Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak named HPU’s Innovator in Residence

By Ryan, April 11, 2016

By James Ensor // Editor-in-Chief

On March 23 Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, spoke to High Point University students about innovation and creativity. More than 600 people attended the event in Hayworth Fines Arts Center.
The conversation between Wozniak and Dr. Nido Qubein, HPU president, focused on Wozniak’s ability to solve problems in new ways. Twelve HPU students joined Wozniak and Qubein on stage to ask additional questions.
“The biggest takeaway I had was that passion drives success,” said HPU student Alex Hosteler. “Even as the co-founder of the most valuable company in the world, Wozniak is a humble and witty individual and as soon as he opens his mouth, you instantly recognize the passion he possesses for his products.”
On April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs and Wozniak founded Apple Computer. Apple’s first product was the Apple I computer. Later, Apple released the Apple II computer, the first personal computer of its time. Wozniak was the mastermind behind both projects.
“Steve couldn’t execute,” Wozniak said about Steve Jobs during the Q&A. “He didn’t know computers.”
Wozniak, however, knew computers. Prior to co-founding Apple, Wozniak worked at Hewlett-Packard. “I used my experience at Apple, not my classes,” Wozniak said.
Wozniak later went on to explain how he gained exposure and experience in order to solve problems and think differently.
“The [people] that get good at it are going to put in many more hours beyond the class,” Wozniak said. “I put in 10,000 hours and never failed to get there.”
Wozniak also spoke about motivation inside and outside of the classroom.
“When I taught young students, it was less important what I taught and more important that I motivated them to want to learn and take some pleasure in it,” Wozniak said. “You can never stop someone from learning if they want to.”
After speaking with Qubein on stage, Campus Chronicle Editor in Chief James Ensor had the opportunity to ride in a car with Wozniak between speaking engagements to talk about his new role at HPU as Innovator in Residence.
“I hope to inspire and help students who have ideas and want to start turning them into projects,” Wozniak said. “I want to help them start developing the talents to create what they want to create.”
Later that day, Wozniak met with computer science and physics students in the Belk Entrepreneurship Center to discuss ideas for a mobile kiosk that could be used on campus in the future.
Wozniak’s partnership with HPU started in 2013 when he was the commencement speaker that year. As HPU’s Innovator in Residence, Wozniak will make annual visits to campus to meet and collaborate with students.
“I like the points that Dr. Qubein always expresses about a lot of excellence and the values that he’s trying to instill in the students,” Wozniak said. “That’s more important than the content of any class.”
When asked about his return to HPU, Wozniak was pleased with his visit. “I like the fact that there is a lot of quality around,” Wozniak said.