What China's Hover Bus Invention Can Teach You!
I was fascinated by a recent breakthrough invention of the hover bus which drives over the top of other vehicles. Undoubtedly, the chinese engineers were moved by the inconveniences of traffic jams in modern day city roads and thought of a way out, which they figured to be the hover bus (pictured below). A model of the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) was inaugurated at the 19th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo.
With a passenger capicity of 1200, TEB is said to cost less than a fifth the construction of a subway despite the fact that it delivers the same funstionality of the subway with way more advantages. According to Bai Zhiming, the lead engineer in charge of the TEB project, the construction of the bus can be finished within a year.
So, if you thought the age of invention is dead, think again. Because everyday and every technology presents a new challenge and problem, there is always something that can be invented. To today's students, this comes as a challenge as to what we can do to alleviate the inconveniences facing our day to day lives. What exactly can students learn from this impressive invention of our time?
i) Invention Is Not Dead
It is unfortunate that we have raised a lazy breed of students today and the majority of them would like to think that invention died with the age of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. Well, if you are a student who has been harboring such thoughts, you better smell some coffee and wipe your eyes because you have been in a deep slumber. China's invention of the hover bus that drives over the top of other cars is a great challenge and eye-opener to you. A wake-up call that invention is still alive and kicking. As much as some would like to think that such an inventions come to select few, the truth is, in the contrary, totally different. How many problems do we face currently that are literally against our comfortable living? How many problems have been brought over by technological improvements and the sophistication of some technologies? How endangered is our health? Such are the problems that should guide you towards thinking of an invention, an intervention to the problems. As they say, necessity is the mother of all invention.
ii) More Technological Growth = More Invention Opportunities
The last decade has seen a massive improvement in technological advances with almost everything going techy. Come to think of it, what exactly prompted Bai Zhiming and his team of engineers to come up with such an invention? All of you (probably 90%), will agree with me that it is the nuissance brought by getting stuck in traffic jams, especially given that China's population is the leading in the world. In short, technological development and improvement of vehicles posed a problem that needed an intervention which these chinese engineers spotted heads on. Bull's eye!
The more the technological advancements the more the problems posed and the more the problems posed the more the opportunities for invention. You will agree with me that a recent development and increase in online transactions and activities have presented a security challenge. Cyber security and cyber safety have been talked of more recently more than any other time. All these call for an intervention which glares at you, today's student, as an invention opportunity.
iii) There Is A Massive Room For Improvement
Still looking at the TEB, there is a huge room for improvement? Why?
With a carrying capacity of 1200 people, the hover bus leaves us with some questions to crack. How long is it going to take for the bus to get filled to capicity before it transits? How long will it take you waiting in the bus for it to get full so that you can start your journey? How many trips will it make in a day?
Here, we only see a massive room for improvement. As much as the TEB technology looks and sounds impressive, there is much more that can be done. What is it that should be done? How should it be done? Such are the questions that only present to you a massive opportunity for either alternative inventions or improvement of the current TEB invention.
iv) It's Not All About Books
As much as education is important and moreso reading, how exactly is it helping us improve our day to day lives? Students, if the books you read cannot help you invent something that will solve a problem in your life, is it even worth the struggle? It is time we started letting the books we read reflect in our activities and inventions. The best you can do to prove that you went to school is providing a solution to the challenges we face, a solution that supercedes a layman's solution, a solution that matches with your books.