Nearly 100 students, professors, and SAP employees met Max Peer, the “Around the World Biker” and learned about open access to quality educational materials from Interaction Design Foundation and openSAP.
Students and professors representing Colby College, Drexel University, Duke University, Pennsylvania State University, Rowan University, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Delaware, University of Notre Dame, Villanova University, and Widener University, as well as SAP executives and employees welcomed Max Peer, the "Around the World Biker," on the 5th stop of his 4 year, 35,000 mile “Share the Knowledge Tour.”
Greg McStravick, President SAP US welcomed Max to Newtown Square.
Ann Rosenberg, Head of Global University Alliances, SAP AG congratulated Max on his arrival at SAP, completing the first 1,000 miles of his upcoming 35,000 mile 4 year “around the world” journey.
Greg McStravick, President SAP US, welcomed the audience of students, professors, and SAP employees. “One of the things that makes SAP an amazing company to be a part of is our culture of giving back and supporting causes that make a difference in the communities where we live and work.”
Greg continued, “Education is the single most powerful way to lift people out of poverty and change lives, and SAP has partnered with the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF), an organization that provides free text books and online education materials created by leading academics and practitioners of software design, to help make a difference.” Greg thanked Max and IDF for making it possible for professors, students, and the SAP ecosystem to benefit from IDF’s free educational resources on improving technology design.
Ann Rosenberg, Head of Global University Alliances, SAP AG shared that SAP University Alliances supports universities in building the talent needed by SAP and its customers and partners, and channels innovation from universities into the SAP ecosystem. Through the SAP University Alliances program, students “Learn, Apply, and Share” new knowledge and skills with SAP Business Suite on SAP HANA, analytics, enterprise mobility, and in-memory computing using the SAP HANA platform.
“We are incredibly excited by this amazing journey and we applaud Max’s effort to get the word out about the impact access to education can provide to a young person.” Ann continued “SAP shares Max’s and IDF’s passion for simplified design to provide a new digital, integrated and delightful consumer experience to our customers and their customers; as well as sustainability, co-innovation, and giving back to the community. That’s why we’re partnering to help Max get his message heard across North America.”
Max shared his story about his “Around the World” bike journey, which began at SAPPHIRE NOW in Orlando May 13th, and has so far stopped at Georgia Southern University, North Carolina A&T State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Towson University. Max shared knowledge about free learning resources available from IDF, including textbooks, videos, and other resources on the topic of improving the design process and customer experience with technology products ranging from software, websites, mobile devices, and consumer products.
Max’s message resonated with the audience…that we need a more sustainable culture…that it’s achievable through education…and with free online textbooks and resources from the Interaction Design Foundation on topics like Design Thinking, technology can be simpler and more human-centered, leading to a better run world.
Max also shared that IDF’s Professional Association enables students to receive mentoring from authors and to share their resumes among members of the IDF community, enhancing their career opportunities. Max also introduced the audience to SAP’s Massive Open Online Courses available free through openSAP which enable anyone to freely learn about SAP’s enterprise applications including, the leading platform for “Big Data” analytics and real time applications.
SAP is the leading sponsor of IDF, and SAP University Alliances is arranging for universities across North America, as well as some SAP offices, to host stops on the Share the Knowledge Tour. The North American leg of the tour reaches the Midwest in July, Vancouver in September, SAP TechEd in October, and ends in California in November. Later legs of the tour will take Max to other regions of the world.
During the event, students and professors registered for free membership in IDF.
The audience was invited to follow the “Share the Knowledge Tour” online and to continue to support Max by “liking” the videos, photos, and blog posts at the University Alliances Community and University Alliances on Facebook. And the audience was invited to learn more about Interaction Design Foundation and SAP’s Sponsorship of IDF.
And see the Technically Philly story covering Max's stop at SAP America.
See Max’s other recent stops:
Georgia Southern University May 22, 2013
North Carolina A&T State University, May 31, 2013
Virginia Commonwealth University, June 10, 2013
Towson University June 14, 2013
SAP CONTACT
John Baxter, SAP University Alliances, john.baxter@sap.com
IDF CONTACT
Lee Traupel, IDF Media Relations, lee@interaction-design.org
About SAP University Alliances
SAP University Alliances supports colleges and universities in building the talent needed by SAP and its customers and partners, and channels innovation from universities into the SAP ecosystem. In fulfilling its goal of educating future corporate leaders, SAP University Alliances provides connections between students, customers, partners, and SAP experts. SAP donates licenses to over 1,300 University Alliances member institutions and fully outfits their professors with software and curriculum which provides students with hands-on experience with SAP applications, analytics, mobile, database & technology, cloud, and SAP HANA solutions.
About Interaction Design Foundation
IDF is a ten year old transformative non-profit enterprise focused on educating, informing and stimulating the global technology design community. The organization has created a powerful cloud based publishing model, blending free courses with an immersive web site for thought leaders, students, authors, academia, design professionals, futurists and even tech-challenged consumers.
The Denmark based foundation has self-funded throughout its ten years in existence but is now sponsored by SAP Corporation and partly funded by professionals who become supporting Foundation Members, Corporate Sponsorships and Grants.
Web: www.Interaction-Design.org
Twitter: www.twitter.com/interacting
Facebook: www.facebook.com/interactiondesign.org
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