This article was taken from the May 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
The Singularity University's (SU) summer Graduate Studies Program culminates in team projects intended to create viable businesses to solve the world's major challenges. "We've had 45 or so startups spin out of SU," says Salim Ismail, SU's "global ambassador". "Half are still alive, half of those have received funding, and a few, about ten per cent, are on their way, we think, to changing the world."
One of those is Matternet, which aims to build a mesh network of unmanned drones to carry supplies to places hard to reach by road -- whether a Haitian earthquake zone or a remote African village. Matternet cofounder Andreas Raptopoulos envisages a network of self-navigating quadcopters that can be programmed not only with their destination's co-ordinates but so that they work together to enable goods to be carried long distances. "You can carry 2kg over 10km today in 15 minutes, flying at 120 metres," says Raptopoulos. "The cost will be $0.24 (£0.15) for 10km. We want to replicate the mobile-telephony model, with last-mile-delivery incentives."
Equally ambitious is Modern Meadow, a startup which is working on "bioprinting" leather and meat using biomaterials. "This process will require lower inputs of land, water and chemicals, and will involve no harm to animals," says CEO Andras Forgacs.
Other spin-offs include Popquake, a network of cheap solar-powered seismic sensors for early earthquake detection; Cambrian Genomics, which has a novel technique for printing DNA; and most successfully, Getaround, a ride-sharing scheme that has raised $19m (£12.2m) in funding.
Read more about Singularity University On the exponential curve: inside Singularity University
Field trips to the future
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
