Fall FYS Course

FYAP 102A Introduction to Technology & Innovation

Steven Johnson standing in front of international clocks

How We Got to Now

Where do good ideas come from? How did Galileo get the idea for the pendulum? Why was it noisier in NYC in the 1920s than it is today? How did the invention of the radio contribute to the Civil Rights movement? How did Charles Birdseye’s trip to the Arctic lead to frozen vegetables in our grocery stores?

In this First Year Seminar (FYS) course, students will be inspired by the PBS series How We Got to Now: Six Innovations that Made Our Modern World by Steven Johnson, as they uncover the needs and challenges behind the remarkable inventions that made our modern world possible. Students will observe the innovation process, explore the cascade of advancements throughout the centuries and how they impacted our society, and try out the innovation process themselves in a team research project.

PBS Series

Students collaborating on a shared document on a TV monitor

Experience Innovation

Students will experience the innovation process themselves using the design thinking process, a human-centered design method for innovation that combines creative and analytical approaches and requires collaboration across disciplines and diverse backgrounds to build empathy for the user and design for their needs.

A team of students proudly stands next to their project display board and prototype.

Fall Showcase

Come see over 90 exciting research projects from first year students in the Shocker Design Experience at their Fall Showcase. Students from majors across campus have been learning the design thinking process, a human-centered design method for innovation that focuses on empathy as a way to understand the user and design to meet their needs. Students had to identify a customer in the community and design for their needs. Many teams will continue on in the spring semester applied project course to turn their research into an applied project that they will pitch at the Koch Innovation Challenge in May.

What Students Say

"It was interesting to learn more about the process of innovation. From patents to learning about other competitors, there was a whole lot more that goes into the process that I have never thought of before."

"I appreciated the independence that was placed on groups, we had to move and plan everything according to ourselves."

"Initially I was very nervous about the process, but loved it soon after. It was incredibly satisfying to learn the process and act it out, then get a finalized idea and present it."

"I liked how it modeled real life and self-motivation and advocating for yourself."