Major Donor Impact Report - Sharpes

IMPACT REPORT

2018 2019

WITH YOUR HELP, WE’RE TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE.

OUR SINCERE GRATITUDE Your generosity established a space for a community of innovative thinkers to begin creating global change. The Innovation Studio fosters interprofessional collaboration in creating healthcare solutions. From a published children’s book reaching #1 on Amazon to an application that helps keep college students safe around the country, the Innovation Studio allows students, faculty and staff at The Ohio State University to take their ideas and turn them into reality.

The accomplishments of the Studio realized in the 2018 – 2019 academic year strongly affirm the impact of your support on innovations across the University. This level of forward-thinking and fundamental change would not be possible without your contributions and inspiration.

With your support, we have created an environment where innovative ideas are both encouraged and embraced. You have impacted the lives of those who dream by helping turn their dreams into reality. We are grateful for you.

2018 – 2019 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

19 teams & 100 submissions 56 individual Innovation Disclosures submitted to the Technology Commercialization Office at Ohio State

$56,499 awarded Tour stops at the College of Medicine, Thompson Library, The James, and Newton Hall (twice)

55 first-time pitches

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS The Innovation Studio received the 2018 BizTech Non-Profit Service Innovator award from Columbus Business First, the business news and information authority in Central Ohio. This award recognizes promising startup, entrepreneurs and innovations in the city.

For the first time, the Innovation Studio moved inside Thompson Library for several months in the Autumn semester. This library is located in a high traffic, central area on campus. Moving the studio to a new space allowed us to reach students from different disciplines, as well as have a more prominent spot when new, incoming students were touring the university.

A second, semi-permanent Innovation Studio space was launched inside Pomerene Hall. Similar to our moveable makerspace, this studio will offer a location for students, faculty and staff to share and develop their ideas for innovative products, services or software.

This second studio created an opportunity for seven new student employee positions.

WHAT IT MEANS Forrest Schoessow

Innovation Studio grant recipient Forrest Schoessow is a PhD candidate at The Ohio State University Department of Geography and is involved in the Mountain Drone Team. The team consists of graduate and undergraduate engineers who are working on a project to build the first unmanned aerial systems capable of 3-D laser-mapping in high-mountain environments. This project will help monitor glaciers and get a better understanding of the risks of climate change.

What sparked your interest in the geography field?

Tackling global challenges through local innovation requires a global perspective. I have become committed to addressing global problems negatively affecting human health and the natural world. The study of geography and Earth system science provides me with a unique perspective that allows me to study the interconnectedness of human and natural systems over different scales of space and time.

How did you find out about the Innovation Studio?

The Sharpe Innovation Commons opened in Derby Hall, where I had the opportunity to meet Gary Sharpe and Tim Radersdorf. I was captivated by their vision and desire to do good through innovation.

Therefore, my research aims to do meaningful good by fusing new concepts in science and engineering. The Innovation Studio was a natural fit, and I couldn’t be more appreciative of the assistance they provided me with.

Could you further explain the type of 3-D mapping research you conducted using the Innovation Studio grant?

My research focus is on advancing scientific understanding of glaciers as water resources and hazards in a rapidly changing world through the development of custom sensors and unmanned aerial systems.

The Cordillera Blanca, Peru is home to more tropical glaciers than anywhere else on Earth where roughly one million individuals heavily rely upon the snow and ice for water. As these glaciers disappear, vital meltwater is declining, which has resulted in destabilized mountain slopes in an area prone to natural disasters and rapid mass movement. This evolving reality will have significant consequences and raise the dangers of extreme water scarcity. The changes are underway, creating a pressing need for more data, scientific understanding and adaptive risk management strategies.

I develop and use novel 3-D mapping technologies and methods to quantify snow and ice volumes and how these quantities are changing as the climate warms. This allows scientists to better estimate where and when water shortages will occur in coming years.

What success have you seen thus far with your research?

There have been unbelievable accomplishments. I have endured the harshest of environments to collect invaluable data. We tested our new drone technology over various combinations of snow, ice, and rock over tropical glaciers. Our team from the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center was embedded on the ice at over 6000m in altitude for almost two months, where I collected data that I will use to determine snow depth, density, and water volume equivalent.

I received the support of and was working in coordination with NASA's IceSat-2 team where they agreed to point the ATLAS laser at my study site. Since I was there for a few months, I also had the opportunity to make extensive in situ measurements, allowing the collected air and space-borne datasets to be sufficiently ground controlled.

The Peruvian government is very interested in determining how the snow and ice translates into water resources. So interested, that President Vizcarra paid a visit to our study site. I'll be preparing a report for the Peruvian government on the glacier environmental change and what the timeline for hydroclimatic change is going to look like. It's great to get out of the lab and tackle some real-world problems.

How has the Innovation Studio prepared you for your future career?

This project has brought together a highly interdisciplinary team of students across Ohio State. Funding from the Innovation Studio has enabled us to overcome hardware limitations, acquire vital sensor technologies, develop new methods for 3-D mapping and further grow The Ohio State University Mountain Drone Team.

These resources have advanced our scientific understanding of glaciers as water resources and hazards and has opened new doors to worldwide collaboration.

I knew my research was going to be difficult because what I was proposing had never been done before: developing a novel remote sensing system; which I successfully did. Now I am applying this technology to improve the lives of local communities. This research will demonstrate the potential of unmanned aerial systems for change monitoring, advance scientific methods of collecting local aerial observational data and further our understanding of tropical glaciers.

After this summer, my work extended the data record maintained by the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and helps build upon the monitoring of glacier environmental change and the hydro-social risks to population health in Peru. This work strengthens our established relationships with local officials and our knowledge of the rapidly changing environment, providing the opportunity for Ohio State drone technology to soar high.

The Innovation Studio is preparing me not only as a scientist, but also as an innovator and entrepreneur; I couldn’t be more grateful.

Angela Rucci

Innovation Studio grant recipient Angela Rucci found a solution to a common problem on university campuses across the country. You are walking home after your evening class, alone and late at night. You want to stay safe, so what do you do? Traditionally, you might text your friend to let them know you got home. Or, perhaps you would talk on the phone to someone while you’re walking back.

For Rucci, a computer science engineering student at The Ohio State University, this was not enough. After being assaulted her freshman year, she wanted to create a better way for students to get home safely.

At the OHI/O Student Spotlight event, she met Tim Raderstorf who told her about the Innovation Studio. OHI/O is a student organization at Ohio State dedicated to connecting students who are interested in technology. They host two major hack-a-thons a year: HackOHI/O and MakeOHI/O. With this initial conversation, she began utilizing the studio to create her safety solution – Tego.

Tego is a free mobile safety app created by Rucci that helps loved ones stay connected while on the go. The app is designed to keep people safe while walking alone.

To use Tego, you set where you are going and who you want to notify when you arrive at your final destination. You can pick up to ten contacts to serve as “protectors.” Your protectors will get a notification that lets them track your trip. Once you arrive at your destination, Tego lets your protectors know you are safe. If something happens along the way or you feel unsafe, you can use Tego to send a live video of your route to your protectors or call the police.

“Our mission with Tego is to help people be a better friend and care for each other,” Rucci said.

The app currently has 2,500 users and the innovation studio funded $3,000 as well as several grants towards the marketing and development of Tego.

“The funding we’ve received for Tego has been critical for its future development,” Rucci said.

Maddy McGee

Innovation Studio student worker Maddy McGee is a current student majoring in computer science and engineering at The Ohio State University. While attending the Make OHI/O event in February 2018, she met Josh Wooten, shop manager of the College of Nursing’s Innovation Studio. McGee learned from Wooten that a student job position was available at the new Innovation Studio in Pomerene Hall. Eager to work in an environment where she could use her ‘maker’ skills, she applied for the job at the studio and has worked there ever since.

While on the job, McGee answers questions from people who come in and encourages them to use the space. When people do use the space, she helps advise them on their projects.

“I have been fortunate to witness people do some really cool things that they would not have made if it weren’t for the Innovation Studio,” McGee said. “I like working on my own projects, but projects for the Studio feel more meaningful.”

Through this student position, she has been able to learn new technical skills. In addition, helping others with their projects provides her an opportunity to learn new information, which in turn helps inspire her own creations.

“I helped someone build a 3-D model to print,” McGee said. “I also have been working on custom designs on our embroidery machine. When I’m not helping someone with a project, I work on my own projects in the Studio like my light up jacket.”

WHAT’S NEXT? • Establish an Innovation Studio Ambassadors program that will allow students across campus to engage with the studio on a deeper level.

• Conduct five tour stops scheduled for Thompson Library, Hayes Hall (Department of Design), Newton Hall, 18th Avenue Library and The James.

• Implement SalesForce to help measure and track the success of Innovation Studio projects.

• Seek collaborations with new departments across campus.