HP's Open Innovation Strategy: Leveraging Academic Labs
HP Labs seek technology from around the world for next-generation smart printers, optical chips, wireless nano sensors, and more.
Credit: HP
When Rich Friedrich of HP Labs looks into the future, he sees desks used as 3-D displays, printers that automatically tailor a newspaper to a reader’s tastes, faster and more secure cloud computing servers, and wireless nano-sensor networks that monitor the environment. But he also sees that achieving these technologies will require tapping into resources beyond HP’s own intellectual property. It will require an embrace of “open innovation,” the idea that companies should make wider use of ideas and technologies that come from other sources—and allow their own technologies and ideas to be adopted by others. Toward that end, HP’s Innovation Research Program, now in its fourth year, gives grants of $50,000 to $75,000 to university researchers. Each grant can be renewed for up to three years. The company is reviewing proposals for this year’s round of grants. “This is not innovation by doing contract research,” says Friedrich, director of the Open Innovation Office at HP Labs. “This really about bottom-up ideas and inspiration and trying to understand how to apply those.” Existing projects include research at the Technical University of Berlin into improved ways to process search queries in the cloud, work at Imperial College London into building nano rods to make new display devices, and data-mining research at Tsinghua University in China.
HP Labs focuses on eight broad themes, including cloud computing, digital printing, and sustainability. Within those areas, the Innovation Program seeks proposals on 26 topics. For instance, the Sustainable Ecosystems Research group is interested in better methods of handling the energy demands of data centers and applying information technology to a city’s infrastructure. So if a researcher has an idea for a mathematical model that could describe how server farms behave, or ways to use analytics to predict leaks in water pipes, he or she could win a grant. The company would like to develop 3-D video that doesn’t require users to wear special glasses, so it’s looking for new ways to design camera systems and new algorithms to handle the images. Digital printing, obviously, is a big area for HP, so it’s seeking ideas to help computers figure out the meaning of text, photos, and video, then print customized newspapers. Another topic area involves the behavior of inks made of nanometer-sized bits of metal and polymers, which could find applications in pharmaceutical manufacturing as well as printing. The idea, Friedrich explains, is neither to come up with a slightly improved version of an existing product nor to do completely blue-sky research with no obvious practical value. Rather, the office is trying to identify some long-term goals and figure out what it takes to reach them. Along the way, HP researchers and grant recipients have coauthored about 200 journal papers. At least 21 invention disclosures, the first step toward securing a patent, have been filed. HP has all grant winners sign an agreement detailing how they’ll share any intellectual property that comes out of the research. “At some point I do expect some of these to have influence and impact on our products,” Friedrich says. “But we’re really engaged in things that go beyond the product road map.” Of course, some of these projects might hit dead ends. “The goal is for us to push the envelope enough that we uncover the boundaries of what’s possible,” he says. “Some people might consider that a failure. I consider it the edge of knowledge.” One grant recipient, Alan Willner, an electrical engineer at the University of Southern California, has had his grant renewed twice. He’s working on better ways to handle signal processing in optical interconnects on computer chips. These interconnects use multiple wavelengths of light to shunt data between chips at higher speeds than is possible with wires. By using one beam of light to transmit many signals simultaneously, they’ll be able to handle the massive amounts of data involved in cloud computing, while drastically reducing energy consumption at the same time. HP aims to double the performance of such interconnects in 2012 and increase it 20-fold by 2017. Neil Savage (www.neilsavage.com) is a freelance writer based in Lowell, Massachusetts. He has written for IEEE Spectrum, Discover, and Nature Photonics.
Reference Link : http://www.technologyreview.com/business/32260/page2/
Courtesy : Technology Review
IIT-M to aid research on innovative projects
IIT-Madras will soon have an inter-disciplinary ‘Centre of Excellence’ that will showcase and facilitate research on innovative projects in embedded systems, VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) design and enabling technologies by fostering partnership with various industrial players, Kamakoti Veezhinathan, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT-Madras, said here on Tuesday.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 24th international conference on VLSI Design that, along with the 10th international conference on Embedded Systems, seeks to facilitate discussions on designing embedded solutions for emerging markets in infrastructure, energy and automotives. Over 100 researchers, designers and industry experts will present their views on various aspects of electronic design automation and embedded systems that underpin the semiconductor industry. The three-day conference will also witness discussions on the challenges faced by India’s growing VLSI sector. VLSI is demand-driven, and it is necessary to draw the attention of young engineers to opportunities in this area, said Professor Kamakoti, who is co-chairing the conference. “Instead of training students of engineering to be ‘industry-ready,’ engineering colleges should equip them with the fundamentals of design and engineering, that would help them understand processes better,” he said.
The shortage of skilled faculty in the specialised fields including circuit design and VLSI is a serious concern, he added.
The conference will include technical paper sessions on latest research and embedded tutorials, industry presentation sessions, panel discussions, design contests and industrial exhibits.
While discussions and deliberations will focus on technology, manufacturing, markets, applications, finance and policies, the workshop on Reliability Aware System Design and Test (RASDAT) on Thursday and Friday will delve into the issues of data compression techniques, reliable computing, VLSI circuits and partitioning algorithms.
Stanford University professor Thomas H Lee said that the best is yet to come in ‘Embedded revolution.’ “The increasing pervasiveness of microprocessors in all walks of life including communications, consumer care, industry, defence and health care shows that they are very much in the fabric of our existence, but just invisible,” he said.
Reference Link
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article1033172.ece
Courtesy
The Hindu
Two brothers help farmers to pump out ground water from a depth of 50 to 60 feet and save fuel cost in Assam: Rural Innovation Series
Mohammad Mehtar Hussain and his younger brother Mushtaq Ahmad are farmers in the Darrang district of Assam
These entrepreneurial brothers own two acres of land, and produce just enough paddy to feed their families. As cultivating paddy is a water-intensive task, drawing out large amounts of groundwater was difficult due to frequent power cuts. Moreover, the alternative of pumping out water using a diesel set was too expensive and hand-pumping required a lot of effort. This set the brothers thinking, and in 2003 they came up with a solution that was a much cheaper and effective alternative. They invented a simple windmill using bamboo and a tin sheet, and attached it to a hand-pump.
The genesis of their invention is interesting, given the fact that the brothers are educated only up to higher secondary level and have no technical background. While looking around for an answer to their problem, their eyes fell on the movement of a sewing machine.
They observed how the circular motion of the wheel resulted in the up-and-down movement of the needle. This formed a rough impression of how their solution would work. However, the major problem of how they would generate enough energy to make it function still remained.
The solution to this came when one day they were watching kites, and a sudden gust of wind made them soar higher. They concluded that a large wheel, moving by the power of wind, could be attached to the handle of a hand-pump to pump out water continuously. They made their first prototype using bamboo, old tyres, iron, and so on. How the innovation took shape –
The basic model of the windmill consisted of a tower-like structure, made of two parallel bamboo posts. These were connected using an iron shaft, which in turn mounted the blades of the windmill. The wind makes the blades move, thus rotating the shaft. Being connected to the handle of the hand-pump, the rotating motion of the shaft results in the pumping out of water. However, this static model of the windmill has several advantages and disadvantages.
Cost: Rs 6,000 (Static Model) / Rs 40,000 (Improvised Model)
Made of inexpensive, locally available materials, such as bamboo and aluminum sheets, made it much cheaper than traditional windmills. Moreover, the entire unit could be assembled and dismantled in an hour, making it portable. No foundation was required for installation as the bamboo poles could be erected by digging holes in the ground. On the flip side, as the blades were static, they rotate only when facing the direction of the wind. Second, being light in weight, it did not withstand high-velocity wind. Third, there was no brake system in this design—it has to be stopped by inserting a wooden pole between the blades. Fourth, compared to traditional windmills made from sturdy materials, bamboo has a shorter life. This limited its use in all seasons, especially during the rains and the winter.
As the popularity of the windmill slowly spread, another innovator, Karunakanth Nath, whose innovation was already being supported by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) North East, introduced it to the organization. The NIF awarded it a cash prize and a certificate from former President Abdul Kalam. Says Mushtaq “That was the proudest moment of my life.”
The National innovation Foundation supported the innovation through its offshoot Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN) by providing funds. It started working on the defects of the windmill. Several were installed in IIT-Guwahati for technical analysis. At around the same time, GIAN West installed a prototype of the windmill in Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat for salt farming on an experimental basis. India, with an average annual salt production of 157 lakh tonnes, is the third largest salt producer in the world. However, according to GIAN’s estimates, for producing 1,000 tonnes of salt, a salt farmer has to spend approximately Rs 1 lakh, of which nearly Rs 60,000 is spent on fuel for diesel sets for pumping out saline water. According to Mushtaq, “The response that we received was very positive. Our windmill proved to be cheaper as well as effective.” The two brothers have definitely added their names in the Indian rural innovation chapter.
Gates backs 78 new projects for health innovation
Microsoft Corporation founder Bill Gates at Columbia University in New York November 12, 2009.
(Reuters) – Efforts to develop a vaccine triggered by human sweat, and to control mosquitoes using carnivorous plants, were among 78 science projects that won backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday.
The foundation, a $34 billion fund that is run by the multi-billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and invests in scientific projects broadly aimed at improving global health, said each project would get a $100,000 grant for further study.
Other winning projects include developing a low-cost cell phone microscope to diagnose malaria, using ultrasound as a reversible male contraceptive, insecticide-treated scarves and using imaging systems to seek and destroy parasites with a targeted laser vaccine.
“We are convinced that some of these ideas will lead to innovations and eventually solutions that will save lives,” Tachi Yamada, of the Gates Foundation’s global health program, said in a statement.
The foundation said winners were from universities, research institutes and non-profit organizations in 18 countries around the world.
One group of scientists in Germany will use their grant to develop nanoparticles that penetrate the skin through hair follicles and burst on contact with human sweat to release vaccines.
Grants will also help researchers investigate new ways to fight malaria: one team is trying to see whether treating traditional scarves worn by migrant workers along the Thai-Cambodia border with insecticide will reduce drug-resistant malaria; in Uganda, a team is testing the ability of insect-eating plants to reduce the number of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.
Scientists in the United States will use the grant to study the ability of ultrasound to temporarily deplete testicular sperm counts for possible use as new male contraceptive.
The grants were awarded by the foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations scheme – a five-year $100 million initiative which seeks to promote innovation in global health.
Gates, the world’s richest man, is co-founder of Microsoft Corp and remains chairman of the company, although he focuses much of his attention on the foundation.
Since opening in 1994, the foundation has handed out more than $21 billion in grants.
Reference Link
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64A3I320100511?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
Courtesy
Thomson Reuters
Her Company Spells Success in More Than 100 Languages
How Liz Elting helped found and grow TransPerfect, the world’s largest privately held language company.
It was an international drug trafficking case, one that involved a lot of money and a lot of violence. Undercover agents who had infiltrated the cartel had worn wires and collected evidence for years. A conviction depended on an accurate translation of their tape recordings. “Five languages were involved,” says Liz Elting, 44, one of the owners of TransPerfect, the translation company chosen for the job. “The slightest mistake could mean the criminals would go free.” For weeks, company linguists worked closely with prosecutors and agents to help win a conviction.
When Elting launched her business 18 years ago with Phil Shawe, both were attending New York University’s Stern School of Business. Neither realized just how many situations would require their services. “We’ve transcribed black box data after plane crashes,” says Elting. “We’ve done mergers and acquisitions. Translating Hooked on Phonics into eight languages was especially challenging because we were doing sounds, not words!”
Elting had once worked for a translation company, and she knew that the industry was essentially lots of tiny outfits delivering patchy quality. She also knew how important it was to get things right—like the instructions for medical devices. Ad companies, too, needed accurate translations that took cultural differences into account. She and Shawe were certain that if they delivered a quick, reliable service, they could build an international business that would stand out.
They set up shop in Shawe’s dorm room. (The two were engaged until 1997. Though the wedding never happened, the company forged ahead.) While Shawe finished his MBA, Elting recruited freelance linguists and made hundreds of cold calls seeking clients. One of their first jobs was to translate an 800-page feasibility study of a Russian gold mine in 30 days.
Once the partners were out of survival mode, they hired people to help grow the company and told them to run their area as if it were their own business. “If they did well,” says Elting, “they owned that success.”
Elting and Shawe paid themselves $9,000 a year each and plowed everything else back into the business. Their ambition and naïveté, however, at times threatened the company’s growth. In 2000, a major retailer promised
$15 million in business—more than double their revenue. They opened an office in Miami, but when the Internet bubble burst, says Shawe, “the client pulled out. Today we get money up front; we share risk. Commonsense things.”
TransPerfect’s 4,000 linguists cover more than 100 languages. Last year, the company had revenues of $225 million; the average annual growth rate is 30 percent. Elting and Shawe still work together as co-CEOs. “Phil is good at developing systems and creative sales ideas,” says Elting. “I focus on operations and making sure our clients are happy.” Shawe’s take is a little different: “Liz is more risk-averse, and I’m more risk-tolerant.”
With more than 1,100 employees, and offices in 57 cities in 18 countries on four continents, they still focus on the details. They keep a meticulous list of client preferences: soda or soft drink, sofa or couch.
Even now, at the top of the world’s largest privately held language company, Elting refuses to be complacent and would prefer a slightly different translation: “We want to be the world’s premier language company.”
Getting Ahead with Liz Elting
What inspired you to start TransPerfect?
When I was eight, my dad bought a KFC franchise in Portugal. Unfortunately, the Portuguese didn’t want anything American after the Communist revolution. They thought my dad was a CIA spy! That taught me how fast things can change. I’ve studied in Spain and worked in Venezuela. This business is the perfect combination of my passions for languages, cultures, and business.
Is the staff multilingual?
Many are. I speak French and Spanish. My partner, Phil, who is American, likes to say he speaks English on
a good day.
What languages are requested most often?
Spanish and Japanese. Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indic (South Asia), and Eastern European languages are on the rise.
How difficult is it to manage such a diverse workforce?
Our challenge is to be culturally appropriate in every country. When we hand out year-end bonuses in the U.S., for example, we have to remember that in India, bonuses are distributed in the fall.
How important was your early training in finance?
The No. 1 reason companies fail is that they run out of money, so you have to be very aware of the numbers. I’ve learned that doing a great job is more about the soft skills—going with your instincts, acting with integrity, appreciating clients and employees, and dealing with them effectively. Do these things well, and the rest will follow.
Any advice for someone starting a business?
Get started before you have kids. In the beginning, I didn’t know how to do this business on the side. I wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, and wasn’t concerned about balancing my work and personal life. Now, with strong managers in place, I can spend more time with my family [husband Michael Burlant and sons Zachary, nine, and Jason, seven], traveling and playing baseball.
-Article by By Margaret Heffernan.
Reference Link : http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/her-company-spells-success-in-more-than-100-languages/article173018.html
Courtesy : Reader’s Digest (Feb 2010)
Goodness Apple 
leave a comment