Innovation : Buzz

For the ranking, The Daily Beast researched the leadership of more than 100 tech companies -- including all those among the Fortune 500 plus startups in the TechCrunch 50 list and the tech category of Technology Review's Most Innovative Companies list -- and then "analyzed the biographies of the companies' CEOs and other top executives... to tabulate their undergraduate alma maters. Schools that produced multiple executives in our universe of companies made the first cut in our analysis."

In its write-up on Pitt, The Daily Beast singles out Pitt's Technology Commercialization Alliance (TCA) as a "Tech Feature" and undergraduate alumni Robert K. Henry (ENGR '69), executive vice president and chief operating officer of Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Fla., and Ted W. Schremp (A&S '93), executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Charter Communications in St. Louis, Mo., as "Notable Alums."

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Inspired by the recent Apple commercial that proclaims, "All I really needed was my iPhone and my passport" for a trip to Spain, Arbes treks from D.C. to Pittsburgh with only his iPhone and wallet.

"In the spirit of the ad, I packed no change of clothes, no guidebooks and no directions. I hadn't made reservations, and I hadn't done any planning. I picked Pittsburgh because I thought that the Steel City, not your typical tourist destination, would pose a good challenge for the many apps that claim to be universal," Arbes writes. "Like the noble outdoorsman venturing into the forest to try out his knife and compass, I headed into the urban jungle of Pittsburgh on a mission to test the limits of the iPhone and its array of travel-related apps."

The apps turn out to be pretty useful, and lead Arbes on an adventure through Steel City's neighborhoods -- including an Oakland hotel, a South Side dinner and an iconic Mt. Washington view.

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The study, by Pitt's Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, says Pittsburgh--which spends $4.2 million annually on electricity and streetlight maintenance--could save $1 million each year in energy costs and $700,000 in maintenance costs with LED (light-emitting-diode) lighting.

The 131 million streetlights in the United States produce 128 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution. With LED lighting, Pittsburgh would reduce CO2 emissions by 6,818 metric tons per year, the study says.

"The University of Pittsburgh looked at what is the best product from cradle to grave approach on the environmental impact, and one of the first studies done on urban lighting," city Councilman Bill Peduto said. "The report clearly demonstrates with all the technology out there that LED has the best impact from an environmental point of view."

Last February, City Council formed six subcommittees to lead a Pittsburgh Streetlight Conversion Task Force in evaluating streetlight replacement citywide. Councilman Peduto and Lindsay Baxter, sustainability coordinator in Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's office, say the task force studies will serve as a standard tool for municipalities worldwide to evaluate streetlight technologies.

With completion of the Pitt study, Baxter says she and the mayor's office now are leaning toward LED lighting. But a final decision will await completion of all the task-force studies.

The hope is to seek bids in June and begin streetlight construction in late summer. The project will progress in phases to allow the technology to mature and costs to decline.

Click here to read the complete Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

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The festival is currently accepting applications from tech "wizards" and eco-artists, and is also looking for volunteers and interns. Submissions are due by January 26.

Click here to read the complete Pittsburgh Art + Technology blog post.

Click here for more information on GA/GI, or email passports.art@gmail.com.

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Correspondent Morley Safer interviews Dr. Stephen Badylak, deputy director at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as well as Dr. Blair Jobe, associate professor of surgery in the Heart, Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC.

Dr. Badylak explains his work, with a chuckle as, "I make body parts," and describes how a material called Extra Cellular Matrix can regrow virtually every tissue in the body.

In Pittsburgh, regenerative techniques have been used to regrow esophageal lining of 76-year-old cancer patient Erwin Schmidt, and to successfully transplant a hand from a cadaver onto the arm of Marine Josh Maloney, who lost his right hand working with dynamite.

Click here to view the complete 60 Minutes video.

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Other top museum accounts include the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian, the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Whitney Museum.

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The 12-person company specializes in robotic toys "designed in Pittsburgh, made in China and distributed everywhere," says co-founder David Palmer. Its toys, including an adorable robotic penguin ($79.99) and a game-playing gorilla ($99.99), emerged from research on high-performance legged robots coming out of CMU. Bossa Nova recently brought a new CEO, Martin Hitch, into the mix, and is hoping to crack the U.S. market and its big retailers this year. Bossa Nova's revenues are approaching $4 million.

To read the complete Time article, click here.