Warning: DOMDocument::loadHTML(): Unexpected end tag : p in Entity, line: 19 in /home/customer/www/xinova.com/public_html/wp-content/themes/uc/functions.php on line 92
Warning: DOMDocument::loadHTML(): Unexpected end tag : p in Entity, line: 54 in /home/customer/www/xinova.com/public_html/wp-content/themes/uc/functions.php on line 92
Warning: DOMDocument::loadHTML(): Unexpected end tag : p in Entity, line: 69 in /home/customer/www/xinova.com/public_html/wp-content/themes/uc/functions.php on line 92
Warning: DOMDocument::loadHTML(): Unexpected end tag : h4 in Entity, line: 78 in /home/customer/www/xinova.com/public_html/wp-content/themes/uc/functions.php on line 92
The Crucible – Solve for X
May 2019
I often go through the technical literature and look for places where people say, ‘Since we can’t do X, we settle for…’ and try to figure out how to do the thing people think we can’t. I call it ‘shopping for problems.”
– Ezekiel “Zeke” Kruglick, PhD, Xinova Innovator/ Superhero inventor
May is National Inventors Month. I think it’s fitting that Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame has reached historic box office heights this month because it — like most comic book plots — essentially tells the story of inventors impacting the world and doing the seemingly impossible via innovation. It’s a pop culture allegory for how the power of innovation can solve problems and harness the forces of disruption—be it digitization, or shifting demand, or sinister inter-dimensional beings destroying half the universe with quasi-magical gems.
In this spirit, we at Xinova penned a comic book about the inventive feats of one of our networks’ own superheroes, Ezekiel “Zeke” Kruglick. It’s a graphic novel-style case study showing how the former DARPA idea gatherer got two licensing deals from two separate inventions for work on one RFI. And to add to his superhero street cred, when he’s not inventing Zeke may be piloting a WWII-era fighter plane, scuba diving, or blacksmithing with his wife, who makes up the other half of their own dynamic innovation duo.
Many of our innovators, like Mateusz Bryning, are inspired by nature. Many others are driven to preserve the environment and improve the world; we appreciate the great response to last month’s malaria supply chain RFX, which is supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. We’re constantly looking to add members to the network, whose rich diversity was recently acknowledged by Built in Seattle. So make sure to participate in our referral program and get rewarded for expanding our own league of innovation superheroes.
Featured opportunities
Concept development partner wanted
We have accepted some great ideas for manufacturing thinner, extra-strong snack bags. Now we need a concept development partner to advance them.
Submit applications by May 31, 2019!
Healthy crackers
Veggie crackers are a healthy snack alternative, but their dough is too wet and sticky for mass production. Help us figure out how to dry it out. The opportunity was published in May.
Closing July 10, 2019!
Designed designs
Seeking new systems that will place wholesome toppings like seeds and nuts on snacks in specific patterns. The opportunity was published in May.
Closing June 4, 2019!
Xinova updates
Innovation Love Story
This mini graphic novel features a thrilling love story about R&D, invention, co-innovation, and the forces that bond it all together. Read how Ezekiel “Zeke” Kruglick, his wife and the Xinova network turned a long-standing food science problem into two licensing deals, using a robotics approach. published in May
Project CitizenOS
Xinova is launching a new venture, Project CitizenOS, a program aimed at bringing smart technology to cities in order to help them thrive in the digitally disrupted economy.
Xinova Referral Program
The Xinova Referral Program provides you with monetary rewards for helping grow the Xinova network. Find out how to get started, and help enhance the world’s best innovator collective.
Featured innovator
Why do comics love inventors?
“Meet Xinova’s own Iron Man, Ezekiel “Zeke” Kruglick. His Jet Propulsion Lab and DARPA work has helped inspire many of his nearly 1,000 patented inventions, including two that garnered licensing deals with Xinova. When not inventing with his wife and his children–a real-life Incredibles family–Zeke flies, scuba dives, and even blacksmiths in his spare time.”
The lens of innovation
While using electron microscopes for the first time, Mateusz Bryning, PhD, was fascinated with how adjusting magnifications would reveal an object’s finest details or, at a lower magnification, the way it interacted within a greater context. He’s learned that altering his perspective on problems in a similar way can reveal solutions in fields like nanotechnology, complex fluids or materials sciences. published in May
Xinova in the news!
Xinova responds to malaria supply chain challenge
We appreciate the response to the supply chain challenge from Nigerian media and innovators. In addition to Nigeria’s Business Daily, this BMGF-supported initiative for life-saving data tracking systems received coverage from GeekWire and Xconomy. The opportunity was published in May.
Geekwire features David Kraft
“Working with inventors and researchers, you start to see some of the same problems over and over, where they have great ideas for how to change the world, but don’t have the tools to do it… I’m much better at helping define the problems to be solved. But I guess in a way I’m inventing a new economy with my company here, so I’m an inventor in that sense.” published in May
— David Kraft, Head of Innovation Services
Built in Seattle features Xinova on diversity in innovation
“All of our stakeholders — from our innovators to our employees, our clients and our investors — appreciate the creativity of our technically, culturally and geographically diverse team. We are committed to creating an open, welcoming and diverse team because it leads to unique perspectives and better solutions.”
— Matt Ferguson, PhD, VP of Network and Technology