News and OriginalSteps.com Projects

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: News; Published: 25 May 2016; Last Updated: 25 May 2016

Applications now open for MIT Global Startup Labs

The MIT Global Startup Labs Programme is heading to South Africa and both new and established tech entrepreneurs have until 31 May to submit their best new and innovative tech ideas.

The South African leg of the programme is a joint initiative of MIT, WITS University and the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE), which will see students gain first-hand experience of the process involved in innovating and building a technology startup.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: News; Published: 09 May 2016; Last Updated: 09 May 2016

Problem

Yearly we produce a lot of plastic, last year 311 million tonne. But less than 10% of this plastic gets recycled. Most of this will end up in the wrong place, landfills, oceans, inside animals. It’s damaging our earth. The big plastic industry prefers to work with new plastic. Recycled plastic might slow down production or damage their machines. And people haven’t got the machines to start themselves.

Project

Precious Plastic has developed machines that enable people to start recycling plastic. The machines are specifically developed using universal materials and basic tools that are available all over the world. The blueprints, a series of detailed instruction videos and the download-kit are shared open source online This is all the basic information people need to build their own machines and start a little plastic factory, anywhere in the world. And set up small scale productions to create valuable things, like a craftsman of plastic. They can make products, raw material, set up a production, clean up their neighborhood, and start their own business.

Read more: Precious Plastic

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: News; Published: 27 April 2016; Last Updated: 27 April 2016

University of the People (“UoPeople”), the world’s first non-profit, tuition-free, accredited American online university built for underserved students around the world, has announced today that is has received accreditation for and is launching the world’s most cost effective MBA program.

The MBA program is the latest addition to UoPeople’s current offerings of Associates and Bachelor’s programs in Business Administration and Computer Science, all accredited by the Distance Education and Accreditation Commission (DEAC). Starting today the university will be accepting applicants to commence their MBA studies in September 2016. The university’s academic calendar consists of five nine-week terms and students can apply and be admitted to commence in any given term. The university will accept only 100 applicants for the first term, and gradually expand the program. Although there are no tuition or textbook fees, there is a $200 end of course assessment fee (for each of the 12 courses) and students can expect to pay a total of just $2,400 for the degree over six terms (15 months).

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: News; Published: 09 May 2016; Last Updated: 10 May 2016

University of the People, the world’s first non-profit, tuition-free, accredited American online university, has announced the launch of its Associate and Bachelor degrees in Health Studies. Leading figures are heading the program’s Taskforce: Nobel Laureate and President Emeritus of The Rockefeller University, Dr. Torsten N. Wiesel; Chairman and CEO of Fortune 500® company Henry Schein, Stanley M. Bergman; Princeton University Professor Dr. Dalton Conley; and Columbia University Professor Dr. Darcy Brisbane Kelley.

UoPeople President, Shai Reshef: “We realize that in most countries, the demand for healthcare workers is huge. The critical shortage of skilled health-care workers, which manifested previously with SARS corona virus, Ebola, and now with the Zika virus, has brought alarming attention to the fact that governments are unable to effectively handle global health crises partially due to insufficient, quality programs to address the shortfall. UoPeople’s Health Studies program will prepare health workers for the workforce as well as prepare students for advanced studies within the medical field. We believe that in developed as well as developing countries, this is a priority that must be addressed. This Health Studies degree is one more step in accomplishing the university’s mission of addressing global needs as well as opening the gates to higher education for qualified students around the world and helping them overcome the financial, geographic, political, and personal constraints which preclude millions from accessing higher education.”

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: News; Published: 22 April 2016; Last Updated: 22 April 2016

Björn Borg introduces the Skin Collection; skin toned underwear for everyone. The collection is deliberately launched on the United Nation’s Racial Discrimination Day, as a tribute to human rights and equality for all.

So-called “nude” underwear traditionally only caters to white skinned individuals, offered in tones like beige or blush, despite the fact that an 84% majority of the world’s population has a skin tone other than the standard “nude” colour. To put the light on this inequality, Björn Borg introduces the Skin Collection – an underwear line in six shades of human, following the Fitzpatrick skin scale*.

– Nude is not a colour; it’s a concept that everybody should have the right to enjoy. We call it six shades of human and the reason to our launch on the UN Racial Discrimination Day is that the political climate in Europe has been very tough as of late and it is time to show colour. This is our contribution to that debate, comments Björn Borg Marketing Director, Jonas Lindberg Nyvang.