office of the dean

> >STEM University<< The First Science Technology Engineering & Math academic apparel collection Launching Fall 2013

[jackadk-blog]

[stemuniversity]

When you add art to STEM you get STEAM

A fun Montana spray paint can concept by designer Antonio Brasko. 

[kselig]

Your plan has now been foiled. MWAHAHA

[stemuniversity]

Old typewriter parts, circuit boards and calculators make these kicks by Gabriel Dishaw. @stemuniveristy

[kselig]

Your plan has now been foiled. MWAHAHA

[bhagatkapil]

[itsokaytobesmart]

A brilliant series of minimalist typographic tributes to scientists and their discoveries. I especially like the Copernicus one :)

Artwork by Kapil Ghagat (on Tumblr at bhagatkapil)

[stemuniversity]

Old typewriter parts, circuit boards and calculators make these kicks by Gabriel Dishaw. @stemuniveristy

[officeofthedean-blog]

"You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself."

That quote is from Seth Godin.

I saw this quote at least two or three times this week across my various social networks. I thought it was great but it wasn’t until today that I really “got it”. 

This morning I was reading an inspirational email that was sent to me and in it was a link to a website that I frequent often when I need to reference something.  When I went to the link, I thought about a very good friend of mine who often posts links from that very website to her Facebook page. I’m sure she does it because she finds the information helpful— and regardless of if she ever finds out whether or not others find her links helpful, its not about her but about hopefully helping someone else.

So today, like my friend I decided to share the link I was reading. As I clicked on the share button, Seth’s quote came to me.

You see about four years ago, I would go to this same site very often and want to share what I was reading but the site had no share buttons! It was just a plain ol’ site. Look up what you want and that’s it. I decided to email the owner and tell them how much I enjoyed the site and would often cut and paste what I was reading to share it, and if they added some Share buttons for social networks that would be really helpful to me and probably others. 

A few weeks later the company emailed me, thanked me for my idea and said they had implemented share buttons on their site. 

A share button. Something so simple yet so big. Bigger than me.

So back to the quote. 

Some people have an SAT score or degree that will prove Seth Godwins point. Others may have something to share or a simple idea to build something bigger than themselves. The point is, regardless of whether you realize it or not, you have everything you need.

Is it a click away?

[fuckyeahreactions]

How to get a remarkable 'Reaction'

[officeofthedean-blog]

Technology

Every so often I stumble tumble across some really ingenious and quite interesting blogs.

Can I, if you haven’t already met, introduce you to  ’ Yeah Reactions’ or otherwise politely known as FYR:

FYR is a Tumblr dedicated to cataloging all the reaction gifs and pictures across tumbler and, I guess the web. I can’t be sure because there are ALOT of gifs and pics in their catalog. And its pretty remarkable.

Gifs’ were invented in 1987 to provide a color image format for their file downloading areas, replacing their earlier format, which was black and white only. It was in essence, a solution to a problem.

Can anyone create a catalog of anything? Sure.  But what I like most about FYR is that its’ pretty clear FYR knows the joy a great Gif can bring.  The really good ones make you literally LOL and regardless of how you may be feeling at the moment, crack a smile. 

Clearly, FYR saw a need and created a solution. And if you read through the FYR Tumblr, it in itself is just as enjoyable as any Gif you may have seen. 

What solution will you create to cause a remarkable reaction?

[officeofthedean-blog]

About your 'Missing e'

Engineering

Have you been feeling a little Cutlerish lately?

If you're not sure what that means it refers to someone I discovered the other day named Jeremy Cutler.

You see, I was trying to make some changes to our tumblr page and realized that what I wanted was not readily available through tumblr forums so I immediately did a quick google search to find the perfect extension to make tumblr do what I wanted it to do instead of what it's FAQ suggested.

In my due diligence to make sure the extension was not some link booby trap, I stumbled upon a soap opera of sorts surrounding my newly discovered tumblr extension, 'Missing e'.

Seems Mr. Cutler, an engineer aka Cutlerish developed Missing e to tumblr's dismay and tumblr user's delight.  People would ask tumblr questions about the extension which they had nothing to do with, and they felt overwhelmed calling Mr. Cutler's Missing e, a hack (gasps). Some tumblr users were upset by this and suggested that instead of calling Missing e names, they should hire Mr. Cutler because in their opinion, it was a true value to tumblr.

Some people would have bowed their head and dismantled but Mr. Cutler continues to maintain, update and manage his unofficial tumblr extension that so many use. That's being Cutlerish.

I'm not sure of the premise behind the naming of Missing e but there is a lesson to be learned here. 

So, about your missing e. 

Like Mr. Cutler, what will you Enhance, Evoke, Evolve...?

[officeofthedean-blog]

Your IDEAS are never too BIG

Lifestyle

I have always felt like my ideas were too big for most people.  

Even at the beginning of my career I was always told, "you have great ideas but..."Whenever I heard that, I felt as though my poor, big idea was being pushed to the side never to be seen or heard from again.

Not too long ago I had a client whom I was brainstorming with and I could feel inside that warm fuzzy feeling I get when I'm about to unleash a great idea and then I stopped myself.  I took a breath, held my idea in my mind and decided to keep it for myself.

For this idea was special. I could not waste it on some new client who would "love it" but couldn't take care of it or give it the time it needed to flourish and become GRAND. Now don't get me wrong.  I give my ideas freely because I believe they will make a difference. That's why for so many years I wasn't afraid to give them away. But this time? This time I had to look at the situation for what it was. As much as I thought this idea could help this clients' business, I knew deep down inside it wouldn't be a priority for them and rightfully so, this idea would be a small part of their overall business and their overall business was the big focus.

So, I've gathered up this idea and my ideas of past and arranged them neatly and ever so carefully in a manner ready to be unfolded in my own grand spectacular way.

What idea would you love to share with the world?