Magna Notitia

  Introduction  The digital twin (DT) concept can be traced back to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Apollo program in the 1970s, where two identical vehicles built for space efforts, and one was able to mirror the conditions of the other during a mission (Wei, 2021). This “mirroring” concept was called “Mirror Space Model,” and later “Information Mirror Model,” until NASA’s John Vickers introduced the new “digital twin” name in his book. Grievers, a professor at the University of Michigan who put forward the concept of “Virtual Digital Expression Equivalent to Physical Product” in a 2003 product lifecycle management (PLM) course, began using Vickers’ DT name in 2011 (Wei, 2021).  DT has been successfully applied mainly in the fields of manufacturing and PLM to perform simulations, optimization, make predictions and provide suggestions, performance improvement, and others (Wei, 2021). From these applications, the DT concept expanded to “augmented d...

 

  The LEGO Group (LEGO) had been doing everything right since the introduction of injection-molded building blocks in the late 1940s. The company was always on the lookout for new products, inserted themselves in different markets (video games, amusement parks, education centers, jewelry, etc.), they listened to customer feedback, and gave their development engineers free range to innovate and create new products (Oliver, et al., 2007; Wharton, 2012).  LEGO sales plummeted in 1993, and although some of it was attributed to China’s manufacture of similar products at a fraction of the cost, the big-box store (e.g., Wal-Mart) phenomenon, and the merging of such big-box stores (Wharton, 2012), these and other challenges resulted from significant market changes. Production costs were rising in Denmark, Switzerland, and United States, pushing LEGO to outsource plastic production to México and the Czech Republic (Oliver et al., 2007; Wharton, 2012). Another challenge was LEGO’s over-...

  SERENDIPITY The term “serendipity” was first applied by Sir Horace Walpole in 1754, and English writer and historian, after reading a story titled “The Three Princes of Serendip” (Serendip is now called Sri Lanka), where the traveling princes continuously made discoveries of things they did not plan to explore, yet were surprised by them. Walpole created the term “serendipity” to explain the type of discoveries like those in the story he had read (Crampton, 2022).  I understand serendipity as the discovery of unexpected events or innovations, the kind made by chance when in search for something else, as is the case of lysozyme. Alexandre Fleming discovered lysozyme, an antibacterial enzyme, found in human mucus, saliva, and tears. Fleming serendipitously discovered the enzyme after sneezing on a petri dish full of bacteria while working on bacterial research. Some of the bacteria died around the area Fleming contaminated with his sneeze. Lysozyme is able to destroy some of t...

  If I had all of the time, money, and talent in the world, I would do many things. I have added perfect physical and mental health, and provided my list of ideas for 5 different categories as part of this "visioning" exercise.  Education  1. Study medicine (this was my initial field of study when I was young),  2. Learn Python programming language (I only know the basics),  3. Learn French,  4. Learn Japanese,  5. Learn to play the guitar, piano, and violin,  6. Study nutrition,  7. Learn how to pilot a plane,   8. Study religion,  9. Master public speaking, and  10. Learn how to train dogs.  Job or Research  1. Neurosurgeon,  2. Research the brain and brain-related condition (incurable as of today),  3. Philanthropist,  4. Data Scientist,  5. Big data professor,  6. Volunteer to teach others in third-world countries,  7. Write a book,  8. Opera singer,  9. Chef, and...

  Wharton (2012) describes scenario planning as the intersection between strategy and innovation, where proactive strategic thinking aims at uncovering potential futures and changes that may result in opportunities for innovation. Parayre (n.d.) as cited in Wharton (2012) describes it as “Innovation opportunities are the result of changes or shocks in the environment […]. The scenarios become […] ‘platforms for ideation’ […]. They provide a clarity that helps you to anticipate changes and possibilities.”  Athuraliya (2022) states scenario planning segregates knowledge into two areas: (1) Things we know, and (2) Things we are not sure about. The scenarios provide opportunities to look into what could happen in the future, but they do not offer the strategies necessary for effective management of those potential futures. For this reason, outside help from customers, suppliers, journalists, politicians, etc., are key in identifying patterns and uncovering uncertainties with the u...

  Hayashi and Baranauskas (2013) conducted an evaluation of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative from a socio-technical perspective. The study focuses on the effects of 520 laptops donated by the OLPC organization to a Brazilian public school (Miotti), which had approximately 530 members, a combination of teachers and students between the ages of 6 and 14 years old. Their plan aims at understanding how to best introduce digital technology into a developing country without detriment to their cultural values.  Hayashi and Baranauskas (2013) found that the simple act of introducing a new technology into the classrooms did not immediately solve the issue of schools requiring the integration of technological advances in the name of progress.  In essence, integration should take place at its own pace while taking into account the country’s cultural beliefs and traditions in order to make it meaningful (Hayashi & Baranauskas, 2013).  Four cases highlighted in the...