Ideas or omorrow’s exas Summe

“No matter howfar we may

wander, Texas

lingers with us,

coloring our

perceptions of

the world.”

– Elmer Kelton

Power is a commodity in

high demand at TMC Doc Searls on the

new customer service

New tools help surgeons

sharpen their skillsOnline community

informs, inspires

I N N O V A I V E L E A R N I N G

iPad helps wake up freshmenImagine it’s your irst day o college and the proessor says

“Free iPads or everyone!”

hat’ll get your attention, now, won’t it?

hat’s exactly what happened to 24 lucky University o

exas at yler reshmen who registered or Dr. Ann Beebe’s

English Composition class last all.

In April 2010, Beebe, along with her colleague Dr. Robert

Sterken in the Political Science department, proposed a

pilot program that would use the popular new devices to

enhance their class’s learning experience.

he idea quickly earned the endorsement o U ylerPresident Rodney Mabry, and

the school tapped unds rom a

technology grant to purchase 60

iPads.

Beebe has been teaching

reshman classes or more than 20 years, and she’d come

to expect a certain level o attrition — particularly or

her writing class meetings early Monday, Wednesday

and Friday mornings.

“ypically, out o a class o 24, we’ll have about six

to eight drop,” she says. “With the pilot iPad class, westarted with 24 [students] and all 24 passed. hat’s

never happened.”

Beebe encouraged students to ind and employ

apps that could help them with basic organizational

skills and, as an incentive, told students they could

keep the iPad i they passed the course.

he device led Beebe to base more writing

assignments on topical events, encouraged by

the students’ connectivity to world events.

“I could change and shit the lessons at the last minute

to make them more relevant to what was going on in the

news,” she says. “It dramatically changed how we did our

daily writing.”

Dr. Sterken talks about a shit in how proessors teach today, plus

read more about similar programs in San Antonio and Houston at

www.TexasInnovator.org .

Subscribe online atwww.TexasInnovator.org.



InnovatorT e x a s

Summer 2011

A Message from

Comptroller

Susan Combshis is an exciting time to be alive. he

Internet is spurring innovation and growth

across virtually every part o business and

government. Texas Innovator is our eort

to bring you the latest business, science

and technology news rom exas and rom

around the world.

My goal as Comptroller has always

been to encourage eiciency and smarter

business practices, whether in the private

or public sector. For that reason, we’re

making Texas Innovator an online-exclusive

publication. Having a strong presence online

helps us do more with less, and helps us

share the wonders o exas business and

science with a larger audience.

While this means you will no longer be

receiving a print version o the publication,

now you can get access to the very latest

Texas Innovator stories delivered to you

just the way you want. We’ll even deliver it

straight to your inbox whenever we publish

online. Just visit www.TexasInnovator.org

or ull versions o these wonderul stories.

E N E R G Y / U I L I I E S

Innovation in energy production relievesgrid, saves energy at Texas Medical Cente

At Houston’s exas Medical Center (MC), power is a commodity in high demand. he sprawlin

medical center houses more than 6,800 beds across 33.8 million square eet o patient care, educat

and oice space.

“In the exas Medical Center, you can’t aord to not have electricity — or heating or cooling, o

matter,” says Richard Wainerdi, MC’s president.

MC oicials recently welcomed plans by hermal Energy Corporation (ECO) — which heats a

cools MC member institutions — to generate its own electricity and use waste heat rom that pr

to simultaneously run its plant while also enhancing energy eiciency and relieving the power grid

Furthermore, this approach reduces the plant’s carbon dioxide output by about 305,000 tons an

the equivalent o taking 52,000 cars o Houston roads or planting 83,000 acres o new orest.

In the expanded article at www.TexasInnovator.org, learn more about energy eicient power generation as well as unding be

TECO acility.

B U S I N E S S

Doc Searls on the new customer service

Doc Searls helped author 1999’s The ClueTrain Manifesto , in which he an

contributing authors and technology enthusiasts proposed that the “Intern

would torch the corporate irewall and orce companies to interact on

a closer level with markets — with individuals — on a one-to-one

basis. Companies that chose not to participate in the new model

would be doomed.”

Searls recently took the time to visit with

Texas Innovator to explain how social media tools and customer service

trends are aecting business.

“It will take time beore the nature o the Net will become the nature

o business — one in which anybody can come to any o the market’s

tables, bringing the labors and ruits o their own genius and ind ways to

participate,” Searls says. “he Internet will have as proound an eect on

civilization as did movable type. he ull extent o those eects won’t take as

long to maniest as did those o movable type, but they will take decades rather

than centuries. Right now we’re in the middle o the second decade o change.”

Visit www.TexasInnovator.org to read our ull Q&A with Doc Searls, where he shares his thoughts on networked markets.



M E D I C A L E C H N O L O G Y

Methodist’s MITIE helps surgeons sharpen their skills

On a typical day at Houston’s Methodist Hospital a amiliar ace, known to doctors, nurses and sta as

an,” is going under the knie.

Stan — short or iStan — is one o three state-o-the-art mannequins with a starring role at the

ethodist Institute or echnology, Innovation and Education (MIIE), where the goal is to make

edical students into surgeons and surgeons into better surgeons — or even pioneers.

When Dr. Barbara Lee Bass became chair o the Department o Surgery at Methodist Hospital in 2005,

e envisioned a high-tech, interactive acility that would allow surgeons to improve their skills in as

alistic a setting as possible, except or one thing — no risk would be involved.

With simulated patients that can breathe, bleed and even move their eyes, the 40,000-square-oot

cility provides a state-o-the-art virtual educational environment. Using simulators, technical trainers,

botics and image-guidance devices, students receive the most realistic experience in minimally invasive

rgery outside the actual operating room.

the ull version o this story to learn more about how Stan is helping train tomorrow’s doctors at www.TexasInnovator.org.

E D U C A I O N

ervice connects Texans with college dreamsrika Rodriguez, a 23-year old University o exas-San Antonio student, hopes to be the irst person in

amily to graduate rom college.

want to go to school and I want to make something o mysel,” she says.

Although obtaining higher education has been a struggle, she and hundreds o other college-bound

xans are inding inspiration and inormation atwww.GenTX.org , an online community that oers

one interested in pursuing a postsecondary education solid resources, been-there-done-that advice and

nty o success stories.

aunched in October 2010, the Facebook-style website has

5 active members and has served more than 100,000 page

ws. he site helps prospective students ind inormation

preparing or college and where they can ind help paying

it. GenTx.org is part o the exas Higher Education

ordinating Board’s Generation X initiative, which seeks tovelop a college-going and career-ready culture in exas.

e irst two years o the Generation X initiative are

ded by a $5 million grant rom the ederal College

cess Challenge Grant.

Members can comment on and rate resources and see

ich strategies helped others most. he site also provides

alendar o inancial aid deadlines, testing dates, ree classes, application

adlines and other college-related events throughout the state.

d on at www.TexasInnovator.org to learn how one high school student hopes his

ege goal will encourage his classmates.

Te In Crowd

Innovations and innovators come in all orms. In

issue o Texas Innovator , Te In Crowd will help

bring you a little closer to some o exas’ brighte

innovators, their perspective on why exas is ide

new approaches and even tips on ueling the cre

mind inside us all.

JoshWilliamsCo-founder Gowalla

New orms o

online networking

and engagement

occurring thanks

applications that tap into your smartpho

connectivity.

One orm o this engagement isgeolocation check-in services — apps tha

enable you to pinpoint where you are on

map (usually a business or event) using yo

device’s GPS and share that location with

your riends on Facebook and witter.

One o the top geolocation services

is Austin-based Gowalla, which last year

became the darling o the geek chic at th

SXSW Interactive conerence. Gowalla is

the brainchild o Josh Williams and Scott

Raymond.

Gowalla recently logged its one-million

user, and has leveraged its expanding use

to base to partner with several high-proi

companies including Nike and Adobe.

Josh Williams, who currently serves as

Gowalla’s CEO, talks to Texas Innovator

about how geolocation apps can serve

both customers and businesses, and the

advantages o doing business in exas.

“Gowalla originally moved the oice to

Austin because the city oers a tremendo

opportunity or people to explore and

discover, which is something we want to

encourage, and we practice what we prea

Williams says. “Austin is also unique beca

it has a strong tech community. We’re als

ortunate to have an employee in New Yo

and investors on the West Coast, so stayi

connected hasn’t been challenging or us

Go online to see Williams discuss ways geolocation t

can help expand the quality o service businesses pro

customers. Check it out at www.TexasInnovator.org



SUSAN COMBS,

Texas Comptroller o Public Accounts

Visit Window on State Government on the World Wide

Web at: www.TexasInnovator.org

Material in this publication is not copyrighted and

may be reproduced. Te exas Comptroller o Public

Accounts would appreciate credit or the material

used and a copy o the reprint. Questions, commentsnd subscription requests can be directed to the

Comptroller’s Data Services Division by contacting:

Texas Innovator

E-mail at [email protected]

Fax: (512) 463-4226 or (800) 252-3620

exas Comptroller o Public Accounts

P.O. Box 13528

Austin, exas 78711-3528

Or call (800) 531-5441, ext. 3-3116;

or 463-3116 in Austin.

COMPTROLLER’S WEBSITE

Window on State Government is on the World

Wide Web at www.window.state.tx.us . Online

ubscriptions, renewals or cancellations o Texasnnovator may be entered at https://www.window.

tate.tx.us/notes/ (note: the nal slash must be

ncluded in the address).

STAFF

Delane Caesar

Director o Data Services

Creative Directors

Beth Hallmark and Dan Lynch

Editorial Team Leader

Karen Hudgins

Editor

Michael Castellon

Staf Writers

David Bloom, racey Lamphere, Gerard MacCrossan,

Clint Shields, Mark Wangrin and Bruce Wright

Graphics Team Leader

Dwain Osborne

Art Direction and Layout

herryl Orsak

Web Publications Coordinator

ulie Lewis

E-Communications Coordinator

Michael Castellon

n compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,

his document may be requested in alternative ormats.

Contact the Data Services Division at (512) 463-4900

or (800) 531-5441, ext. 3-4900 (VOICE), (512) 475-0345FAX), or visit the LBJ State Ofce Building, 111 E. 17th

t., Room 301, Austin, exas.

exas Comptroller o Public Accounts

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A W O R L D O F I N N O V A I O N

Saudi ArabiaA plan to build a one-mile-high skyscraper —

what would be the tallest building on earth to date —

was recently approved. he Kingdom ower will be

about twice as tall as the existing tallest building on

earth, the Burj Khalia in Dubai. he Kingdom ower

will be built north o Jeddah City and will house hotels,

oices and a shopping center.

JapanA pair o robots are being used by okyo

Electric Power to take readings and samples o

radiation at the site o the Fukushima Daiichi

nuclear power plant, which was recently rocked by

a 7.4 magnitude earthquake and resulting sunami. he

iRobot Packbots are used in lieu o humans to reduce

exposure to radiation and other danger. For more

inormation, visit www.irobot.com.

United StatesScientists have unveiled the world’s irst

computerized map o the human brain in hopes

o accelerating understanding o how the huma

brain unctions. he Allen Human Brain Atlas,

unded by Microsot co-ounder Paul Allen, map

100 million data points that may one day expan

understanding o neurological diseases like

Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. he resource is ree

and open to the public, and can be viewed onlin

at www.brain-map.org .

Want to know more?Find this and more Texas Innovator exclusively online at

www.TexasInnovator.org.

See more Innovator online at www.exasInnovator.o

texas innovator: late summer 2011

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