Innovation + Job News

Imagine students at four different high schools working collaboratively and in real time on a project to create a mechanically-fed birdhouse monitored via the Internet. The bird feeder automatically refills itself, based on a preset schedule.

One school team acts as project manager, while another is responsible for aesthetic design. The third school handles computer programming for refilling the bird seed. The fourth school determines the type and amount of bird seed used.

That example is provided by Julie Michael Smith, executive vice president at Applied Systems and Technology Transfer (AST2), to illustrate its Virtual Collaborative Learning Environment (VCLE).

“VCLE is a hardware and software technology that enables students at different schools to collaborate and communicate on projects in real time using social media, design and visualization," Smith explains. "It’s offered in a private cloud to integrate equipment, people and information in a secure, virtual manner.” 

VCLE enables people to use design software to create ideas and develop solutions collaboratively in 2D and 3D environments, according to Smith. “The design can then be prototyped by remotely accessing equipment such as 3D printers, milling machines and laser cutters.”

AST2 has developed a curriculum focused on innovation and creativity that helps students prepare for future jobs requiring skills in science, technology, engineering and math. “Over the past 10 years, STEM careers grew three times faster than non-STEM jobs,” Smith says. “That strong growth is projected to continue.”

The company will begin offering its curriculum and program to several high schools this fall with a goal of making it available to 1,000 high schools by 2016-2017.

AST2 recently landed a potentially multi-million dollar contract award from the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for its MENTOR (Manufacturing and Experimentation Outreach) initiative.  

Source: Julie Michael Smith
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

Matt Mastrangelo knows first-hand the hassles of putting together a group outing to an Indians or Browns game. After nearly 10 years in group sales for both sports teams, he witnessed the amount of work staffers put into organizing a group outing.
 
“It was in the Stone Age,” he says. “Figuring out the paper flyers, who wants how many tickets, how much they cost, collecting cash and checks. I thought there was something I could do to alleviate that work.” So in March, Mastrangelo created GroupAide, an online system for organizers of group events to manage the ticket sales.
 
Organizers go to the GroupAide site, set up an event page that includes all the details of the event and send email invitations to the group. Attendees can view the seating chart and buy tickets. It’s free to set up but a service fee is attached to each ticket sale.
 
“So if they’re sitting at home one night, they can just go to their event page and place an order really quickly,” says Mastrangelo. “We provide sales support, who bought tickets, how many seats were sold and how much money has been collected.” With a click of the mouse, the organizer can issue a sales report and collect the money for the event.
 
“Maybe it’s just from being around it for so long, but I don’t feel like I’m reinventing the wheel or changing the world,” says Mastrangelo. “I’m just putting together a way to promote and organize an event.”
 
Mastrangelo already has a few clients through GroupAide, from sporting events to a ski race and even a poinsettia sale. Right now he is still operating GroupAide out of his house in Lyndhurst, but hopes to grow as people catch on to GroupAide.

 
Source: Matt Mastrangelo
Writer: Karin Connelly

NEOSA Tech Week 2012 was held last week at various northeast Ohio locations, promoting the region’s technology companies and the work they are doing in the field. This is the second year for the event, which increased participation by 80 percent with more than 900 people attending nine separate events.
 
“It was awesome,” says Brad Nellis, NEOSA director. “The main goal is to raise the profile of the technology industry in Cleveland.”
 
The week kicked off with Tech Pitch night at the 100th Bomb Group, where 10 companies pitched their businesses to IT executives. “The purpose was for business development and to make business connections,” explains Nellis. The audience voted for the most intriguing company, most wanted product and best pitch.
 
A talent networking event linked 100 young professionals and college students with 25 area companies -- from small employers to international power companies. “We heard from a number of companies who participated about how good it was for them,” says Nellis.
 
The sixth annual Best in Tech Awards recognized outstanding tech companies and impressive tech entrepreneurs in the region. Six companies out of 60 nominations were named as winners in various categories. Sparkbase was named Tech Company of the Year. The CIO of the Year awards were also announced in four categories.
 
The Cool Tech Challenge invited 31 area high school teams to compete in web site design. Seventy students on 43 teams competed. Six students on three teams from Mentor High School, Beaumont School and Copley-Fairlawn High School each received $1,000 in scholarships.

 
Source: Brad Nellis
Writer: Karin Connelly

University of Cincinnati research has led to cutting-edge software that will monitor wind turbine health, allowing the machines to work as efficiently as possible.

Students and faculty at UC's Center for Intelligence Maintenance Systems are testing an early version of the software, based on real-world data from commercial wind farms near Shanghai, China, and in Taiwan and North America.

The software is potentially groundbreaking because most wind turbine performance figures are based on computer models. Since the technology is so new, there is still much unknown about the real-life, long-term performance life and maintenance needs of these high-priced energy generators.

"This is a very closed community. It's tough to get them to open up. We were very lucky to get the (real-world) wind data," says UC doctoral student Edzel Lapira, who co-authored "Wind Turbine Performance Assessment using Multi-regime Modeling Approach." His paper, which was recently published in the Journal of Renewable Energy, analyzed two years’ of operating and environmental data from commercial wind turbines, as well as information on the maintenance software.

This data in essence drives the software, which has several aims, according to UC:

• To predict maintenance needs so a wind turbine experiences near-zero downtime for repairs.
• To aid just-in-time maintenance functions and delivery of needed parts.
• To decrease spare-parts inventory.
• To ultimately predict and foster needed redesigns for wind turbines and their parts.

The team behind the research includes engineering master’s student Dustin Brisset, engineering doctoral students Hossein Davari and David Siegel, and Ohio Eminent Scholar Ohio in Advanced Manufacturing Jay Lee, professor of engineering.

The group continues working on the software, while seeking a wider community of wind farms to test, Lapira says.

"Prediction, that is the overall goal," Lapira says. "Eventually the software will predict that there is a fault, where it is and what part would be needed to fix it. Right now (turbine) manufactures will look at a large number of systems and if they see something wrong, call the operator who will look into it. It's still manual and takes expert knowledge. We are trying to automate that expert knowledge."


Source: Edzel Lapira
Writer: Feoshia Henderson

Pat Valente, executive director of  the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, is convinced that fuel cells are the future of energy. The OFCC is a group of industry, academic and government leaders who seek to propel Ohio into a global leadership position in fuel cell technology.
 
Ohio has a competitive advantage in fuel cell technology, says Valente. “We have the supply chain (components), a skilled workforce, and ongoing research on college campuses and in business. We like to say that every fuel cell manufactured in the U.S. has an Ohio component.”
 
Valente touts the clean energy of hydrogen fuel cells. “The only emission that comes out of the tailpipe is water vapor,” he says, referring to the use of fuel cells in vehicles.
 
But fuel cells aren’t just for cars, trucks and buses anymore. Honda is working on an advanced fuel cell that could power a conventional household for six days. Stationary fuel cells are in the works that can power a shopping center or a small community, completely off the grid.
 
In late April, Valente was preparing for the Ohio Fuel Cell Symposium, which took place from May 1st-2nd at Lorain County Community College. “We’re expecting Honda, GM, Daimler, Hundaii, and Toyota,” among others. He thinks government needs to step up with stricter emission requirements, which would further encourage the fuel cell technology.
 
With a rising middle class in China and India, Valente believes it’s just a matter of time before the oil runs out to power all those cars. “We need wind, solar, fuel cells, a little bit of everything. “


Source: Pat Valente
Writer: Catherine Podojil

Students at 21 Ohio colleges and universities can currently seek course help through an e-Tutoring program run by the Ohio Board of Regents. Next year, new funding from the Ohio Tech Consortium, eStudent services, and the Ohio State Fund will enable every student enrolled in all 107 colleges and universities in Ohio to access this service.
 
Karen Boyd, Ohio eTutoring Coordinator, says, “There are other e-Tutoring programs in the country, but Ohio is the only statewide collaborative program.”
 
According to John Charlton, Deputy Director of Communications at the Ohio Board of Regents, “Ohio is a perfect place for such a program because of our '30-mile promise.' There’s a college within thirty miles of every citizen.”
 
E-tutoring is offered in accounting, anatomy and physiology, biology, calculus, chemistry, math, and statistics. Most students also seek guidance in writing.
 
Balee Peth studies marketing and communication at the University of Toledo. She praises the friendly and quick response of her eTutor, who helped her express herself  through her writing.
 
Kyle Steele, a biomed major at Capital University, says, “Even with a science background, it helps me to get advice [with my writing]. You submit your writing and your eTutor reviews it and sends back suggestions for improvement.”
 
ETutors need not be at the same institution as the student seeking help. For example, three students in China, who currently study online at the University of Akron, use eTutoring for their papers. Next year, two of them will spend the academic year in Akron, where they will attest to the value of the eTutoring program. They will also be able to demonstrate their ability to use technology as teachers when they return to China.


Source: Karen Boyd, John Charlton, Balee Peth, Kyle Steele
Writer: Catherine Podojil

The Braintree Business Development Center, in conjunction with the Center for Innovative Food Technology, recently sponsored a nanotechnology workshop at the Tuscarawas campus of Kent State University. The event highlighted the nanotechnology that creates antimicrobial qualities in surfaces found in large kitchens, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and the like.
 
Bob Cohen is the CEO of the Mansfield company, which supports small business startups, particularly those that bring cutting edge technology to the marketplace. “It’s like a continuum,” he explains. “Early on they need advice, next a source of funding, and ultimately when they have commercialized a product, they need markets.”
 
 “We put on a number of events for entrepreneurs, such as international training events, specific workshops, and in the case of the nanotechnology conference, to showcase products they’ve developed to potential customers.”
 
Foremost at the conference was Micropyretics Heaters International (MHI Inc.), a Cincinnati based manufacturer of innovative non-toxic heating materials and devices, all manufactured in Ohio and exported to over 25 countries.
 
Cohen explains, “This nanotechnology actually changes the qualities of the surface, making it resistance to microbes. The technology becomes standard equipment pretty quickly, because nobody wants to be left behind. And it already has an export market.”
 
Braintree has also recently awarded three entrepreneurs Tech Sprout development grants. Rapid Forms (construction forms) and Lapkey Board (ergonomic computers) are both located in Manstield, while RKN Inc. (hand sanitizers to prevent Hospital Acquired Infections) is located in Euclid.


Source: Bob Cohen
Writer: Catherine Podojil

Getting face time with the right decision-makers is priority # 1 for any would-be entrepreneur. A terrific idea for a much-needed product may never become reality if it can’t presented to the right people.

Unfortunately, getting face time with the right decision makers doesn’t come easily for entrepreneurs. Fortunately, a one-year-old program in Columbus called First Customer is helping to change that for Central Ohio entrepreneurs. 

First Customer is a joint initiative of Tech Columbus, whose mission is to accelerate the growth of Central Ohio's innovation economy, and Columbus 2020, an economic development organization.  The new organization is currently focusing its efforts on helping qualified entrepreneurs get access to decision makers at established medical device and software businesses.

Such access comes through a steering committee of eight chief information officers from a wide range of industries and fields, such as real estate, utilities, city government, restaurants, hospitals, insurance and fashion.

“To qualify, the entrepreneur must have a clear concept, a written business plan, a team in place and a previous funding source,” explains Parker MacDonell, who is facilitating First Customer. “The individual must also have completed a beta or clinical test and be ready to commercialize the product or service.”

According to MacDonnell, First Customer has had some 35 startups begin the vetting process since the program launched. “Three have gotten business so far, and there are another four or five that will over time,” he notes.

The idea for First Customer came from Columbus laparoscopic surgeon Dr. Wayne Poll. Dr. Poll invented a medical device to help doctors maintain clear sight during a laparoscopic procedure. While his device is now a success, Dr. Poll discovered that hospitals can be difficult to navigate when it comes to new products.

He hoped to see an organization created to help entrepreneurs get access to decision makers. First Customer is the result of his farsighted idea.
 
Source:  Parker MacDonell
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

LeanDog Software Studio has seen success as a software delivery firm and the team enjoys sharing their knowledge and mentoring others in the field. So the natural progression for the 55-person company was to expand into the world of fostering entrepreneurs in the tech field. The launch of LeanDog Labs does exactly that.
 
“Labs was really a part of our original vision of LeanDog,” says Nick Barendt, director of LeanDog Labs. “Very early on we were working with startups, but we were bootstrapped as a startup ourselves and cash poor. We really wanted to get back into working with Cleveland-based startups.”
 
LeanDog Labs teaches what they know to up-and-coming technology experts. They don’t invest in the companies; they are focused on being a technology partner. “We’re not looking to fund or provide office space. We’re there on the technology end to help entrepreneurs deliver their vision,” says Doc Norton, director of LeanDog Studio. “We’re looking to be a delivery partner in the startups.”
 
The company is in a position now to help out. LeanDog grew to 45 people from 18 people last year, and has hired 10 employees this year -- four of them just last week. Barendt and Norton see that growth as an opportunity to spread the expertise around.
 
“We're looking to work with entrepreneurs to help build their product vision,” says Barendt. “We have an absolutely amazing group of developers with incredibly diverse experiences, from mobile and web to financial and insurance to real time control and embedded systems, and we can make that collective experience available to our entrepreneurial partners.”

 
Source: Nick Barendt and Doc Norton
Writer: Karin Connelly
 

When Jeremy Amos and Matt Benton were working together at a bank a few years back, they constantly heard from potential investors about how difficult the college admissions process was for their children. They found that finding the right college was often confusing, complicated and even expensive.
 
So, in 2011, Amos and Benton came up with Upclique -- a free forum to connect students with the information they need to find the college that fits their needs, and allowing colleges to attract quality students. “We offer students a very detailed search tool that helps them narrow down their number of potential schools to a list that is manageable,” says Amos. “Once they have narrowed their list we provide them with all the necessary info they will need regarding the school to make a quality decision.”  
 
Amos describes Upclique as the FaceBook of academia. “Our main goal was to create a site where students, parents, college counselors and college personnel come together,” says Amos. “They can come to our site not knowing a thing about what to do or where to go and we can immediately help them from this point."
 
Since its official launch at the end of February, Upclique has recruited 180 colleges, 35 high schools and 150 students and parents. “We’ve had really great growth,” says Amos.
 
Upclique’s revenue comes from third party sponsors in academics. They recently received an investment from Ancora Advisors in Beachwood, and they are endorsed by the National Catholic College Admission Association, which represents more than 200 colleges across the country.
 
Amos and Benton recently hired a CTO, who contracts with four outside developers.

 
Source: Jeremy Amos
Writer: Karin Connelly

The Hamilton County Business Center (HCBC) has partnered with the Product Development and Management Association, (PDMA), Cincinnati Chapter, for a new workshop series aimed at would-be entrepreneurs not quite sure if their ideas are ready for prime time.

This hands-on series, Commercialization Best Practices for New Business Development, helps budding entrepreneurs and innovators flesh out their ideas, and find the best ways to bring them into the marketplace.

"It's a few steps earlier than the business plan process," says HCBC director Patrick Longo. "This will help people who are thinking of getting into the marketplace. It's all about, 'How do I develop a product, and what kind of market can I serve?' "

HCBC is a local, technology-focused incubator. The Product Development and Management Association is a global professional trade association.

The five-part series starts April 13 and ends June 1. It will be held at the University of Cincinnati College of Applied Science. Sessions run from 1 to 5 p.m. and the series' cost is $199. Registration is available online.

HCBC and PDMA representatives will lead the workshops, which will include out-of-classroom work. Each session is designed to build on the one before it, Longo says.

The scheduled workshops are:

April 13 Session: Introduction to the Front End of Innovation. Introduction to the overall series design and work flow (pre-work, in-session exercises, and homework). The Stage-Gate® process will be used to outline the key elements of successful new product development. Creative problem solving will be used to ensure that the new business idea solves an important customer need in a way that maximizes economic value.

April 20 Session: Assess the Landscape. Outlines the six key focus areas required to build a compelling business case appropriate for passing the Idea Gate of the Stage-Gate® process. For each focus area, participants will assess the readiness of their business-building ideas by answering typical stage-appropriate questions. Participants will identify gaps in their own knowledge and potential killer issues/barriers in their business case and leave with an action plan to complete a landscape assessment for their own business ideas.

May 4 Session: Intellectual Property. Reviews the basic principles of intellectual property protection, addressing both patent-based and non-patent-based strategies. This session will share best practices for maximizing IP productivity and protection during Front End of Innovation (FEI). Participants will leave with an action plan to maximize the effectiveness of their interactions with legal counsel.

May 18 Session: Bringing Your Idea to Market. An overview of the end-to-end supply network required to get a
new business idea to market. Consideration of raw material sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution may uncover potential pitfalls to be addressed in the Front End. Participants will leave with an action plan to evaluate potential barriers and complete a preliminary competitive response analysis.

June 1 Session: Finance 101. Focuses on building the final business case prior to the "Money Gate," where the rate of spending (time, money and resources) increases dramatically. Participants will complete a more detailed financial analysis of their business idea (NPV, ROI, cash flow) and leave with an action plan to explore funding options and cash management resources.

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

A new health IT startup accelerator is taking applications for a 12-week business development program that includes $20,000 in startup funds.

The Innov8 For Health Startup accelerator is an outgrowth of Cincinnati's Innov8 For Health initiative aimed at creating jobs, attracting and retaining talent and improving health outcomes through innovation.

"This goes back to the Innov8 for health theme. We want to identify people who have ideas and support and incentivize them down the path of innovation," says initiative founder Sunnie Southern, also founder of ViableSynergy.

The accelerator will take applications until April 30. It's open to any early-stage startups grounded in health IT. Companies outside of Cincinnati must move to the city during the program. It starts June 11 with eight companies.

"The focus is on providing better health care at a lower cost. The range of solutions can be everything from making it easier to select high-quality healthcare providers to making doctor and patient interaction more efficient," Southern says.

Each company selected will receive $20,000; in return, the accelerator will own six percent of the company. Startups will also work with mentors and tackle business development aspects including sales and marketing, branding, technology and operations and navigating government regulations.

Innov8 For Health partners include GE Aviation, C-Cap, Queen City Angels and the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.

The Greater Cincinnati area is particularly suited for healthcare IT innovation, because many health providers here are further along in adopting paperless records and sharing secure, electronic patient information, Southern says.

"We have one of the most mature health information exchanges in the country, Health Bridge. It's really a cornerstone of what makes Cincinnati different; we have this deep expertise in sharing and exchanging data," she says.

By Feoshia Henderson
Follow Feoshia on Twitter

"I want every drop of rain that falls in the state of Ohio to be drinkable," says Stephen Spoonamore, co-founder of ABSMaterials in Wooster. He and his partner and co-founder, Dr. Paul Edmiston, have developed a material that does just that.
 
The material, called Osorb, is a nanoengineered glass that absorbs non-point source polllution -- pesticides, herbicides, oils, gases and pharmaceuticals -- that make up the constant runoff from impermeable surfaces. ABS has recently secured a patent for the material.
 
The company, with 35 employees, has just initiated a B-round of seeking growth capital for R&D and expanding its customer base. Areas of research include storm water management, cleanup of water in the fracking process, remediation of former industrial sites and clean-room cleanup. ABS is the industry leader in the technology that cleans the water used in silicon chip fabrication.

“We’re the chemical garbagemen of the clean-room industry,” says Spoonamore.
 
ABS co-founder Dr. Paul Edmiston, who is the Peterson Professor of Chemistry at the College of Wooster, says, "Founding a technology based company is definitely a team effort. The science side has to be innovative and responsive, while letting the business side lead the efforts to market." Dr. Ediston won the 2011 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award for the development of Osorb.
 
He adds, “It is incredibly exciting to see the innovations our team has worked on here at the College of Wooster labs move into the commercial space through ABSMaterials. Every day we are making things a little better for water quality.  It is humbling to see the idea just keep growing."


Source: Stephen Spoonamore, Paul Edmiston
Writer: Catherine Podojil

“Cyber threats are one of the most serious economic and national security challenges that we face as a nation," President Barack Obama recently stated. "Our critical infrastructure, such as the electricity grid, financial sector, and transportation networks that sustain our way of life, have suffered repeated cyber intrusions."

He added, "Cyber crime has increased dramatically over the last decade.”
 
To address this, the Entrepreneurs Center, a business and technology incubator in Dayton, recently launched the Cyber Warriors Technology Accelerator. The new program, which was created in partnership with the Dayton Development Coalition, “is looking for individuals who have ideas, technology, and innovation with regard to cyberthreat security," says Barbara Hayde, President of the Entrepreneurs Center. "We’re targeting that area because [Dayton’s] Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is one of the organizations interested in cybersecurity.”

To illustrate the scope of the nationwide cyber threat, she adds, "Boeing was hit by Anonymous the other day and it shut down the corporation for a day and a half.” According to Hayde, the U.S. government gets 10,000 tips a day about people who can hack in to electrical grids, water grids, banking systems and other areas.
 
The applications will be winnowed down to ten participants. Each winner will be given $20,000 to attend a boot camp in July, where they’ll learn how to manage a startup business and develop potential customers. They'll also learn what government and industry are looking for in terms of cybersecurity.

“These fortunate ten people will be surrounded by mentors, advisors, coaches, all kinds of people whose whole purpose is to move this company forward," says Hayde.
 
At the end of ten weeks, participants will present their ideas to venture capitalists, angels and government researchers, with the goal of departing with funding.
   
The deadline for applications is May 29th.


Source: Barbara Hayde
Writer: Catherine Podojil