All in for change

Those who play it safe don’t make history. Those who put it all on the line, who risk everything for an idea that defies convention – they’re the ones who do. They mold the world to fit their vision for it. They constantly ask: “Why? How come? What if…” These are the type of people who fight for what the world tells them is wrong because deep down, they know it’s what the world needs.

People like Martin Cooper. In the 1970s, the former executive of Motorola pushed the company to develop a hand-held mobile phone. At the time, Bell Labs had a monopoly on the market with their car devices, and this was the mobile extent of the telephone, most thought. They would always need bulky batteries. They would always need chords. The car, therefore, seemed like the perfect fit for a phone. Besides – whoever thought they’d be able to order a pizza while on the way to pick it up? No one! So hooray for the car phone!

But Martin Cooper saw a different world. A better one. He saw a world where everyone had a phone in his or her pocket. Where you could talk while you walked. So, Cooper decided to take a gamble. He invested Motorola’s future in developing the cell phone, even though most said he was crazy, and that it couldn’t be done. (He was, at the time, trying to condense 30 lbs. of equipment into a 2 lb. device – no simple task).

However, on April 3^rd, 1973, Cooper took a stroll through Manhattan and dialed up his rival CEO at Bell Labs. The conversation was brief, but it marked the beginning of the cellular revolution. Less than half a century later, we’ve taken Cooper’s phone and figured out ways to add a camera. A calendar. A music player. A video game system. We live in an era of limitless connectivity. Of breaking news. Tweets, and tags.  And it all started with one man who was willing to risk everything on a vision for what was possible.

Well, we don’t just have one man, or woman, working with us on NRGLab’s Research Council. We have a team with a dream, and that dream includes clean- energy independence, affordable electricity bills, and socio-economic stability. We intend to be the chapter that ensures human history continues well into the future. And we’re willing to risk it all that we’re right.  

by Alex K

• sg.linkedin.com/pub/alex-k/67/5bb/60/

[ nrglab, nrglab pte ltd, nrglab singapore, nrglab сингапур, ana shell, annie j, Matin Cooper, Bell Labs, research council, research council nrglab ]