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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.
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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.
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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
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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
Publication #96-401, Summer 2011
InnovatorT e x a s
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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