Graduate Students Ask: Why Does Innovation Take So Long?

Ever wonder why innovations in areas like health care and energy always seem just over the horizon, instead of already here? You're not alone. At Washington University in St. Louis, graduate students wrestling with this question created the "Where's My Jetpack?" speaker series to shed light on barriers to innovation. Rebecca Lowdon, cofounder of the graduate student group ProSPER, and Kimberly Curtis, assistant dean for graduate student affairs, discuss the creation of ProSPER, the "Where's My Jetpack?" series, and the importance of graduate student leadership. ProSPER promotes science policy, literacy, and advocacy through career development, education, and community outreach. In the coming weeks on Hold That Thought, ProSPER members will interview WashU faculty about barriers to innovation.