The Edge of Chaos pushes the boundaries of innovation – an Alabama Bright Light
David Hooks is director of innovation at UAB's The Edge of Chaos, which he says is "an invent space, not an event space." (Karim Shamsi-Basha/Alabama NewsCenter)
What do you think when you hear “The Edge of Chaos”?
A movie? A novel? A fantasy world? A world where smart people hang out and work on difficult matters?
The Edge of Chaos is a world where inspired people commune and create magnificent products, processes, studies, methods, paradigms and other marvels.
This world is very real. In fact, it exists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Director of Innovation David Hooks explained.
“We are an invent space, not an event space. We have 8,000 square feet of space to help create new things within the community,” he said. “We encourage creativity, intellectual capacity and innovation coming out of the university, and then participate in the community of Birmingham.”
Alabama Bright Lights: David Hooks and The Edge of Chaos ’till the soil’ for innovation from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
The concept comes from author Steven Johnson, who suggests that the fine line between order and chaos is where solutions to problems exist. That line is also where innovation happens. As The Edge of Chaos’ website elaborates, “Innovation happens when you put the poet, engineer, professor and manufacturer together. Real solutions are the goal of The Edge of Chaos. Bringing together academia, business and the community, we are more likely to find real and workable solutions to our most difficult problems.”
The Edge of Chaos occupies the fourth floor of the Lister Hill Library at UAB. The School of Public Health project is an astounding art studio, mixed with an innovative meeting space and topped with a place where you can let loose and allow those neurons in your brain to fire in a stupendous way.
Here are a few of the projects that were birthed, developed and completed at The Edge of Chaos:
Environmental Justice in North Birmingham, School of Public Health Town Hall, Peace Corps Informational Meeting, Wicked Problem: Poverty & Education, Symposium on Occupational Health, School of Medicine Art Show and Orpheus Goes to Hadestown.
And a few of the ongoing projects:
Epidemiology/Biostats Clinic, Pathology Hackathon, Digital Brain Mapping, and an art show by children who are visually impaired: The Helen Keller Art Show of Alabama.
To say The Edge of Chaos pushes the limits on everything we know would be an understatement.
“Look at gardening. Everyone knows you have to plant seeds, you have to have water and sunlight, and then you have a very welcoming harvest,” Hooks said. “What most people forget is that someone on the front line had to plow the dirt, move the rocks, till the soil and get it ready for planting. If you think about it, that’s really where we fit into the economic landscape. We are the early stages, even before accelerators and innovation depots come in.”
An interesting concept at The Edge of Chaos is “wicked problems,” defined as those huge obstacles with no simple solutions that plague communities. But finding a solution is not everything; the wrong proposal may complicate the situation, creating more problems.
How do they address wicked problems?
“At The Edge of Chaos, we approach wicked problems in a collaborative and collective pursuit. We combine academia, the business world and the community at large, and then allow their ideas to collide and create solutions that work,” Hooks said. “It’s very rewarding to see the development happening in our community, and to see that energy and buzz that I’ve never seen in Birmingham before.”
Now when I hear the term The Edge of Chaos, I think of a real world at UAB, where big ideas are developed, innovative solutions are achieved and wicked problems are obliterated.
For more, visit, http://theedgeofchaos.org
Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and play. Award-winning journalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions on people to profile, at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com.
