![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Eric-Flood_BID.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Eric Flood initially intended to study economics at NC State University, but realized it wasn\u2019t what he wanted to do. \u201cAt the time, design was becoming a big player. I was always interested in design but not focused, so I applied. I knew that graphic design was a great area of study \u2013 it was applicable to so many areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Flood\u2019s decision to switch to graphic design turned out to be a great choice. \u201cI think the place (College of Design) functions like a family. This idea of collaboration and sharing \u2013 I remember this being impressed upon us from orientation. This was influential on me. I think that more of the philosophical classes were beneficial such as design thinking. That kind of helped me think about how I can employ design and why design is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n
To add to Flood\u2019s positive experience as an undergraduate student at NC State, he connected with several professors. One of those professors was past Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Industrial Design, Santiago Piedrafita. \u201cHe was a huge influence \u2013 I think he knew what was going on in the world and what other schools were doing right or wrong. He implemented good things here. He pushed people to think about certain methods and he shared so many ideas and ways to make things better,\u201d Flood said.<\/p>\n
Flood\u2019s time at NC State greatly shaped who he is today. He didn\u2019t have a set career path as many students do when they enter college.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe design college started an interdisciplinary program called Social Innovation and it partnered with the Institute of Emerging Issues (IEI). This allowed us to look at problems ourselves without having to be given them. I looked at information being available to rural communities and I realized design could be influential in policy changes \u2013 a community impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em>Community outreach soon became one of Flood\u2019s central passions. \u201cI was interested in context of design and how people use communications. We did this ethnographic research and framed how we addressed problems. It was a real world issue \u2013 the goal of making something function.\u201d Flood gained the opportunity to simplify design so that it addresses a broader audience with unique needs.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this course, partnered with IEI, they had subgroups that were looking at different areas. They were looking at how design could build a toolkit of how to fix problems across rural North Carolina,\u201d Flood said.<\/p>\n \u201c85 percent of North Carolina is rural and a lot of people don\u2019t have access to what we have in urban areas \u2013 food, news on a federal or global level, radio, TV, and Internet. Infrastructure lags in schools and it doesn\u2019t get addressed in these areas until after it\u2019s been solved in the rural areas. I think everyone should have the same amount of access to things that are important,\u201d Flood said.<\/p>\n After graduating from NC State, Flood worked for IDEO Incorporated<\/a>, a design and innovation consulting firm in Munich, Germany for almost a year. \u201cWhen I left, I realized that I had an interest of how design influenced business. I wanted to develop the involvement of the Germany start-up scene. What are the needs of startups? What could we offer? Business was in my blood.\u201d<\/p>\n Flood later returned to NC State for his master\u2019s in Business Administration. \u201cI got offered a pretty nice fellowship as a Blackstone Fellow before I left for Germany. They (NC State) were ok with me going to Germany and coming back. I love that NC State has this important influence of collaboration of different disciplines. At the time, NC State was forming a partnership with HQ Raleigh \u2013 we were providing advice workshops to entrepreneurs and offering students to assist in new startups to provide advice and ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight before I left Germany, I worked on a great project. I worked on NEST \u2013 a smart home device which was a competitor to tado\u00b0. They took this idea and modified it for homes in Germany and they wanted to expand. I helped them do this and we looked at funding options, had a successful Kickstarter<\/a> campaign, made a new product, raised a decent amount of money, and gained experience from an idea to launch. I worked with a team that was risk adverse and skeptical at what we were suggesting \u2013 but followed us anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n During his two years as an MBA student, Flood gained a wealth of experience. His central focus was with innovation management. \u201cIt\u2019s like design thinking applied to business strategy. I worked with Blackstone, a VC (venture capital) firm. They\u2019re a nonprofit that partners with universities. We looked at startups and tried to offer suggestions to benefit their launch such as helping them figure out how to brand and communicate. At other times it was business aid. Working there was like taking on mini internships \u2013 we would partner with these entrepreneurs for two to three months and then move on. We\u2019d also work with students from UNC and Duke.\u201d Flood is a creative and logical thinker who applies his design background to business methodologies in hopes of developing useful products that creates added value to people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n Flood is now working as an Innovation Advisor with RTI International, a nonprofit institute. \u201cWe may partner with large corporations and companies on ideas to expand their product base – as simple as new types of faucets that reduce leaking. We may partner with other nonprofits to provide ideas of new technologies that may help a new economy. I look at products differently than an engineer\u2014toward a business need.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI like it a lot and feel this is a great opportunity to change what happens\u2014almost to expand the kind of thinking that is currently going on. I like the people I work with. They have a lot of experiences that I don\u2019t have and I learn a lot everyday from someone. There are a lot of social issue topics to talk about. It may not be our project, but we get to discuss it. Sometimes we get a free lunch out of the units and we get to participate in their topics or projects.\u201d<\/p>\n In his spare time, he works with a family startup, Folding Boat Company. \u201cMy dad makes these kayaks that fold up into back packs for quick storage. They\u2019re made with inflatable tubing that keeps sturdy with bulletproof fabric. I\u2019m trying to help him grow.\u201d Flood\u2019s drive for business continues not only in his professional life but his personal life as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always trying to start my own thing, whether it\u2019s an app or small business. I\u2019d like to start an innovation think tank in the Raleigh area,\u201d Flood said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Article written by Caretta Davis, currently pursuing a\u00a0B.A. in English with a concentration in Language, Writing, and Rhetoric<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":" Combine the influence of design with business and you’ve got an innovative perspective on solving problems. Meet alumnus Eric Flood, entrepreneur by design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-21081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-experience","category-uncategorized","tag-graphic-design"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/architecture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Capitl_Eric](\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Capitl_Eric-Flood.png\")
<\/a>Flood\u2019s talents in design earned him a notable accolade: he was a finalist for the 2013 Fast Co Innovation by Design Award for his capstone project, Capitl<\/a>. Capitl is an interactive design tool for aggregating, understanding, and interacting with objective and highly credible political journalistic releases. Capitl\u2019s purpose is to inform the public as well as get users involved in changing how their government works and is understood.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s next for Eric Flood?<\/h4>\n
![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Eric-Flood_2-1024x694.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cThere\u2019s this really cool program\u2014Presidential Innovation Fellowship in Washington, D.C. I\u2019m looking at this and I also recommend that design students consider this fellowship. It takes students with design and maybe a business experience and background. You will work with think tanks and make a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\nEric Flood initially intended to study economics at NC State University, but realized it wasn\u2019t what he wanted to do. \u201cAt the time, design was becoming a big player. I was always interested in design but not focused, so I applied. I knew that graphic design was a great area of study \u2013 it was applicable to so many areas,\u201d he said.\n\nFlood\u2019s decision to switch to graphic design turned out to be a great choice. \u201cI think the place (College of Design) functions like a family. This idea of collaboration and sharing \u2013 I remember this being impressed upon us from orientation. This was influential on me. I think that more of the philosophical classes were beneficial such as design thinking. That kind of helped me think about how I can employ design and why design is so important.\u201d\n\nTo add to Flood\u2019s positive experience as an undergraduate student at NC State, he connected with several professors. One of those professors was past Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Industrial Design, Santiago Piedrafita. \u201cHe was a huge influence \u2013 I think he knew what was going on in the world and what other schools were doing right or wrong. He implemented good things here. He pushed people to think about certain methods and he shared so many ideas and ways to make things better,\u201d Flood said.\n\nFlood\u2019s time at NC State greatly shaped who he is today. He didn\u2019t have a set career path as many students do when they enter college.\n\n\u201cThe design college started an interdisciplinary program called Social Innovation and it partnered with the Institute of Emerging Issues (IEI). This allowed us to look at problems ourselves without having to be given them. I looked at information being available to rural communities and I realized design could be influential in policy changes \u2013 a community impact.\u201d\n\n\u00a0<\/em>Community outreach soon became one of Flood\u2019s central passions. \u201cI was interested in context of design and how people use communications. We did this ethnographic research and framed how we addressed problems. It was a real world issue \u2013 the goal of making something function.\u201d Flood gained the opportunity to simplify design so that it addresses a broader audience with unique needs.\n\n\u201cIn this course, partnered with IEI, they had subgroups that were looking at different areas. They were looking at how design could build a toolkit of how to fix problems across rural North Carolina,\u201d Flood said.\n\n\u201c85 percent of North Carolina is rural and a lot of people don\u2019t have access to what we have in urban areas \u2013 food, news on a federal or global level, radio, TV, and Internet. Infrastructure lags in schools and it doesn\u2019t get addressed in these areas until after it\u2019s been solved in the rural areas. I think everyone should have the same amount of access to things that are important,\u201d Flood said.\n\nAfter graduating from NC State, Flood worked for IDEO Incorporated<\/a>, a design and innovation consulting firm in Munich, Germany for almost a year. \u201cWhen I left, I realized that I had an interest of how design influenced business. I wanted to develop the involvement of the Germany start-up scene. What are the needs of startups? What could we offer? Business was in my blood.\u201d\n\nFlood later returned to NC State for his master\u2019s in Business Administration. \u201cI got offered a pretty nice fellowship as a Blackstone Fellow before I left for Germany. They (NC State) were ok with me going to Germany and coming back. I love that NC State has this important influence of collaboration of different disciplines. At the time, NC State was forming a partnership with HQ Raleigh \u2013 we were providing advice workshops to entrepreneurs and offering students to assist in new startups to provide advice and ideas.\u201d\n\n\u201cRight before I left Germany, I worked on a great project. I worked on NEST \u2013 a smart home device which was a competitor to tado\u00b0. They took this idea and modified it for homes in Germany and they wanted to expand. I helped them do this and we looked at funding options, had a successful Kickstarter<\/a> campaign, made a new product, raised a decent amount of money, and gained experience from an idea to launch. I worked with a team that was risk adverse and skeptical at what we were suggesting \u2013 but followed us anyway.\u201d\n\nDuring his two years as an MBA student, Flood gained a wealth of experience. His central focus was with innovation management. \u201cIt\u2019s like design thinking applied to business strategy. I worked with Blackstone, a VC (venture capital) firm. They\u2019re a nonprofit that partners with universities. We looked at startups and tried to offer suggestions to benefit their launch such as helping them figure out how to brand and communicate. At other times it was business aid. Working there was like taking on mini internships \u2013 we would partner with these entrepreneurs for two to three months and then move on. We\u2019d also work with students from UNC and Duke.\u201d Flood is a creative and logical thinker who applies his design background to business methodologies in hopes of developing useful products that creates added value to people\u2019s lives.\n\n<\/a>Flood\u2019s talents in design earned him a notable accolade: he was a finalist for the 2013 Fast Co Innovation by Design Award for his capstone project, Capitl<\/a>. Capitl is an interactive design tool for aggregating, understanding, and interacting with objective and highly credible political journalistic releases. Capitl\u2019s purpose is to inform the public as well as get users involved in changing how their government works and is understood.\n\nFlood is now working as an Innovation Advisor with RTI International, a nonprofit institute. \u201cWe may partner with large corporations and companies on ideas to expand their product base - as simple as new types of faucets that reduce leaking. We may partner with other nonprofits to provide ideas of new technologies that may help a new economy. I look at products differently than an engineer\u2014toward a business need.\u201d\n\n\u201cI like it a lot and feel this is a great opportunity to change what happens\u2014almost to expand the kind of thinking that is currently going on. I like the people I work with. They have a lot of experiences that I don\u2019t have and I learn a lot everyday from someone. There are a lot of social issue topics to talk about. It may not be our project, but we get to discuss it. Sometimes we get a free lunch out of the units and we get to participate in their topics or projects.\u201d\nWhat\u2019s next for Eric Flood?<\/h4>\nIn his spare time, he works with a family startup, Folding Boat Company. \u201cMy dad makes these kayaks that fold up into back packs for quick storage. They\u2019re made with inflatable tubing that keeps sturdy with bulletproof fabric. I\u2019m trying to help him grow.\u201d Flood\u2019s drive for business continues not only in his professional life but his personal life as well.\n\n
<\/a>\u201cThere\u2019s this really cool program\u2014Presidential Innovation Fellowship in Washington, D.C. I\u2019m looking at this and I also recommend that design students consider this fellowship. It takes students with design and maybe a business experience and background. You will work with think tanks and make a big difference.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m always trying to start my own thing, whether it\u2019s an app or small business. I\u2019d like to start an innovation think tank in the Raleigh area,\u201d Flood said.\n\n \n\nArticle written by Caretta Davis, currently pursuing a\u00a0B.A. in English with a concentration in Language, Writing, and Rhetoric<\/em>\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n "},"excerpt":{"rendered":"