Society is increasingly willing to take on large-scale problems that require interdisciplinary teams, and entrepreneurial academic ventures like Union's Converging Technologies initiative provides a rich proving ground to introduce the concept, said Theodore Berger '72 at Founders Day convocation on Feb. 17.
Berger, the David Packard 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, “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 preventive 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.”