Innovation Unbound
Innovation often lies at the intersections of disciplines and incorporates discoveries from both the public and private sectors.
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| Venkatesh Narayanamurti, John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences and former dean, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences |
Creating innovative solutions to the many complex social and scientific challenges we face often involves breaking through the barriers that have historically hampered research. It’s important that we encourage scientific inquiry that draws on the best minds across a broad range of academic disciplines and incorporates research from both the public and private sectors.
During its heyday, Bell Labs, where I spent 19 years as a research scientist, was successful partly because it eliminated the barrier between basic and applied research. By teaming up talented theorists with applied researchers, Bell came up with groundbreaking inventions such as the transistor and the laser, while also advancing basic research in such areas as information theory.
In a similar way, today’s research challenges increasingly involve the interplay of technology and society. Consider computing, which has become central to storing and transmitting knowledge. Along with the convenience, productivity and enjoyment that the Digital Age has brought, the growing volume of personal data and the interconnectedness of networks raise significant social challenges in areas such as privacy, security and even work-life balance.
Tackling issues such as these will require us to break down the traditional wall between disciplines and to reach across the divide that often exists between basic and applied research. In the greater Boston area, thanks to our colleges, universities and teaching hospitals, we have one of the strongest and broadest academic communities in the world. To fully leverage this expertise, we must encourage sociologists to work with engineers, for example, and we must enable researchers to venture across professional and institutional boundaries. Academics can benefit from exposure to “real-world” problems, and professionals in the private sector can gain insights by collaborating with colleagues in the basic and applied sciences, from economics to theoretical physics and materials science.
This week, the value of interdisciplinary thinking was a key theme at a symposium sponsored by Microsoft Research New England. A sociologist explained innovative ways in which people are interacting in the Web 2.0 world; a mathematician who uses origami as an instrument of science showed how algorithms can help explain common social activities; and an economist looked at how auctions can be used to improve decision making.
Fostering cross-pollination can help generate fresh approaches to the significant technical and social challenges we face and can enable greater collaboration among scientists and professionals from all areas and disciplines. Through commitment to long-term, interdisciplinary research, institutions such as Microsoft Research are helping to build a dynamic community of thinkers and doers in our region dedicated to innovation and discovery.
The views expressed are those of Professor Narayanamurti and not those of Harvard University or any of its schools, units or officers.
