Table Top Inventing Podcast (Makers and Innovators)

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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Finding Resonance with Dr. Steve Kurti

  • Do you have teenagers?

  • We often think of teenagers as difficult or challenging, but is it possible that they are really the most innovative members of our society?

  • How much could a teenager create if they had the right tools?

  • Join us today as we discuss the potential in those wonderful years of teenagerhood.

WARNING! This is a listener advisory. The word "amazing" is over used in this podcast and will have to be retired from the English language after being so overworked in this episode.

Today's podcast is going to be a little unusual, but not in the way you might think. I'm not going to let you in on the surprise just yet. Instead I'm going to share one of my favorite quotes by George Bernard Shaw.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

I've always wondered a little bit if I'm unreasonable because I've always tried to remold the world to suit me better or to match how I think the world SHOULD operate. Mostly this drives my wife crazy, and I get misunderstood a lot. However with the help of some friends in my mastermind group, I'm starting to get better at clarifying what we do and why.

The suggestions of my friends actually inspired this episode of the Table Top Inventing podcast. So here is the secret: Today's guest is me! Well, that's not the only secret, the host for today is a former guest of the show, Jody Maberry!

Jody and I hit it off so well in our interview that he and I started talking regularly. Jody is a great guy, he hosts two other podcasts, "The Park Leaders" podcast and the "Creating Disney Magic" podcast with Lee Cockerell, the former EVP for Walt Disney World in Florida.

If you want to give your teenager an opportunity to find a new level of curiosity and drive to discovery, you need to know about the Resonance Innovation Fellowship.

This next year we will be taking a select group of 10-15 teens on a journey of self-discovery, deep intellectual curiosity, and innovation leadership. This is not a club, social gathering, or homework tutoring. The students in the Resonance Innovation Fellowship will be on a quest to find impact and world-change through the backdrop of technology.

To find out more about the Resonance Innovation Fellowship, email me at stevekurti@ttinvent.com.

Don't wonder about the future. Email us, and we'll help you create it!

 

Original Date: December 31, 2015

Category: Makers and Innovators

Direct download: 071_-_Finding_Resonance_with_Dr._Steve_Kurti.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 10:52pm PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Gray BrightHi, I'm Steve, the host of the Table Top Inventing Podcast. This is normally the point where our podcast theme comes in with the resonant voice of an inspiring high school educator, Willie Jones.

This is the 5th episode in a series of 6 of our most powerful podcasts from the first year of the Table Top Inventing show.

Here's a sneak peak from today's episode...

"Nearly everything I've built has come from a genesis of me going, 'I wish that existed!' and there's always been a fun element to it!" --Gray Bright

LOL! I love Gray Bright. His episode was one of the most high energy, fun interviews we did in the first year. You won't want to miss this funny, high-energy interview with a lively engineer. We talk about questions like:

  • Can a robotics engineer actually be any good as a stand-up comedian?
  • What happens if you retrofit your car with effects from a racing video game?
  • Do real engineers play with Legos?
  • How do you make your fridge shutoff automatically when you put on weight?

If you are an inventor and a kid at heart, you will LOVE today's interview. I am reminded of a quote by the late Randy Pausch, a computer science innovator from Carnegie Mellon. He said,

"I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore."

For Randy, having fun was serious business because at the young age of 47 he died of complications from pancreatic cancer. Yet before he died, he had a chance to give his "last lecture" in which he discussed the importance of living life to the fullest and having fun. The dramatic circumstances of his last months compelled him to consider what was really important in life, and he realized that every single day is a gift. Some people like Randy and our guest today, Gray Bright, just seem determined to find all the fun life has to offer.

Gray was one of my favorite guests! He made me laugh all the way through, and I have always been inspired at how early his engineering ideas began. If you want to inspire a young inventor you know to pursue their dreams just like Gray has, you need to know about the Resonance Innovation Fellowship.

This next year we will be taking a select group of 10-15 teens on a journey of self-discovery, excellence with integrity, and innovation leadership. This is not a club, social gathering, or homework tutoring. The students in the Resonance Innovation Fellowship will be on a quest to find impact and world-change through the backdrop of technology.

To find out more email me at stevekurti@ttinvent.com.

Don't wonder about the future. Email us, and we'll help you create it!

Original Episode Date: December 24, 2015

Category: Makers and Innovators

Direct download: 069_-_Inspiring_Engineers_with_Gray_Bright.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 10:00pm PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Troy Hartman - Table Top Inventing - Profound & Powerful Podcast SeriesHi, it's Steve, the host of the Table Top Inventing Podcast.

This episode is the 4th in a series of 6 episodes--2 every week--in the month of December. We're bringing back 6 of the most Profound and Powerful Podcasts from our first year.

Here's a taste of what you'll hear today...


"It was the easiest thing to do to just add a pair of skis, because I had already built the jet-pack. I was in Mammoth. There was snow, and I just said, "I'm gonna do this!" --Troy Hartman

What?! A back pack with jet engines?! That's crazy! How did a guy who was not a thrill-seeker get to the point of turning himself into a human rocket? Tune in today to learn about risk and courage from a non-thrill seeker.

My wife can tell you that my interview with Troy Hartman was probably the highlight of 2014 for me. Troy is an intelligent engineer who knows how to take calculated risks. He isn't a thrill seeker, but he understands deeply the value of taking the leap--literally--when it's time. If your techie teenager needs a little push to step outside their comfort zone and really begin innovating, you need to know about the Resonance Innovation Fellowship.

In 2016 we'll be taking a select group of 10-15 teens on a journey of self-discovery, excellence with integrity, and innovation leadership. This is not a club, social gathering, or homework tutoring. The students in the Resonance Innovation Fellowship will be on a quest to find impact and world-change through the backdrop of technology.

To find out more email me at stevekurtiATttinventDOTcom.

Don't wonder about the future. Email us, and we'll help you create it!

 

Original Release Date: 12/21/15

Category: Makers and Innovators

Direct download: 068_-_Calculated_Risk_with_Troy_Hartman.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

PodClear - Table Top Inventing PodcastWhat kind of a company gets started on a road trip? In the podcasting world, what is a “double-ender”? How does a boot-strapped US-based startup company get connected with a startup incubator in Chile?

Hey there, Innovation Nation! Today’s guests have a fascinating story. If you’ve ever thought about starting a company in your spare time or if you’ve had an idea for a company in the strangest place, you’ll find some kindred spirits on today’s show.

“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R & D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R & D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”

These words from Steve Jobs underline the fact that innovation is driven, not by money or even other technology, but by people. Creative, observant humans are the engine of innovation. It is easy in our tech-filled world to equate new tech break throughs with underlying technological infrastructure, but in reality while currently available technology does enable future technologies, the future begins with a dream in the heart of a person.

“Even though the map to educational makerspace success remains vague, pioneers in the field are pushing forward and reporting their findings.” – Gene Roddenberry In the late 1960’s, Gene Roddenberry had a dream. He turned this dream into a television show we all know as Star Trek. In this fictional future, the crew of the USS Enterprise used a device called a tricorder. This device had the capability of reading information from it’s surroundings, geo-locating the user, taking chemical, biological, and physical data along with connecting the user to the computer in the sky aboard the USS enterprise for analysis.

Today the tricorder has largely become a reality in the smart phone and it’s supporting technologies. We are connected to the computer in the sky via our cell signals and WiFi. We can geo-locate ourselves using the GPS features on our phone. We can take a photo of an object, and the “computer in the cloud” can tell us what that object is, what it can be used for, and it’s other physical, chemical, and/or biological properties. With appropriate add-ons these devices are now also monitoring our health, connecting us to the electronics back at home, and allowing us to track other humans on the planet via their GPS signals.

It can easily be argued that the smart phone and many of it’s supporting technologies began as an idea in Gene Roddenberry’s creative imaginings. So here at Table Top Inventing we spend the bulk of our time investing in the inspiration of creativity in teenagers. We know that by feeding their fanciful imagination and then putting tools in their hands to begin exploring the possibilities, a new generation of innovators will arise quite naturally.

Just the other day, some students in our Inventor’s Bootcamp learned that hobby-grade, quad-rotor technology could be used to lift a person off the ground. Now I don’t know exactly what they will do with that knowledge as time goes on, but they are already discussing how they can improve their own DIY quad-rotor project. Perhaps they will invent an improved hoverboard like the one I saw just this week!

To find out more about Inventor’s Bootcamp, visit InventingZone.com

Speaking of innovation, today’s guests are quite familiar with the development of game-changing technology. Spencer Handley, Hannah Russell-Goodson, and Josh Lankford recently started a small company called PodClear. Their technology is already revolutionizing how I am conducting podcast interviews. Listen in for engagingly clear answers in today’s podcast!

Original Release Date: 5/28/15

Direct download: 037_-_Changing_the_Game_with_PodClear.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 9:00pm PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

JuiceBoxx - Table Top Inventing PodcastHow can you get your Kickstarter idea funded? Is it possible to be immune to a brain freeze? What would cause successful college students to abandon their degrees?

Hey there, Innovation Nation! Today we’re talking entrepreneurship, and at the center is one of my favorite topics – learning how to learn. Alexander Pope said,

“A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.” …learning how to learn itself is a really dangerous skill to have. Once tasted, the spring of knowledge spoils our ability to live an average life."

His assertion was that if we learn, we should go all the way. On the podcast today, Andrew Lien asserts that the idea of learning how to learn itself is a really dangerous skill to have. Once tasted, the spring of knowledge spoils our ability to live an average life.

We believe this idea so strongly that we’ve built a whole company around it, including one of our favorite activities–Inventor’s Bootcamp. We fill a room with 3D printers, embedded processors, sensors, 3D design software, and computers for programming, and then set students free to discover that ever dangerous idea: I can learn on my own. In every class, several students are set free to discover the universe without the limits imposed by others.

To find out more about the Inventor’s Bootcamp visit http://www.InventingZone.com or you can just visit http://www.TTInvent.com and click the Inventor’s Bootcamp button.

Our guests from JuiceBoxx today do not sugar coat their feelings about formal learning. They aren’t hostile to traditional learning, but they have learned how to learn, and that, my friends, has proven to be a very dangerous skill for them.

Original Release Date: 5/14/15

Direct download: 035_-_Powering_Innovation_with_JuiceBoxx.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 9:00pm PDT
Comments[0]

Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Gray Bright - Table Top Inventing PodcastCan a robotics engineer actually be any good as a stand-up comedian? What happens if you retrofit your car with effects from a racing video game? Do real engineers play with Legos? How do you make your fridge shutoff automatically when you put on weight?

Hey there, Innovation Nation! Today is going to be a fun episode. If you are an inventor and a kid at heart, you will LOVE today’s interview. I am reminded of a quote by the late Randy Pausch, a computer science innovator from Carnegie Mellon. He said,

“I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.”

For Randy, having fun was serious business because at the young age of 47 he died of complications from pancreatic cancer. Yet before he died, he had a chance to give his “last lecture” in which he discussed the importance of living life to the fullest and having fun. The dramatic circumstances of his last months compelled him to consider what was really important in life, and he realized that every single day is a gift. Some people like Randy and our guest today, Gray Bright, just seem determined to find all the fun life has to offer.

Here at Table Top Inventing, we believe that inventing and fun are almost synonymous. That’s why we created the Inventor’s Bootcamp. If you love creating and inventing, check out our summer fun at http://www.TTInvent.com/BootcampNow or you can just visit http://www.TTInvent.com and click the Inventor’s Bootcamp button.

Our guest today is Gray Bright. We laugh all the way through this interview, but we’re talking about serious fun. Gray’s creativity and mischievous ideas are infectious. Join us for a fun conversation about inventing, fun, and never growing up!

Original Release Date: 4/9/15

Direct download: 030_-_Inventing_Fun_with_Gray_Bright.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 11:07pm PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Brent Bushnell - Table Top Inventing PodcastWhere can I find a circus that employs engineers? Can learning to prepare sushi impact engineering ideas? How can we rebrand Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math to be fun? How do we make STEM subjects more like driving a Ferrari than like driving a grocery getter?

Today, we have a high-energy, fun interview with an engineer who has started a high-tech circus! Creating more intelligent, creative, fun innovators is what we specialize in at Table Top Inventing. In fact, an opportunity is coming this summer to participate in our Inventor’s Bootcamp. I get really excited about Inventor’s Bootcamp because there’s nothing more fun than a room full of teenagers building crazy engineering contraptions with 3D printers and wiring them up with a little electronic trickery and programming fun. It’s enough to make your head spin!

To find out more visit: InventingZone.com or you can just visit http://www.TTInvent.com and click the Inventor’s Bootcamp button.

Grab a hold of something solid because today’s podcast is going to rock your world! Brent Bushnell, the founder and CEO of Two-Bit Circus, is going to blow the doors off. Brent and his business partner Eric have started a high-tech circus staffed not with circus barkers and tight rope walkers but with engineers, scientists, and computer programmers. Let’s listen in to a high flying conversation!

Original Release Date: 3/19/15

Direct download: 027_-_STEAM_Carnival_with_Brent_Bushnell.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 9:00pm PDT
Comments[0]

Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Tyler Tervooren - Table Top Inventing PodcastTyler Tervooren is an independent entrepreneur and founder of Riskology.co. He's started 7 businesses and traveled to more than 20 different countries.  His life sounds exciting to outsiders, but anyone who’s known him a while knows it hasn’t always been like this.

He grew up in a small town where you were praised for living a simple, conservative life. You were supposed to play it safe and always go for the sure thing. Step out and do something unusual, and you were quickly discounted as a weirdo.  Living that life felt safe, but unfulfilling. So, when he moved away the day after graduating high school, he started to make a priority of stepping outside his comfort zone and trying new things to see where they’d lead.

There were a lot of false starts and bad paths, but every failure taught a lesson never learned before. Along the way, Tyler met people who were living lives he couldn’t imagine.  They had weird, fun jobs he’d never heard of. They’d been to places he didn’t know existed. They were happy because they’d found ways to get around the default life path.

They weren’t broke (in fact, they were usually quite wealthy), they weren’t outcasts (quite the opposite), and they weren’t crazy.  A lightbulb went on. It actually was possible for normal people to take big risks in life and succeed.

For more than 10 years, Tyler's been fascinated with learning the strategies and tactics normal people can use to do things usually reserved only for the super-privileged.  He studies how investors behave; new breakthroughs and little-known truths of human psychology; and the strategies of thriving artists.

What he's found is most big risks in life are only risky because we don’t understand them. By combining our passion and intuition with proven research and smart-strategy, we can win at almost anything.

Now, he builds courses to teach the principles of Smart Riskology to anyone willing to learn and writes about his findings on the Riskology blog.  Listen in to today's podcast to learn more about Riskology from Tyler.

Original Release Date: 2/26/15

Direct download: 024_-_Riskology_with_Tyler_Tervooren.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 11:37pm PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Troy Hartman - Table Top Inventing PodcastHow does someone who hates the idea of sky diving end up in a career as an aerial stuntman? What exactly do you have to do to lose your pilot’s license three times? What is the value of risk? In the arena of life, is it more dangerous to play it safe?

Our guest today is Troy Hartman, the man with a JetPack! Troy has an amazing story, and it’s peppered with little choices that involved risks. Definitely check out the show notes today to see Troy’s JetPack videos. We showed one particular video in all of our Inventor’s Bootcamp summer camps in 2014 because he did such a great job describing the emotions and responses to risks. Let’s tune in to hear what this engineer and pilot turned stuntman has to say about risk.

Original Release Date: 1/1/15

Direct download: 016_-_Risk_and_Reward_with_Troy_Hartman.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 4:28pm PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Ian Roy - Table Top Inventing PodcastOur guest this week is Ian Roy. Ian is deeply involved establishing a makerspace on the campus of Brandeis University. They are about six months into their odyssey and are having a great time. Their first serious project has been with the E-nabling The Future  mission to 3D print prosthetic hands for those who need them. He is also the research technology project lead and helps with odd work-flow analysis issues.

In the great inventor secrets this week we talk about cowboys and innovation.  Come find out the connection!

Category: Innovative Educators
Original Release Date: 12/4/14

Direct download: 012_-_Cowboys_Innovation_and_Ian_Roy.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 2:00am PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Gene Sherman - Table Top Inventing PodcastWhat is the secret for great invention ideas? Where can you go to find a community to help you innovate? If you're a techie (aka geek, smarty-pants, or red-hot genius), where can you find "your people"? We'll we answering these questions on today's podcast so download and listen in!

Vocademy is an idea that I have had for many years. A place that teaches real “hands-on” skills. Not just traditional shop skills, but a place that also teaches the most state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. A place open to everyone, of every age, 7-days a week. Open during hours when normal people can come and learn. With no barriers or bureaucracy. Then we add a “dream workshop” for those in the community that want to learn, build, create and become “Makers.” To bring back “shop class for everyone!”

I have witnessed the demise of hands-on skills in this country. Not for lack of people who want or need these skills and knowledge, but for lack of places to learn and use such skills. Many agree that once this country loses its ability to make and build things (with our own hands), we will have lost what made America great. Edison, Franklin, the Wright Brothers, Harley Davidson, Apple, HP and many others started in small workshops with basic tools. Many more Americans should have the same opportunity to innovate, collaborate, and create their dreams. NOT just access to these tools, but proper and practical instruction to use them correctly and safely!

America used to have “shop” classes. Whether it was wood shop, metal shop, industrial arts or even art classes, it was a place for makers, inventors and dreamers. For those who wanted to use their hands, in addition to their minds. It was the place where kids found that they love to tinker, to take things apart and put them together. The starting place for the many people who love to to design, to build, and to create! Some were lucky enough to have a dad or an uncle that had a small workshop and were willing to share their know-how. But now these places are very rare, if not completely gone. For many, a personal workshop just an expensive dream. But many people still need and want these skills.

That’s why, with a lot of hard work, passionate people and determination, we created Vocademy – The makerspace. The place to learn and make anything!"

Category: Makers & Innovators
Original Release Date: 11/20/14

Direct download: 010_-_Gene_Sherman_Interview.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 1:34am PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Justin Lukasavige - Table Top Inventing PodcastJustin Lukasavige coaches people to do business better by using the power of their personal stories. Justin graduated from college with a degree in aviation and immediately became a commercial pilot. Knowing it wasn’t the story he wanted to live, he began coaching people to get out of debt. He grew his business so quickly (with the help of coaches and mentors) that other business owners took notice and asked for advice on doing the same. Justin is currently working with a handful of startups and non-profits in marketing and product.

More about Justin can be found here:  http://www.coachradio.tv/about

 

Category: Business Professionals

Original Release Date: 11/13/14

Direct download: 009_-_Justin_Lukasavige_Interview.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 10:44pm PDT
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Show Notes | YouTube | iTunes

Dan Miller - Table Top Inventing PodcastDan Miller, President of 48 Days LLC, is our guest this week on the TTI Podcast. Dan specializes in creative thinking for increased personal and business success. He believes meaningful work blends our natural skills and abilities, our unique personality traits and our dreams and passions. He is active in helping individuals redirect careers, evaluate new income sources, and achieve balanced living. Dan is the author of the New York Times best-selling 48 Days To The Work You Love, No More Dreaded Mondays and Wisdom Meets Passion.

If you’ve ever buried your dreams in an attempt to be “practical” or “realistic,” Dan believes embracing those very dreams is the most practical way to enjoy life and achieve success. In his mind, a clear sense of direction can help us become all we were meant to be.

Category: Business Professionals

Original Release Date: 10/23/14

Direct download: 006_-_Dan_Miller_Interview.mp3
Category:Makers and Innovators -- posted at: 5:00am PDT
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