“And this is how we prototype.” Christian Grewell continues right after all the students finish up with their presentations for a seven-week long course, Minimal Viable Product (MVP). Christian Grewell is a professor in the Interactive Media Arts (IMA) department at NYU Shanghai. His popularity attracts not only the students of his field, but prevails beyond that to interest a neuroscience student like me to take one of his classes. From my experience in this class, it was set up as a discussion environment with every student participating. As expected, the class material was fantastic, but most importantly, it was Grewell who made it an engaging and amazing experience. It is fascinating to see how Grewell has such in-depth knowledge of not just the realms of creativity and music, but also of finance, business, and economics. His inspiring story shows how he achieved so much in his journey from one NYU to another. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Grewell wanted to become a musician since he was four years old. He played almost every style of music from classical to jazz to rock and had a semi-professional career until high school. However, when college decisions came out, he turned down a full scholarship for a music school and instead went to NYU to pursue a career in economics. After obtaining his BA, he decided to explore the field of business and got his MBA from the Stern School of Business. As a professor, his lectures reflect his expertise in global marketplace, corporate and venture finance, and management every time he discusses a business plan or a marketing strategy. Grewell has been a part of NYU for about 18 years in various shapes and forms - as a student, as an administrator, starting new programs, working in finance and IT, and all other sorts of different areas. After completing his MBA, he wanted to do something related to technology and finance and also get international experience. Grewell describes former NYU president John Sexton’s vision of a global network of scholars and resources as a big influence on him and he loves the idea of global citizenship. Based on the economic growth that was happening in China in recent years, Grewell decided to come here for more opportunities in this field. He had also been studying Chinese for about 10 years at NYU “using the same book that’s still used today, maybe with one or two updates, hopefully.” Along with his wife, he took the foreign service exam, and the whole process took about a year and a half to two years to get through fully. Things took a turn, however, when he went to tender his resignation. He heard about the possibility of China's first Sino-American joint university, NYU Shanghai, which is how he became a part of the planning team for NYU Shanghai. Grewell had his full time job at NYU in the finance department; he would work the mornings at the school, and at nights, he would translate Chinese documents, draft hundreds of Excel sheets and help others prepare and plan NYU Shanghai. Throughout this period, Grewell also developed interest in Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) and became a huge fan of it. “I had worked in economics and business, and I knew I had the knowledge, but the one piece I didn’t have was that creative controversial side,” says Christian. He was admitted to the ITP program but deferred it for NYU Shanghai. He felt that that was always the other piece that he was missing--and not on a technical level, programming or design--but on creating strange new things. This is mainly why he had such a strong belief in the power of the Interactive Media Arts (IMA) offering at NYU Shanghai. He knew that it would offer a chance to any student, regardless of their background, to be included in this community. Grewell is also a partner in the Program for Creativity and Innovation (PCI) at NYU Shanghai. Along with preparing for and delivering the content to his classes, Christian works on “professional practice and research, which is generally coming up with new ways of using emerging media in the world.” He is currently working on a project with a potential supplier of integrated circuits, resistors, and capacitors to make it easier to form a rapid prototyping supply chain for students of NYU Shanghai and the Global Network. He is constantly working on his prototypes, loves designing and experimenting on new ideas, and comes up with a new project each semester. Grewell is working on three other big projects at the moment. The first one is a company he has just started along with a number of colleagues across the world. It is a replacement for a conferencing system, which provides extremely high quality audio when you are on a conference call. “If you are on a conference call or Skype, and you have an experience with bad quality audio, then you'd probably benefit from what we are trying to build,” he explains. They are working on signing a couple of customers to further validate their project. The second project that Grewell describes to be closest to his professional practice – specifically within NYU Shanghai – is a follow-up to a number of collaborations he has done with local Chinese universities here like Tongji University and the Shanghai Music Conservatory. It consists of using high frame motion capture cameras to capture the motion of some of China’s best calligraphers and painters That data would be the first addition to a repository of human motion as it relates to art and culture. This motion data would then be open-sourced, which could be used for research into human motion and even to make different types of art. “This is maybe a little funny; I am half-serious when I say this, but when the robots take over, they may have access to this data in a format they understand,” Grewell continues with excitement. Last month on Oct. 19, along with the students of NYU Shanghai, Grewell debuted his third project called Project Neuron. It is a visual and performing-art piece where the movements of the dancers are tracked and visualised using the same motion data audio-visual technologies which are visualised as 3-D graphics. This project aims to decipher how the neural mechanism works when sound is being converted into electrical energy and what happens when we listen to music with other people when they are either close or far away from us. From an artistic and a scientific standpoint, it is interesting to know what happens in the brain when we hear sound, and how the neuronal activity occurs when we listen to mainly different decibel levels. While talking about all these projects, Grewell emphasizes on the value of a unique platform here in China that combines people from all over the world. It is amazing how he manages to work on several projects simultaneously and working seven days a week now. One of the most fascinating qualities about Grewell is that no matter what is happening, he always seems to be enjoying what he is doing. He also focuses on the value of background work and research, most of which are within the context of new areas of inquiry with technologies or concepts that are completely new in the form they take. “Often times I find myself learning quite a bit from the other team members just on account of the prior research they've done,” said Grewell. When asked to give advice to a college student or someone embarking on a similar path as his, Grewell responded, “People are always testing you, and the tests become more complex the further you get in a career, or hobby or school. They are not explicit either. The absolute best advice I can give is to begin by being dependable and self-motivating. You want to build relationships based on trust and develop a reputation as someone who is smart and forward-thinking. Pay attention to people you admire and try and work with them; they'll give you the opportunity. The next step is to not let them down.” Grewell not only manages to bring a great amount of enthusiasm and knowledge to his projects, but he also inspires others to think outside of the box and expand their own skill sets. He is an inspiration for all of us students as we get to know him. This article was written by Tehreem Nihar. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: NYU Shanghai