The child in us
A visit of San Francisco’s Exploratorium I have to admit that my expectations for the 14th of February were pretty low: spending Valentine’s Day half a world away from my boyfriend, working towards desperately piecing together a decent presentation for the next morning… In the end, it actually turned out to be one of the most thrilling days of the trip. The teachers had advised us to visit the Exploratorium on adults-only night. That evening had even more features planned due to Valentine’s Day. As for any activity that had been advised to us or even organized for us, there had been a days-long discussion among the students about whether they should all go or not. In the end, the natural gender segregation did its work, and only the girls went – all six of us. I was the first to enter and waited near the entrance while the others were solving a small hiccup at the ticket office. My first feeling was a great deal of curiosity. I had no idea what this exhibition/museum would be about. Looking around, I quickly understood how it worked. There were a bunch of simple and interactive games or devices that would help one discover an unusual aspect of physics, in a way that induced either amazement or laughter. When the girls finally got in, we started our journey further into the expo. Manon and I (the two engineers, of course) quickly went into hyperactive mode, jumping from one game to the next, and soon we drifted from the group. From the physics section, we entered a different world, that of words and thoughts. Many games had the purpose of discovering how we thought, how we worked in teams or communicated with each other. One particularly hard but thrilling game was a team snake. Remember the old 2D game where you had to lead your snake to the piece of food to grow it, but never let it crash into the wall or bite itself? Imagine just that, except that each player is in charge of one of the four directional buttons. Believe me, that’s not easy to coordinate. A screen, where each pixel was a small circle of paper, black on one side, white on the other and flipped on command by tiny pistons. A wooden board, with thousands of nails that would draw the shape of your hand when you pressed them from below. An engine that propelled a thin rope so swiftly that it flied, making beautiful shapes in the air. After what seemed like twenty minutes, the other girls took their leave of us. The magic of science apparently did not appeal as much to them as to us two. We kept on going, passing through various sections, discovering games about music, photography, math, statistics, geometry, sounds, nature, chemistry and so many more. We joined a few other fully grown adults around a “zen” sandbox, playing with tiny shovels and drawing figures in the sand on a rotating board. We had our laughing-out-loud moment at a pitch-altering device, that had us sound either like a tiny mouse or a swamp monster. We tried our rythm skills at a fake drum kit. We found our birth dates in the infinite decimals of Pi. And in these moments, we really awoke the child in us. The one we must silence during normal hours so that actual children can play. The one who cries out for freedom, for unbridled joy, for some innocent playtime. After almost three hours of exploration, our hungry stomachs brought us back to reality and out of the museum. And as we walked away from this wonderful place in search of food, another hungry beast in us went back to sleep, satisfied at last.
Autodesk gallery: learn it, think it, make it
The Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco is a celebration of architecture, engineering and design. With more than 20 different exhibits that showcase the power of the Autodesk softwares and what can be achived using them, the gallery illustrates the role technology plays in great design and engineering. Exhibits change every now and then but you will always be able to find something that makes you go “Wow, that’s cool!”. Partnerships are with the very best out there: Lego, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Airbus and Nike just to name a few. After getting to know the company and appreciating the work of lots of very talented people, you will be able to develop your own creations and experience what it’s like to take an idea from design through fabrication at the Design & Make Studio. It’s the perfect place for designers and makers of all ages to get their hands on the latest design and 3D-printing tools and equipment. You will find at your disposal several 3D-printers, mini-CNC machines, laser cutters and much more. There will always be someone ready to help out and to teach you how to use the Autodesk softwares. So in conclusion, if you are a design enthusiast, an architect or engineer (real one or in the making) or if you are just interested in knowing a little more about how the things around you are made, you really have to find a couple of hours to visit the Autodesk Gallery. You will not regret it!
Swissnex
Swissnex is an organization that connects people and ideas from Switzerland and different cities around the world to foster exchange in research, education, innovation, and the arts. Swissnex offices are located in Boston, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Bangalore, Shanghai. Swissnex San Fransisco is located at Pier 17 which is well placed. On Monday of our first week, at 9:00am we arrived at Swissnex. We were welcomed by the Deputy CEO: Benjamin Bollmann. He first introduced Swissnex (their goal, history …) and then showed us the office. For the first week, we worked on our project from 9am to 6pm. When we weren’t doing meetings in the cities, we were working at Swissnex. The Swissnex office is pleasant, spacious, modern and offers a nice view over the bay and the Oakland Bay Bridge. The staff was welcoming and kind, even helpful if we asked them questions. We were granted access to most of the rooms, facilities and there were drinks and snacks at our disposal. Some very exciting events even took place at Swissnex during our stay. We were gladly invited to all of them.
Apple Park Visitor Center
Who’s not frustrated when it comes to Apple being so secretive? I guess we all are, right? Indeed Apple is known for a lot of things but also as the big company that doesn’t communicate at all. Well, on February 9 2018, we had the chance to visit the Apple Park Visitor Center which is more than just a regular Apple Store. Let me explain it to you… As you might know, Apple has opened its new corporate headquarter in Cupertino, in San Francisco. The construction of that new place started in 2014 and, it took 3 years to finalise the project. It opened to employees in 2017, even though the construction work was still going on. They named that new place Apple Park and, it also received the media surname of The Spaceship, because of its circular design obviously. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to visit the Spaceship but we still kind of did it but virtually… Yes, Apple protects its privacy but it still tries to satisfy its visitors. When you arrive at the Apple Park Visitor, which is located across the road from the Spaceship, the first thing you can notice is how big the Apple Store is…Then you see that it is more than just an Apple store… We first entered a very spacious room which is an exhibition room that showcases a 3D model of Apple park. To have an excellent view of Apple Park, you can use an Ipad and see how it looks from different angles. After this, you can shop some Apple products and accessories in the Apple Store that is huge. There you can find exclusive Apple merchandise. And finally, you can take a break and admire the view you have from the rooftop of Apple park. That is precisely what we did, except we also admired an amazing sunset while we were discussing with an employee from the privacy department of Apple. I’m sure you all want to know what we talked about? Well, that’s a secret we will never tell…
Swisscom in Palo Alto
“Swisscom in Silicon Valley? Really? Sensational! Our Swiss leader in telecommunication has an office in the world’s capital of innovation.” -Me (5th of february 2018 at 10:02) That day, we were walking down the streets in Palo Alto, waiting for the time to discover the Swisscom office. We were so happy to be at those typical American neighborhoods that we only see in movies or series like Desperate Housewives. After walking past the garage of IBM and having imagined a dozen times Clint Eastwook getting out of a house with a rifle (with a Gran Torino parked next to his house) we suddenly sow a Swiss flag on a small house. No, that did not immediately shock us and yes we had arrived at our destination. When we are talking about “Silicon Valley”, a lot of people are immediately thinking about big and modern offices like Google, Facebook or Apple. They’re half right : Innovation is not always coming from that big and modern environment that everyone has in mind. The proof below! After walking next to the mailbox, walking along a small path with colored bicycles along a wall of the house (there was even a pink one), we saw a “Swisscom” sign on the ground. We then arrived in a nice garden. There were garden tables, garden chairs, cold drinks, beach umbrellas, barbeque, plants and a TV (please find the error). A coke in hand, we met the team who then made a presentation. We learned a lot of elements that were helpful in analyzing our study; New canvas, models and illustrated theories. We then had the opportunity to work in teams to apply those models to our own cases with the help of the team. We were happy with the open-mindedness, the applied theories and advices we received from Swisscom. A surprising but rewarding experience.
Do you work or do you live at Facebook?
We went to visit Facebook and the least I can say is that we weren’t disappointed at all. When you work there, pretty much everything that you’ll find in the campus is free. I am not even joking, you eat for free, you drink for free and you pay really cheap for the massage. That’s cool isn’t it? I’ll just add something now; whatever you can get for free or cheap, you’ll only find it inside the campus. Have you really thought that they were gonna pay your lunch at a fancy restaurant in the city? Doesn’t this hide something? Behind this beautiful facade that facebook represents, I think there are some disadvantages. First of all, employees don’t have fixed schedule. You basically have tasks to do and you’ll manage your own time on how to accomplish those. That might be nice but on the other hand, you clearly always have something to do. So, when you’ll achieve one task you’ll have to go for the next one. Another point is that some tasks may involve you staying late because you simply need to finish it for the next day. Managing your own schedule isn’t that much of a bad idea but that’s certainly one way to retain employees on the campus. Another thing that retains employees inside the campus is the fact that there’s everything you need in it. You can eat there, shop there. When we were there, they even had a pop-up store for Valentine’s Day. We can obviously debate on the fact that it’s good or not to have everything close to your workplace. At this point, employees doesn’t have any advantage/reason to go outside for food or massage, enjoying this at Facebook is the best choice mainly because of the price (which is mostly free). Last thing is that not everybody can work at Facebook. You don’t apply to work at the company, the company comes and get you (you can obviously choose if you want to accept their offer or not). That give the person a feeling of uniqueness, that I can totally understand because you’re the one selected between a large amount of people. So when you’ll be there at Facebook, you’ll want to do it well. In conclusion, working at a company that offers you this much is awesome, I can’t deny it. You’ll get more money at the end of the month when you don’t pay for your lunch! The negative point is that all your mind (this doesn’t apply to every person) will be focused on Facebook, even when you’ll meet someone at one of the restaurant on the campus, that’s still gonna be your Facebook colleague. Of course, that’s what you signed for, that’s your work. I think we can really congratulate Facebook for having built something that big that you can manage to retain employees easily and happily. On the other hand, I think this part of working at Facebook is something to know and get clear before accepting an offer from them. The question is, are you willing to trade a « big part of your life » for the advantages that Facebook offers?
Googleplex: A look from the inside
Googleplex was the highlight of our visit in Silicon Valley. The buildings are private for employees and special meetings. However, we had the chance to have a guided tour by Mr. Miroslav Melichar, a software engineer at Google – or even better a Googler, who was there to answer all our questions. The first thing we noticed, all over the campus, is the G-bikes, bicycles painted in Google’s colors everywhere for their employees and visitors – that’s cool. If you want a ride around the campus, just grab any bike, ride where you want with it, and park it at the next stop for someone else to use. We did not hesitate to use them to explore the Google area. For Google and Android fans, the Google Merchandise Store is the Alibaba’s cave of Silicon Valley. The store is open to the public and is known as the largest retail store to sell Google-branded apparels and gadgets. Next beside the store of Google’s headquarters, is a collection of colorful Android statues representing different confectionary codenames of Google’s Android mobile OS versions, such as the Cupcake, the donut and the famous beloved iconic green Android robot. Not far away from the merchandise store and statues is the Google Visitor Center, open only to employees and their visitors, also the special guests like Heig-vd team.We could play with many Android toys, we jumped in a ball pit and we got the chance to have a walk in Google Maps 3D Earth Simulator. And just before leaving, we took a moment to relax on a chair massage. The place was magical, it brings back our childhood memories and feelings. If you ever get a chance to go and visit this place, do not miss it.
Swissnex: a part of Switzerland in the Silicon Valley
If you are walking along the piers in San Francisco, as a swiss citizen, you will probably see a familiar clock, like the ones in railway station in Switzerland, at the beginning of the pier number seventeen. A small part of Switzerland is standing here, between the City and the ocean. Next to the Consulate General of Switzerland, in the same building, you can find Swissnex. If you have never heard about this swiss organization before, it is probably because you cannot find any Swissnex office in Switzerland! (In fact, this is not true: As a governmental organization, Swissnex San Francisco is on the swiss territory as well as embassies are). So, what is Swissnex? What do they do? And is it relevant to be so far away from Switzerland? The mission of the organization is: “[…] to connect Switzerland and San Francisco in education, research, innovation and the arts.” (https://www.swissnexsanfrancisco.org/). Swissnex can be defined as a network that has for goal to create a connection between Switzerland and the Silicon Valley. This is why the office is here, in San Francisco. But the organization is active all around the world. The first Swissnex office opened in Boston in 2000. The objective was to be closer to innovations in Harvard university and MIT. Nowadays, you can also find Swissnex offices in India, in Brazil and in China. To sum up, Swissnex is a network that helps startups, artists and companies to connect with local people. The organization provides events, such as: workshops, conferences and exhibitions. Companies can also rent a space to work with all the necessary tools. At this point, the exact mission of Swissnex does not seems to be really clear but, at the same time, it is pretty easy to understand the importance of having this kind of connection all around the world. The main difficulty is to calculate the real benefits created by the network. How can we measure the efficiency of the organization? By counting the numbers of companies helped? Or the number of startups and artists that have succeed? But what is the part of Swissnex in the success? How can we financially measure a network and say if it is relevant or not to have it? No indicator can precisely calculate this efficiency. However, as we discover it with our International Innovation Management class, in term of networking, it still seems important to have a local contact. Cultures are so different from a country to another and even more from a continent to another. Swissnex provides a connection that even internet will never be able to replace.
Why visiting the BEARS 2018 was hard, but totally worth it!
Never heard of the BEARS? What if I give you a hint: Berkeley. Getting closer? Yes, the football (Be careful, I didn’t say soccer, but football.) team from Berkeley is called the BEARS. This post could have been a summary of a nice football game we watched at Berkley, ending with a razor thin margin victory from the BEARS, but it isn’t. For our class of International Innovation Management (IIM), the abbreviation BEARS stood for Berkeley EECS Annual Research Symposium. It sounds a lot less sexy, but it was a better experience for most of us. Now that you know that Americans love to encapsulate abbreviations, I can also tell you that EECS stands for Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I know that by now my fancy scientific words have probably scared 90% of the readers of this page expecting a football game report, but stay with me because the BEARS was a great insight into the research of one of the world’s most productive and best-known research facility. This year’s topic was: “More Than Moore: Is this the end of Moore’s Law?” As most of you probably don’t know much about Moore’s Law, I encourage you to take three minutes to read this short summary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law After an introduction by the chairman of EECS, Prof. James Demmel, some prices were given to a couple meriting faculty members. This was the perfect introduction before jumping into the core subject. The first talk was called: “The Third Era of Scaling of Computing Technologies”. Prof. Sayeef Salahuddin explained us the three eras of scaling: Geometric scaling era (putting more transistors on a chip), effective scaling (improve the effectiveness of the chip), and now starting functional scaling (being more efficient by specializing the chip for the desired application). The second talk was called: “Reigniting innovation in the hardware industry.” Prof. Krste Asanovic convinced us that it was important to reduce the exponentially rising chip development costs. The variable costs of a computer chips are so low, and the fixed costs so high, that it is more and more important to focus the efforts on the development costs. This conclusion is also reached when you think that the industry leans toward specialized chips instead of generic ones. The end of this talk marked the midway point of the morning, and just as 90% of my readers already left this blogpost, 90% of the class was busy consulting their phone or sleeping. Computer science sometimes really is a boring topic. ^^ The third talk was called: “More than Moore with Integrated Silicon-Photonics.” Prof. Vladimir Stojanovic described the current efforts to insert Silicon Photonics on regular CMOS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMOS) chips. This means being able to insert a functional network of optic network during the chip production process. This allows a faster communication between the different part of the chip. The last talk was called: “Injecting Agile into Analog Design” Prof. Elad Alon talked to us about his efforts to facilitate the design of analog chips. This is a very hard task, needing a lot of know-how, and Prof. Alon is trying to automatize the process in some way. Overall, it was an amazing experience to be able to see the results of top end research in a specific field. Sadly, many of us didn’t have the required level to understand most of the talks, but that doesn’t matter too much. After a visit of different laboratories, we wrapped the day up by visiting the library and the clock tower and buying some Berkeley goodies before returning to the other side of the SF-Bay! Adrien de Gottrau