New video series explores what innovation really means in a university
- Wits Innovation Centre
Produced by the Wits Innovation Centre, the series explores what innovation looks like beyond the boundaries and expectations imposed on this important concept.
Entitled ‘Innovation Without Boundaries’, the series features the WIC's Acting Angela and David Fine Chair of Innovation, Professor Christo Doherty, in conversation with thinkers, doers, and disruptors shaping the future of innovation in Africa and beyond. “I hope the conversations in the series will stimulate interest and thinking about what we understand to be the meaning of innovation in our African context, in the African research university, and how to do innovation in different and new ways,” he says.
The first episode of this monthly podcast series features Dr David Fine, Wits alumnus and a prolific scientist and inventor, whose advances have influenced daily life, from food safety to explosive testing in airports. He is also the generous donor of the Angela and David Fine Chair of Innovation.
In his episode, Fine describes what he calls the ‘beginner’s mind’. He says that approaching his work and research with fresh eyes and without the established preconceptions in a field has allowed him to rethink and innovate how things can be. He animatedly tells stories of how he broke the norms in several fields and switched work interests when he felt he was no longer having fun and impacting things deeply.
Doherty explains that this series is for anyone inside and outside the university ecosystem who is interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. “It is particularly aimed at the educated youth of Africa, who have to find innovative and sustainable solutions for the immense challenges that they face on this continent,” he says.
Professor Lynn Morris, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation, applauds the WIC team for the new video series. “These conversations are important for the entire Wits community, because they encourage everyone to think about how innovation can best work in the university environment, and how they can get involved,” she says.
Professor Morris emphasises that it is important to think about innovation in a multi-faceted way. “Innovation does not just mean commercialising an idea or coming up with novel research,” she notes. “This conversation with Dr David Fine really highlights that it is a mindset of trying new things in enjoyable ways and always thinking about the problem you are trying to solve. This can come with some risk but can lead to great impact.”
The Innovation Without Boundaries Video Podcast Series is set to release new episodes monthly.