From the days of Michelangelo to the days of Steve Jobs the innovation has played a key role in the development and subsequent progress of humanity. The inventions of various kinds have contributed a great deal to the improvement of human’s lot on the planet. Imagine your life without the given conveniences of mobile devices, the time saving home appliances and the freedom of movement which comes with automobiles. It used to take days for a delivery person to carry a message from one party to another, but with the improvements in information technology it became a matter of seconds. Our indispensable cell phones became the pocket minicomputers featuring all kinds of applications, from the digital clock to the complex programs for computation. We can even envision the time when the passport, the personal medical information and finances will transfer into our portable phones. In the near future you will no longer be obliged to carry a thick binder with personal documents, because everything will be stored on the electronic device in your pocket.
However we would not be able to enjoy the wonders of technology if it was not for trailblazing innovators who were not afraid to introduce something radically new into our midst. Think of Stibitz at the Bell Laboratories and Aiken at Harvard who worked on the early electromechanical computers in the 1940s, the invention of the transistor by Brattain, Bardeen, and Shockley in 1948 which enabled the appearance of the microelectronic integrated circuit (the microchip) or the current research carried out by Professor Aleksandr P. Kozlov and his colleagues at Gas Technology Institute who utilize the recently discovered thermodynamic cycle (M-cycle) to increase the efficiency of air conditioning units that are run on water. These innovators constitute a creative class of scientists who bring about a positive change into this world and are remarkable examples worthy of emulation.
Although it is apparent that not everyone can become the next Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, nevertheless every individual has the necessary talents and innate abilities in order to make a valuable contribution and advance certain significant ideas into our society. Today is the day for all of us to pull together to share the knowledge and skills we have in our possession and change things for the better.
If you are a youngster who is dissatisfied with the current way of life, do not look forward to the violent revolution, which in your false belief will clean up the streets and resurrect the dying society. We do not need a bloody revolution, what we need is a revolution of ideas, which will be conducted by bright individuals who will join hands together and work toward the goals of peace, justice and prosperity. The change we desire to obtain can be reached via the union of creative intellects operating on the common platform towards the grand common purpose.
Southern Illinois University Innovative Systems acts as one of these strong platforms to advance change into this world. The existence of the publicly accessible intellectual stage, where the industry actors and young entrepreneurs can congregate together in the University type of setting to exchange ideas and share valuable insights, is imperative for the maintenance of American liberties and freedoms. The study of diverse perspectives and opinions can vastly expand one’s intellectual horizons and help to grasp the larger picture of the shape of things to come. The University grounds make up an ideal place for the public discourse and the sharing of ideas, because anything that is promulgated in the educational facilities will inevitably produce the ripple effects that will be felt across the globe. The Innovative Systems Conference at SIU carries an immense pragmatic value and enriches the professional lives by establishing the lines of communication between various disciplines. Furthermore, it is of vital importance for the student body to be privy to the large number of views so they can augment their awareness of the world at large. The students who h