Category: Mini-Hack

Last week, McCall Middle School provided Youth CITIES with another rockstar student to present at the Youth CITIES Monthly Mini-Hack. Seventh-grader Vara Mathiyalakan shared his vision for Project N.E.A.H.R. (Nuerological Electro-chemical-controlled Artificial Humanoid Robot). Got all that?? Vara's project seeks to combine some cutting-edge technologies to allow an average person to control a humanoid robot using their thoughts alone. Inspired in part by this 60 Minutes video, he proposes to enhance augmented reality glasses (like Google Glass, for example) and incorporate developments in neuroscience to communicate with a robot. **To respect the intellectual property rights of Vara and Project N.E.A.H.R., this blog cannot share images of the designs presented during the Mini-Hack.** This month's Mini-Hack featured small group discussions, which were lively and generated great ideas for Project NEAHR to…

This month, Allyson Allen visited the Mini-Hack and presented a problem relating to her work for the City of Cambridge. As Employment Planning and Development Director in the Office of Workforce Development, Allyson works with many nonprofit and community organizations to help young people (age 14 and up) find meaningful work and internship opportunities that will develop their skills and connect them with potential future employers. Allyson came to the Mini-Hack seeking to brainstorm ways for businesses to become more involved with young people through recruitment activities, building meaningful relationships, and going beyond “plans for outreach”. This month, the Mini-Hack tried to apply a problem-solving methodology adapted from IDEO’s human-centered approach to design thinking. We began by brainstorming wild ideas individually and, then, collaborating to build off of those ideas.…

4:50 - Samantha Glassner is presenting the introductory PowerPoint for B.E.S.T. (Bicycle Energy Storage Technology)! 5:00 - And the discussion begins...in order to secure funding, what is our target problem? How do we sell this to funders? 5:05 - BEST was envisioned for areas (like India) where bicycle use is very heavy for transportation, industry, etc. This could be an accessory instead of a completely new bike! 5:08 - Kathy Huber is lending an experienced business voice, giving the BEST team tips for research to help flesh out a future business plan. 5:12 - After a comment about using renewable resources for manufacturing, we learned that the first lightbulb filament was made with bamboo. Thanks, Time Rowe (Founder of CIC)!! 5:18 - Steve Kurec asks if wind energy could be…

The December Mini-Hack (held 12/13/2012) featured a venture idea centered in the international travel industry. Our presenter's idea is to feed on travelers' love of language and offer a unique lodging/accommodation experience. Think hostel-cum-language-school. The Mini-Hack set out to discuss how such a business could be structured - who is the target market?, what is the revenue model?, where in Boston?, etc. We vetted a number of ideas, discussed risks, and came up with a number of great ideas to help the venture progress. The team assembled generated a list of operational steps to guide our presenter in navigating legal issues (like zoning and commercial real estate options) and  building interest among the target market of international undergraduate students.