An assignment in my graduate class last fall has led to the right connections for a University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee MBA student who is graduating tomorrow.
I directed my students to use a mind map as a visual aid for their presentations on the first day of class. One of the students, Adam Roper, took the opportunity to discuss a product he was attempting to develop that would replace a CD player with a small device that would easily record a collection of CD's and play them back upon demand. This device would store thousands of CDs in a space not much larger than the CD player it replaced.
After class I mentioned Roper’s idea to my fiancé, Jim Maher, who is on the Board of Directors of Cary Audio Design. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Adam worked with the development team at Cary Audio Design, a 21 year old manufacturer of high end audio equipment to develop a comprehensive "music server" that would store approximately 2800 CDs, and play them back with a musical quality far above what most people have ever heard in a home environment. The "Music Server" is one of the new generation of "green" components and designed to utilize a maximum of 21 watts of electricity.
The server will be available for sale on Monday, May 10...the day after graduation. You can read more about it here.
Can you hear how proud I am? Congratulations Adam!
Magic happens when we connect.
Yet we often hide our story and without telling it the connection can't take place.
I love how Adam's mind map open the door to this connection and this new product.
Way to go Adam!
Way to go Dr. Kirk!
Keep creating...a classroom full of connections,
Mike
Posted by: Mike Wagner | May 08, 2010 at 11:55 PM
Thanks for the encouragement, Mike, for both Adam and me!
Posted by: Dr. Delaney Kirk | May 10, 2010 at 08:52 AM
Great story, wonderful to see a student realizing his dreams. But serious question: how is that different from an ipod/mp3 player?
Posted by: Jessie | September 03, 2010 at 08:43 AM