John Shoemaker
Innovation is at the very spirit of the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, and the blend of a vision for the future and the example of past success can be a power source for inspiration.
The second day of LuddyFest, SICE’s week-long celebration of the opening of the school’s new home, Luddy Hall, featured a visit from John Shoemaker, the chairman of the board of directors at Extreme Networks, Inc., and the benefactor of the Shoemaker Innovation Center in the spectacular new building. Shoemaker was the featured speaker at the Shoemaker Technology Inventor and Entrepreneur Speaker Series, sharing the story of his career with aspiring student innovators and entrepreneurs.
“I always tell people, ‘You’ll hit adversity,’ ” Shoemaker said. “ ‘But if you get through it, you’ll grow from it, get stronger from it, and be better for it.’ If you remember that when you’re facing some tough times or questioning yourself, you’ll have the chance to be successful.”
Shoemaker used the story of his life—losing a scholarship to Bucknell due to a skiing accident before finding himself at Hanover College—to illustrate how setbacks can lead a person down an unexpected path. He also discussed the importance of gaining broad job experience early in your career to open avenues that might otherwise not become available. Shoemaker also highlighted the importance of looking to the past to guide and inspire you for the future.
“I’m a big believer in history,” Shoemaker said. “There is something in every history book I’ve read that I can plot to my life. There’s nothing that happens today that hasn’t happened before. Period. The more you can learn about history, the more you’ll be amazed at the ways it can be applicable to situations you find yourself in.”
Shoemaker also took questions from the group of students who filled every seat in the Shoemaker Innovation Center, offering his wisdom in an informal Q&A on everything from how long to stay at a company to being willing to pursue your passion even if it means sacrificing short-term financial gain.
“John’s story is an inspiration and a perfect example of someone who didn’t let setbacks keep him from achieving his goals,” said Raj Acharya, dean of SICE. “For our students to understand that adversity can be a positive if approached with the right attitude is critical, and John’s visit to SICE will help our future innovators understand that the road doesn’t have to be smooth to find success.”
Shoemaker’s appearance was the only event of LuddyFest on Tuesday, but the schedule will be packed Wednesday.
At 10:30 a.m. in Dorsey Learning Hall, Stanford University Music and Computer Science Professor and Designer Ge Wang will present a discussion on what it means to be a humanist engineer. Wang specializes in the art of computer music design, and he will provide a demonstration of his work.
The Shoemaker Innovation Center will host the Innovation Roundtable from 12:30-2 p.m., featuring entrepreneurs and innovators—including Fred Luddy, Shoemaker, and Jane Martin, general partner of Village Ventures—who will share their knowledge and experiences to inspire and guide students who are interested in an entrepreneurial career path.
The Fabrications Lab in Room 4010 will host the FabLab Showcase from 1-3 p.m., providing an opportunity for students to get a glimpse of the work being done in the Intelligent Systems Engineering program in our stunning fourth-floor lab.
The Cheng Wu Innovation Challenge will also be held Wednesday from 3-6 p.m. in Dorsey Learning Hall. The Challenge features students who develop technological innovations unconstrained by the immediate consideration of the commercial potential of the innovations. It provides students and opportunity to showcase their innovative thinking, and a total of $15,000 will be awarded to teams.
The Visualization Lab will host a showcase from 5-7 p.m. in Room 4012, providing an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to display data and scientific visualizations as well as augmented and virtual reality applications.
Wednesday’s events will wrap up at 8 p.m. when artist Philip Beesley unveils Amatria, a custom, sentient art installation on the fourth floor. Amatria, which was installed with the help of volunteers from SICE, will be introduced with a procession and will be visible from the grand staircase. Don’t miss this unique event.
Luddy Hall is named after IU alumnus Fred Luddy, the founder and chief product officer for ServiceNow who also developed the concept of platform as a service in cloud computing, who provided an $8 million gift for the construction of the building. Ground was broken on the $39.8 million facility in October 2015 and was completed on schedule.
For more information on LuddyFest, visit our website.