Innovation and invention: Taking an idea into market validation – Top Entrepreneurs Podcast | Enterprise Podcast Network
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:53 — 23.7MB) | Embed Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More Alice Min Soo Chun, the inventor of the world’s first ever inflatable origami solar-powered light, the SolarPuff, and CEO & founder of Solight joins Enterprise Radio. Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Alice Min Soo Chun discuss the following: How and why did you start Solight? What do you hope to achieve with Solight? Tell us about the home decor options on a lighter note. Do you have a donation page? It all started after witnessing a mother and her family at the end of an alley that was covered in smoke. In the middle of the alley, there was a jug full of kerosene with a big, thick rope coming out of the jug that they had lit with fire. Alice knew she had to do something as she thought about the children breathing in the extremely harmful chemicals and toxins in the smoke each day. “It’s way more than about an object or product, it’s about creating change,” said Alice Chun. “It made me realize that health, the environment, and poverty were inextricably linked in a profound way, and that one simple solution like the SolarPuff™ could tackle all three. As a little girl growing up in Seoul, Korea and then upstate New York, Alice spent many days learning how a simple fold can become structured. Origami forms were taught to her by her mother, who also taught Alice how to sew her own clothes. Always creative, fascinated by design, structure and forms, Alice studied architecture at Penn State where she obtained her undergraduate degree and went on to earn her Masters in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. With emerging trends in material technology resulting in smarter, lighter, faster, sustainable fabrication, Alice started to sew solar panels to fabric as early experiments for harnessing solar energy with softer, malleable material. She became focused on solar technology and finding ways to create clean energy solutions upon learning her son Quinn was diagnosed with asthma. While teaching as a Professor in Architecture and Material Technology at Columbia University, Alice created early prototypes of solar lights with her students. Still not satisfied, and fueled by her passion for helping the underserved, Alice invented the world’s only self-inflatable, portable solar light, eliminating the need for a mouth nozzle. This ensured a healthy, sanitary method to inflate. Alice named this invention the SolarPuffTM and conducted three years of field testing in Haiti. In 2015 she launched Solight Design and initiated a KickStarter program with unprecedented results. She went on to win numerous awards including the US Patent Award for Humanity and her products have been exhibited at MOMA, the Modern Museum of Art in New York City. Alice is an author, TedX speaker, and female inventor of Solight-Design and SEEU95. Popular Mechanics dubbed Solight as one of the top solar products of the year this year. Solight has also been featured in Fast Company products for social justice, Forbes, as well as on The View, Tamron Hall, Good Morning America, MSNBC, Marie Claire’s Powertrip 2022, The Skimm, The Story Exchange, Fast Company, The New York Times, Cheddar, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, Heavy, Men’s Journal, and was nominated for USPTO Patents for Humanitarian Winner in 2018. Alice was nominated as Forbes 50 Over 50 recognizable women of 2022. Alice was also a showstar on the Apple TV+ show ‘Gutsy’. Website: https://solight-design.com Social Media Links : Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SolightDesign Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solight_design Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/solight-design-inc- Twitter: https://twitter.com/solightdesign Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@solightdesign Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/FAARM1000 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/solightdesign People also listened to : Best Practices to Deliver on Your Organization’s Digital Transformation