The rich nerds of Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE, England – Forever perish the caricature of the absent minded professor working to discover the secrets of the universe unmindful of the goings on in the rest of the world. In the distinguished 800-year history of Cambridge University some of the world’s great minds did contribute greatly to humanity’s vast storehouse of knowledge unmindful of whether society was ready or not for their groundbreaking thoughts. Today, some of the best minds in Cambridge are contributing to their bank accounts as well as to humanity’s knowledge of the world we live in.

Apparently, the Cambridge area is the British equivalent of America’s Silicon Valley. A guide in a walking tour of Cambridge was telling a group of tourists that some of the early works that made today’s digital revolution possible were performed right here in Cambridge. And the best innovative minds here not only teach students but register patents and get venture capital to commercialize the fruits of their work.

I confirmed pretty much of what that guide was saying by reading a magazine, Cambridge Business. The glossy publication has a lot of articles about academics who are also successful entrepreneurs. Being an academic here does not condemn you to a life of poverty.

The magazine, for instance, describes one such professor as a self made millionaire through Cambridge spin outs. Some quotes from professor Hopper gives us an idea of what goes on in the minds of the today’s thinkers in this university. He describes a future where computing is both comforting and potentially scary, where it will become our duty to be digital:

“Historically,” he says, “thirty years ago there was no Internet, twenty years ago there was no world wide web, ten years ago there was no Google. Right now, something is happening in the same way, but we don’t have it yet.”

And he says developing countries are quite likely to find it easier to adopt cutting edge computing, easier than the recession hit Western world. “I have just recently been to Uganda where the transport system is chaotic. They are keen on what we are talking about. In other words, if you are starting from behind you can leapfrog a lot of the earlier stuff, or the shackles of society.”

The professor offered his view on the promised thrust of computing for the future of the planet. He named four of them:

First is about solving the stand-by problem, which will only get worse as more and more machines appear. This is not about telling people to switch off, but finding ways for the machines themselves to maximize efficiency.

Second is keeping an eye on things, where cars are, the traffic jam story. He sees sensors to make movement better, replacing the need for expanding our physical road system… more and more motorway lanes. And it is not really new, he points out, air traffic control has been doing it forever.

This area of computing can also be extended in many areas, for instance in farming, where sensing crops and trees can improve the use of seed and fertilizer.

Third is about improving modeling capability, predicting climate change, flu epidemics, doing it all properly, like a pacemaker for the planet. And this is all about being proactive and not defensive.

Fourth is about accelerating the shift to wealth-creation in cyberspace. In the developing world people are becoming digitally connected at a rapid rate and this opens up opportunities for trade, but this requires a micro-payment structure. This will lead to paid-for and bartered services with potentially anyone on the planet, making the cake much bigger and keeping standards up.

Interestingly, the professor also acknowledges some tension between the short term needs of business and the longer term needs of society. Some things, he said, will have to be made free for the public good. “I mean, if I could patent oxygen, I would be very rich, but most people would die.”

As for the role of Cambridge University in all these: “This university is a wonderful place where these global goals are not shackled by short-term commercial needs, and we are the world thought leaders on this. We have the clearest thinking and have been in the lead for the last five years.”

The other interesting article in the Cambridge Business magazine is about an entrepreneur who is now working for his PhD at the Judge Business School. The soon to be Dr. Ben Barry made his millions by establishing a modeling agency that went against the accepted norm of taking in models who are exceptionally thin.

He told the magazine that he knew nothing about the world of model agencies when he started out. He just felt bad when a friend of his he recommended to a model agency was rejected because she was deemed too fat. It was not easy getting jobs for his models at first but he eventually made it after a beauty products company decided to launch a product campaign for women of all agencies, backgrounds and sizes.

“We unleashed the economic potential for depicting women in a certain way. It’s about changing the culture through business arguments.”

His studies at the Cambridge Judge Business School involve carrying out surveys in eight countries to find out how attitudes among women can change towards brands when they see real women modeling as opposed to “models”. Says he: “we can still keep all the glamour, we are still creating an aspirational image, but it’s one that is attainable.”

There you have it. Two examples of how the academic world here in Cambridge is having an impact on real life out there in the real world. The so called ivory tower has apparently been torn down and in its place is a vibrant community of academics researching solutions for real problems, real needs and real opportunities in the world where we all live.

As we have seen in the comments of the professor, they are proceeding with enough thought on how the innovations are to be introduced to the world, balancing short term business goals with long term needs of humanity. They have also not forgotten our developing world in all these. In fact, they think we may be the biggest beneficiaries as we leap frog development stages with all these innovations.

It is all very fascinating. To many of us who are more familiar with the goings-on in America’s Silicon Valley, Britain’s Silicon Valley here in Cambridge is also as important for us to monitor and benefit from. In fact, as the professor puts it, his American counterparts have had their attention diverted for some years into the theater of war. And that gives the British Silicon Valley some edge for some time to come.

Four cats

This was sent by Helen Limjoco.

Four men were bragging about how smart their cats were.

The first man was an Engineer, the second man was an Accountant, the third man was a Chemist, and the fourth man was a Government Employee.

To show off, the Engineer called his cat, “T-square”, do your stuff.

“T-square” pranced over to the desk, took out some paper and pen and promptly drew a circle, a square, and a triangle.

Everyone agreed that was pretty smart.

But the Accountant said his cat could do better. He called his cat and said, “Spreadsheet”, do your stuff.

“Spreadsheet” went out to the kitchen and returned with a dozen cookies He divided them into four equal piles of three cookies.

Everyone agreed that was good.

But the Chemist said his cat could do better. He called his cat and said, “Measure”, do your stuff.

“Measure” got up, walked to the fridge, took out a quart of milk, got a 10-ounce glass from the cupboard and poured exactly eight ounces without spilling a drop into the glass.

Everyone agreed that was pretty good.

Then the three men turned to the Government Employee and said, “What can your cat do?”

The Government Employee called his cat and said, “CoffeeBreak”, do your stuff.

“CoffeeBreak” jumped to his feet… ate the cookies... drank the milk... shit on the paper... screwed the other three cats... claimed he injured his back while doing so... filed a grievance report for unsafe working conditions... files a claim for Worker’s  Compensation... and went home for the rest of the day on sick leave...

AND THAT, MY FRIEND IS WHY EVERYONE WANTS TO WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT!!

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]