ACADEMIA Letters

Innoversity Applied to a Student Team

Daniel Lowy

In this Letter I would like to share my personal experience earned over four years, while
conducting a R&D project, which applied the principles of innoversity1 in an Intent-Based
Environment, as proposed by Captain David Marquet of the U.S. Navy.2 Funded by U.S. Navy
– NavAir, the project developed a magnesium/air reserve battery, operated with seawater. The
undertaking was successful; it started with the proof-of principle (TRL-1) and made it to TRL-
6 at the system level and TRL-7 at the cell level.

Innoversity with junior people at a startup company

Innoversity is the combination of the two words innovation and diversity (rather than innova-
tion and university); the term was coined by Susanne Justesen and published in 2001.3 In a
Danish textbook on the topic, she is given credit for having first introduced the term innover-
sity.4
Work was performed at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, by a team with
significant diversity. The reserve battery was intended to supply power on demand, in mission-
1
InnoversityT M – innovation, creativity, and diversity. See: <http://www.innoversity.com/about- 2/about-
history/> (Accessed: December 20, 2020).
2
David Marquet “Tried and True Leadership Techniques – Our Story,” See:
<https://www.davidmarquet.com/our-story/> (Accessed: December 18, 2020)
3
Justesen, S.L. (2000). Innoversity - The Dynamic Relationship between innovation and Diversity, Master
Thesis in Intercultural Management, Copenhagen Business School, December 2000, MPP Working Paper No.
6/2001, May 2001 (ISBN: 87-90403-93-2, ISSN: 1396-2817)
4
Justesen, S.L. (2004). “Innoversity in Communities of Practice,” In: P.M. Hildreth and C. Kimble (Eds.)
Knowledge Networks: Innovation Through Communities of Practice. Hershey (Pennsylvania): Idea Group Pub-
lishing.

Academia Letters, February 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Daniel Lowy, daniellowy@gmail.com

Citation: Lowy, D. (2021). Innoversity Applied to a Student Team. Academia Letters, Article 303.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL303.

1
critical areas, in case of emergency.5
Our team had a notable professional diversity, consisting of young people, undergraduate
and graduate students, working toward their degrees in chemistry, chemical engineering, me-
chanical engineering, or electrical engineering. Also, the project was assisted by technicians
and advised by senior experts in the field. One had to interact with company leaders, uni-
versity administration, and government people. In addition to a variety of technical expertise
and levels of education, ethnic, cultural, and gender diversity was present in the team. Hence,
carrying out our project successfully needed not only creative scientific and technological so-
lutions, but also diplomacy in interacting with high-level management, tact, and savoir-faire
in handling interpersonal conflicts. Below is a summary of suggestions that may help project
managers in coordinating such projects.
First, one should define a common language, which makes sense to both scientists and
engineers. As easy as it sounds, this represents one of the most difficult tasks. For example,
to an electrical engineer substrate means the physical material upon which a semiconductor
device is applied. In materials science substrate is the material on which a process is con-
ducted. To a chemist it is the reactant consumed during a catalytic or enzymatic reaction,
the molecule which undergoes the conversion. In marine biology substrate means the earthy
material that exists in the bottom of a marine habitat, like dirt, rocks, sand, or gravel.
Second, communicate proficiently and regularly. For this, short Monday morning
meetings and additional so-called 5-minute briefings on a need-to-know bases have proven
the most efficient. Each team member should be updated on the progress made by the others
and the overall standing of the project. Posted timelines with milestones are extremely helpful
for monitoring the progress.
Third, treat each team player as potential major contributor to the success of the un-
dertaking. One common mistake made by Principal Investigators is that junior people are
assigned responsibilities out of the overall context of the project. What team leaders typically
request is “Make this part by a certain procedure and report me the outcome!” A more doable
approach would be: “This is what we need to solve and let me tell you why! These are the
needed parts, and let us discuss how to make them fast and at good quality?”
Fourth, motivate your team to become a community of practice, namely, a group of
people who share concern and passion for what they do. Encourage their informal interaction
to learn from one another how to solve their tasks at highest quality level. Interacting as a
community and sharing individual experience will eventually mature into synergism.
Let me recall one example of synergism we came across in the reserve battery project!
5
Clark, S.; Latz, A.; Horstmann, B. (2018). “A Review of Model Based Design Tools for Metal-Air Batteries,”
Batteries 4, 1. DOI 10.3390/batteries4010005.

Academia Letters, February 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Daniel Lowy, daniellowy@gmail.com

Citation: Lowy, D. (2021). Innoversity Applied to a Student Team. Academia Letters, Article 303.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL303.

2
Our observations gathered over time suggested that rod-shaped electrodes secure better power
density than planar electrodes. Electric field simulations completed by two doctoral students
from the Electrical Engineering Department confirmed our hypothesis. Then, I asked a junior
mechanical engineer to re-design the battery such that it should be based entirely on rod-
shaped anodes. In a few days he came up with a design, where all anodes were metallic rods,
while the cathodes were modified from planar to cylindrical shape. Spacers and supports were
manufactured by 3D printing, the team’s chemical engineers worked on the other parts of the
cell, so that all materials became compatible with the new cell design. In about one week we
started laboratory scale testing. As expected, the battery enabled much better performance.
Fifth, share the earned experience with all team members: (i) access to information
should be granted to everyone; (ii) documenting results is essential to the project; (iii) stan-
dardizing procedures are important for rendering the operations reproducible; (iv) learning
skills passed from one another has two major benefits: it allows team members to become
more versatile, such that they can cope with various tasks, and it expedites the integration of
new team members. Experience shared by team members was extremely useful to the develop-
ment of junior workers (interns), who enriched their resumes by adding a long list of practical
dexterities to the theoretical knowledge acquired over their studies. This has provided signifi-
cant help in their job hunting, as according to employers’ expectations even college graduates
should possess work experience.
Sixths maintain an agreeable ambience at your workplace! Safety rules and 5S method-
ology6 must be enforced, but do not get offended if, while working, young people listen to
their music, tell jokes, or sit with their feet on the table. Be indulgent with their views, beliefs,
hobbies, and religious holidays.
Finally, as part of team building, pay attention to get togethers: call for happy hours, or-
ganize group lunches or dinners after each breakthrough, or when reaching the next milestone;
have birthday parties and group celebrations prior to national holidays.
By conducting the project as described above, the team succeeded to advance the reserve
battery project from proof of principle level (TRL-1, Figure 1A) to a prototype (Figure 1B)
deployed and operated in a reliable manner in real-life environment (Figure 1C), which cor-
responds to TRL-6 at the system level and TRL-7 at the cell level, respectively. The cell was
6
5S represents a workplace organization method for setting a workspace, such that it becomes the most efficient
and effective, securing the greatest productivity. The term 5S stands for five Japanese words that translate as sort,
set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. See: Kanamori, Sh.; Shibanuma, A.; Jimba, M. (2016). “Applicability
of the 5S management method for quality improvement in health-care facilities: a review,” Tropical Medicine and
Health 44 (21), DOI 10.1186/s41182-016-0022-9. Lately, 5S has been supplemented with a sixth element, safety,
becoming 6S. See: Dhounchak, D. (2017). “Review of 6S Methodology,” International Journal of Development
Research, 7 (8), 14455-14457.

Academia Letters, February 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Daniel Lowy, daniellowy@gmail.com

Citation: Lowy, D. (2021). Innoversity Applied to a Student Team. Academia Letters, Article 303.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL303.

3
Figure 1: Stages of developing the Mg/air reserve battery: A – laboratory scale model (3 cm
x 1 cm electrodes, single cell immersed in synthetic seawater); B – pilot scale model (250
cm x 250 cm electrodes, 5 cells connected in parallel); C – pilot scale model deployed in
real-life environment (seawater of 1⁄3 salinity), floating on water in the Chesapeake Bay area
(Solomon Island, Maryland, USA). Pictures by Daniel A. Lowy.

scaled up from the initial 1.00 mL volume (photograph not shown) to 6.25 L (Figure 1B),
hence, the volume of the cell was increased by a coefficient of 6.25 x 103; along with the
size, the specific energy also increased by a factor of 1.9 x 103, while the power density by a
coefficient of 225. The potentiostatic discharge curve of the power source, at 1.2 V, delivered
very constant current over 7 days, releasing 32.9 Ah charge.
According to the application to be powered we designed and devised cells in various sizes
and geometries: prismatic cells, rigid or flexible, circular, and ellipse shaped. Given these
geometries of the cells and that the electrolyte was harvested form their surroundings, we had
to provide a unitary definition of specific energy and energy density for these devices.7 The
intellectual property has been protected via a U.S. patent, awarded for the reserve battery, at
the system level.8
Overall, organizing the team’s work based on the principles of innoversity the project
7
Lowy, D.A.; Mátyás, B. (2020). “Sea Water Activated Magnesium-Air Reserve Batteries: Calculation
of Specific Energy and Energy Density for Various Geometries” DRC Sustainable Future 1 (1), 1-6. DOI:
10.37281/DRCSF/1.1.1
8
Dornajafi, M.; Proctor, R.B.; Lowy, D.A.; Dilli, Z.; Peckerar, M.C. (2017). “Zinc-Water Battery and System,”
U.S. 9,627,694 (April 18, 2017).

Academia Letters, February 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Daniel Lowy, daniellowy@gmail.com

Citation: Lowy, D. (2021). Innoversity Applied to a Student Team. Academia Letters, Article 303.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL303.

4
was successful, being conducted within the initially foreseen timeline and complying with the
allocated budget.

Academia Letters, February 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Daniel Lowy, daniellowy@gmail.com

Citation: Lowy, D. (2021). Innoversity Applied to a Student Team. Academia Letters, Article 303.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL303.