Tomorrow’s innovators: First class graduates from Global Innovation Exchange

SparkEd, another student project, is an app to enable parents who are away from their children to help shape their learning. It stemmed in part from the experience of team member Yang 'Will' Yue, 24, who has a 10-month-old son living in China and began thinking about how technology could help faraway parents remain involved in their children's development. In China, particularly in rural areas, it's common for children to live with grandparents while their parents go off to work in cities, he says.

The app, aimed at parents with children ages 4 to 8, was built around a children's picture book, 'The Stray Dog ' by Marc Simont, and allows parents to choose and name characters, create questions and review their children's responses.

'Parents are the best teachers, but if they're away, how can they fulfill this role?' asks Yang. 'We're building this solution where parents can create daily-life situations and teach their kids what is a good way to think about things and react.'

Yang and teammate Peng He, who were college friends in China, completed the Tsinghua University portion of their Dual Degree program before starting at GIX. Both are heading back to China - Yang is starting a job as a product manager with Chinese internet conglomerate Alibaba, and Peng hopes to launch a new company making technology for clothing manufacturers with another Tsinghua alum.

GIX's second group of students started classes in September, and the institute - befitting of its mission - is already evolving. GIX will add executive training and 'lifelong learning' programs over the next year, Jandhyala says, and there are plans for internship opportunities and online studies. The school will also build programs in collaboration with its academic network partners, which currently include universities in Canada, Switzerland, Israel, India and other countries.

One measure of success, Jandhyala says, will be what GIX graduates do when they go out into the world - whether they're launching start-ups, leading innovation groups in large companies or working in positions that are part of the emerging innovation economy. While most students are in the early phases of their job searches, several have already received employment offers from companies including Alibaba, Baidu and AMINO Capital.

'The main goal of GIX is creating the right mindset to be an innovator,' Jandhyala says. 'I think we are off to a good start.'

Lead photo: The Diversita team (from left) Benjamin Keller, Chengxi 'Phelps' Xia, Ruidong 'Ryan' Wu and Haochen 'Hal' Zhang created a smart motion-sensing camera that uses machine learning to photograph and identify different wildlife species.

GIX graduation ceremony photos by Dan DeLong; all other images by Scott Eklund/Red Box Pictures

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