Getting people to talk about making the world a better place isn\u2019t a problem on college campuses. Getting them to make it one can be a bit more challenging.<\/p>\n
That disconnect isn\u2019t necessarily a product of weak will, however. The lack of action could result more from the absence of an infrastructure providing opportunity to achieve such a difficult-to-attain goal.<\/p>\n
Furman is about to find out which it is.<\/p>\n
This spring, rising junior Ben Riddle became one of 110 University Innovation Fellows from 78 schools across the country. The program, run by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter<\/a>), funded by the National Science Foundation<\/a> and directed by Stanford University and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance<\/a>, \u201coffers undergraduate students in engineering and other fields the guidance and support to become agents of change on their home campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n Riddle was chosen through an applications process, and he had to be sponsored by faculty and administrators from Furman\u2014specifically art department chair Ross McClain and David Ellison of the Board of Trustees. Following acceptance, Riddle completed six weeks of online training before attending the annual meeting March 22-24 in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n \u201cEpicenter is powering U.S. undergraduate and engineering students to bring their ideas to life for the benefit of our economy and society,\u201d the Web site says, which sounds impressive if a bit nebulous. To Riddle, however, the mission is clear.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like too often in the liberal arts we stop at this notion of understanding the problem and then talking about it and talking about it and talking about it to death, and we don\u2019t ever do anything about it,\u201d he says with his ever-present smile. \u201cDesign is the way for us to actually do something.\u201d<\/p>\n But what? Well, that\u2019s not up to Riddle to decide. He has his causes\u2014poverty in Greenville being one\u2014but the role is to create an environment at Furman where people with ideas can find ways to bring them to fruition.<\/p>\n That could include working with faculty to add new courses, convincing Furman to host events and workshops and, perhaps most importantly, creating a space on campus dedicated to bringing problem-solvers together\u2014all while leaning heavily on the other fellows from across the nation for ideas and inspiration.<\/p>\n Positive change has been Riddle\u2019s modus operandi since he was in high school in Greenville, and when he heard about the Epicenter program he made it his mission to become involved. Furman\u2019s representation in something that was created to get the most out of engineers is unusual in and of itself for no other reason than the fact that Furman doesn\u2019t even have an engineering program, but those credentials as a small, liberal-arts institution could be just what those science guys at other places need.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s interesting is I think humanities majors get it because we\u2019ve seen for hundreds of years different philosophies on what is the proper way to live life, \u201c he says. \u201cHow does Furman play a role here? I think in the national movement we can reassert the value of the liberal arts in the modern world.\u201d<\/p>\n Riddle\u2019s involvement may be even more surprising, however, because conventional wisdom indicates he shouldn\u2019t even be a Furman student.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think I was Stanford smart, but I got in and was really caught off guard because I always thought I would go here,\u201d he said with, you guessed it, a smile. \u201cStanford\u2019s school of design thinking was something that really inspired me. I found that (Stanford) was what I thought it was going to be, but I knew if the ideas that drew me to a place were valuable and valid they could be adapted elsewhere too. I wanted see what it would be like to create a similar experience in Greenville.\u201d<\/p>\n Turning Greenville into Palo Alto may take a while, but Riddle sees a world full of possibilities and has already created a blueprint called \u201cFurman on FIRE: Fueling Innovation, Research & Entrepreneurship<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think where we\u2019re not hitting the road right now with the product is the practice,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s the need with the fellowship: We really reframe our education around very applicable, very tangible outcomes and not just theory. \u201c<\/p>\n \u201cBen is incredible in that he has not yet met a stranger. He is basically a young person with a 40-year-old mind. He\u2019s so ahead of it, and he\u2019s so well-spoken,\u201d McClain said. \u201cThere are like-minded kids out there, and all we need to do is get them together and support them. I\u2019ve never been as excited about something since I got out of grad school. . . And what\u2019s fun is I don\u2019t even know what it\u2019s going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither does Riddle, but he\u2019s thinking big.<\/p>\n \u201cReally all of this is for nothing if more students don\u2019t wake up and do the same. It\u2019s not about one person or one award or one fellowship; it\u2019s about that being a catalyst for many,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d love to see 20 years down the road Furman being known as a place where crazy stuff is happening because these kids just get turned on and all of the sudden they\u2019re going out and starting fires all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n