Dive Brief:
- The Association of American Universities has posted an interactive graphic on its website touting the federally funded work of American research universities in the creation of the smartphone.
- The AAU asks the reader to imagine a smartphone without the innovations created by university research, and shows that the phone would basically be a small, empty aluminum box.
- Among the smartphone features attributed to research universities: computer chips and memory, touch screens, GPS, and batteries.
Dive Insight:
The AAU's piece is great PR for higher ed research, demonstrating for the general public how valuable universities are in innovating the tech they may take for granted. Thank researchers at the University of Kentucky and the University of Delaware for the touchscreen; Iowa State University and the University of Pennsylvania for the CPU; Stanford University for the multi-core processors; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the RAM; John Hopkins University for the GPS; and Oxford University and the University of Texas for the battery.