Society is increasingly willing to take on large-scale problems that require interdisciplinary teams, and entrepreneurial academic ventures like Union's Converging Technology initiative provide a rich proving ground to introduce the concept, said Theodore Berger '72 at Founders Day convocation on Feb. 17.
Berger, the David Packer Professor
of Engineering at the University
of Southern California,
described his experience in leading a team from diverse disciplines to develop
“bionic” replacement parts for the brain, novel sensor systems for
homeland security, and start-up companies for commercialization of those
technologies.
The title of his talk was
“Educating the Mind to Build the Brain: The Power of Integrating Liberal
Arts with Science and Technology.” Berger was awarded an honorary doctor
of science degree from the College.
There is an enormous cost of
caring for some 4 million Americans with Alzheimer's and another 4.5 million
stroke survivors, Berger said, but there is still no strategy for repairing the
brain.
“To deal with such a huge
problem, you have to be able to put together a multidisciplinary team,” he
said. “I have to be able to convince someone that this should be
interesting and that they should work on it. You've got to put a team together
that can look at all aspects of a problem,” he said, “and this
includes business people.”
Earlier in the day, Berger and his
wife, Roberta Diaz Brinton, professor of molecular pharmacology at USC, gave a
breakfast talk sponsored by the College and the Center for Economic Growth.
Speaking to an audience of
business and industry leaders, the couple stressed the importance of scientists
collaborating with business and industry.
“There are a lot of things
that you know about that we don't,” Berger said. “People have cutting
edge solutions to problems and I don't even know what they are. It's really
valuable to have someone who can say, 'I know the answer to that.' That allows
you to jump ahead by a couple of years.”
Brinton, founder of
NeuTherapeutics, which is researching preventative measures against
Alzheimer's, spoke about the importance of learning business. “I have an
entire small business in my laboratory that I have to manage,” she said.
“No one ever told me, 'Do a
market analysis,'” she said. “Thank God, I was interested in
Alzheimer's disease and not some bizarre little meaningless piece of
science.”
“You need to have these
partnerships,” she continued. “Union and Schenectady have a unique opportunity. You're
in the building phase. Build what no one else has done yet, which is interface
the College with your efforts and your efforts with the College.”