Innovation & Job News

Bloomsburg's RantNetwork continues to grow, even as it makes the world smaller by obliterating language barriers. 

A recent Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania Innovation Award winner, RantNetwork now offers its translation app in Blackberry, Android, iPhone and iPad versions. Its "Communilator" app instantly translates texts, photos of print (signs, books,  newspapers, menus, etc.), voice, email and SMS messages in more than 3,000 language combinations. RantNetwork's servers run the complex algorithms that match up word meanings, syntax and grammar.

President Ken Volet says that RantNetwork continues to develop new features and functions and expand the number of platforms that run its app.  A mobile web version that can run on any smart phone is being developed; so is live, simultaneous translation.

The company has also launched a full Arabic interface through Etihad-Etisalat (Mobily), the second largest telecom carrier in Saudi Arabia, expanding RantNetwork's market to the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. The Arabic interface is an important development, says Volet; up until now, all of RantNetwork's user instructions were in English. User interfaces in Japanese, Chinese, Russian and Korean are now in the planning stages, he adds. 

The late Bill Grandizio and his wife, Elisa, founded RantNetwork in 2007. Today, RantNetwork employs four. Job growth, Volet explains, comes at Optimo-IT, also in Bloomsburg, the firm's software development partner, "as we develop new versions and increase distribution of our products." 

Communilator works in 54 languages, spanning the lexicon from Afrikaans to Yiddish. As for Volet himself, he chuckles, "I just speak English."

Source: Ken Volet, RantNetwork
Writer: Elise Vider

Envisioning the day when water is more valuable than oil, Primo Acernese is diverting his company, Allentown's TerraGroup Corp., toward new markets. 

Founded in 1991, Terra's core business for 15 years has been in providing lightweight water purification systems to the U.S. military. Now Terra is focusing its R&D on adapting its products for civilian uses, including emergency responders and residential customers, and is eying foreign military sales.

Availability of potable water is critical in natural disasters, says Acernese, noting how even a relatively small hurricane like Isaac could play havoc on the Gulf Coast. So Terra is looking to a modified version of its military product for agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Homeland Security. A miniaturized and more affordable home system is also under study. 

Meanwhile, Terra is in the midst of a $50 million contract than runs into 2014 to provide water systems to the Marine Corps. Terra's self-contained systems allow forward units to produce potable water from any source: fresh or seawater, brackish and even water polluted by chemical, biological and nuclear contaminants. The units can be set up in under 40 minutes by two people and are virtually indestructible, Acernese says. 

So far, Terra has delivered 250 systems with 120 to go. The huge contract has meant significant growth; as recently as 2005, Terra had only four employees. Today, the company employs 27 – mostly Allentown residents – and anticipates another 8 to 12 hires over the next 24 months. 

Source: Primo Acernese, Terra Group
Writer: Elise Vider

For everyone who has ever fumbled to unlock the front door or garage or to disable the alarm -- you know who you are -- a Lancaster startup is offering its patented technology to come to your rescue.

ECKey turns any Bluetooth-enabled cellphone into a secure device to unlock the car, house, garage door, gate, office, alarm system, or access control system without the need for keys, fobs, cards or remote controls. 

Nick Willis, an inventor in New Zealand, founded the company there in 2005, and has sold about 2,000 units. The company moved to Pennsylvania last year and is now ramping up to begin domestic production and distribution this fall, says President and CEO Paul Bodell. 

There will be two products for starters. One is a complete stand-alone system in which the phone becomes the keypad and proximity reader. The other is an enterprise-wide system that can be used to retrofit large systems like those found in universities and office campuses.

ECKey is on track to raise about $1 million, including a $150,000 investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania, says Bodell. He's working on building a distribution and dealer network and is assembling a small staff  for sales, marketing, customer and technical support, says Bodell. Within a year, he expects to have about five on the payroll altogether.

Source: Paul Bodell, ECKey
Writer: Elise Vider

John McElligott and Mike McHenry had more in common than names that start with "Mc" when they met in 2005: both played in rock bands in and around York and both were struggling to pay for creative services like photography, videography, mixing, mastering and graphic design or "do a mediocre job of it ourselves" at the expense of their music, says McHenry. 

With a third partner, Dan Thompson, they're addressing the problem with The Usic,  a startup, co-op web marketplace for artist-entrepreneurs. "We've realized that not only have we created a way for musicians to band together to get all the services they need, but we've stumbled on to something much larger," says McElligott. "Imagine if there was a place that you could go to find a moviemaker that would jump at the chance to shoot a short documentary on your grandfather at a price you could afford? …  Or a local musician that would love to come and perform at your BBQ? …  Or a new photographer who would kill for the chance to get paid while they build their portfolio?"

Since its soft launch in the York-Lancaster-Harrisburg market in May, the site is growing fast, with most metrics up 150% in August alone, The Usic reports. The company currently employs six, including two web developers hired this summer, and plans to bring on Internet marketers. With private investment and a boost from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania, "We've validated much of our business model," says McHenry. Next, The Usic plans to expand into the Baltimore market and from there, he adds, "we tackle Philadelphia, New York City, and the rest of the nation."

Source: John McElligott and Mike McHenry, The Usic
Writer: Elise Vider

Pop City's weekly roundup of hiring in Pittsburgh ranges from Alcoa to Williams Company to several arts and animal care organizations.

Alcoa is posting 15+ jobs in Pittsburgh including engineers, supply chain specialists, senior technicians, field sales consultants, associate counsel and territory sales reps. 

Tulsa, Okla.-based Williams Company, a natural gas firm, has 115 positions opening up in their Pittsburgh offices. Positions are a wide ranging, from engineers, technicians and safety specialists to internships.

Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC is hiring an administrative coordinator to support the Foundation Board of Directors and Research Administration for its Oakland location.

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is hiring a Director of Development. The new director will orchestrate the Zoo’s $20 million capital campaign in 2013 and everything that goes with it. Qualifications include excellent oral and written communication skills and eight-plus year's progressive experience in financial development with non-profit organizations and prior supervisory experience, for starters.

The Andy Warhol Museum is seeking a Director of Development who will be responsible for developing and implementing fundraising strategies and tactics to generate support from foundations, corporations, governments, and individuals in conjunction with Carnegie Museums’ Director of Development for Art and The Andy Warhol Museum’s leadership staff.

Animal Friends is looking for an Adoption & Customer Service Coordinator.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is hiring a Finance Director and Librarian.

The Ward Home in the South Hills, offering independent-living services for at-risk teens, is looking for a Director of Development.

See the previous job listings in Pop City.

Writer: Deb Smit

CMU’s Chris Harrison, developer of technologies that take digital devices to places they’ve never been before—like a phone on your forearm—was selected by MIT’s Technology Review as one of the world’s Top 35 Innovators Under 35.
 
Harrison has been finding new ways for humans to engage with their technology for several years. There was Skinput, a project that flips the way we use devices like cellphones, dialing a number by tapping a projection on our skin or a table.
 
There's Lean and Zoom, a system that automatically adjusts the magnification of a computer monitor based on the distance you sit from the screen. This idea has already been commercialized by CMU’s QoLT Foundry.
 
Touché is a new sensing technique Harrison helped to develop as part of a team at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, that enables objects to sense how they are being touched.
 
Harrison, 28, is a native of England and Ph.D. student in CMU’s University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII). The idea is to take everyday devices—a computer mouse or a keyboard—and give it a nuance that makes it easier and more convenient to use.
 
The list of the illustrious 35 was selected by a panel of experts and the editorial staff of Technology Review based on a evaluation of more than 250 nominations. The 35 winners for 2012 will be featured in the September/October issue of Technology Review.
 
“Chris has a vision of how interfaces to computing power need to change as our computing environment changes, and the technical skills for making his ideas work in the real world. I can’t think of a better addition to the TR35,” says Justine Cassell, HCII director.
 
Harrison will join other TR35 honorees in discussing their achievements at the EmTech MIT 2012 conference, at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge Oct. 24-26.

Source: Chris Harrison, CMU
Writer: Debra Smit

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Evolve IP, the Wayne-based cloud services company, is paying it forward, establishing an Innovation Center to aid startups. "The idea," says Guy Fardone, Evolve IP's chief operating officer, "is to give startups access to the office space, location, world-class technology, and other business resources that will give entrepreneurs and startups a competitive advantage to start growing their companies."
 
But how does this benefit Evolve IP? "Successful companies will boost the local economy. In turn, more businesses, jobs and increased regional revenue will at some point equate to more IT dollars spent, and more opportunities to implement our cloud solutions. The Innovation Center is also a very good thing to do from a goodwill perspective that will in time create a halo effect for our organization," Fardone adds.
 
The Innovation Center at Evolve IP is a partnership with the Chester County Economic Development Council's Ideas x Innovation Network (i2n) and GPX Realty Partners. It is located in Chester County's Keystone Innovation Zone, making startup tenants eligible for resources including up to $100,000 in KIZ tax credits each year. Targeted companies are early-stage technology, smart energy, non-lab biotechnology and life sciences startups. Mary Fuchs, i2n's co-director, estimates the center will generate five to 10 new, full-time jobs annually.
 
The center is just one aspect of Evolve IP's growth. The company just made the Inc. 500 as one of the fastest growing companies in the country, has launched its newest product, a full production desktop hosted in its nationwide private cloud, and is planning to announce several acquisitions in the coming weeks.
 
Source: Guy Fardone, Evolve IP and Mary Fuchs, i2n
Writer: Elise Vider

Last month, Keystone Edge reported on an online survey of robotic startups in Pennsylvania. Now, a young graphic designer with an entrepreneurial bent has undertaken a similar project with Represent PA, an online map of tech startups around the Commonwealth.
 
Jordan Coeyman created the interactive site as a way to draw attention to Pennsylvania as a startup location and, frankly, to himself. "My goal was to connect the PA startup community visually, and to spread my name across the Internet. I was looking to gain some credibility, as I get ready to launch my own startup, Crowd Engage."
 
Crowd Engage, to launch in the next three months, is a web-based host for video-based reward business campaigns, Coeyman says, "a way for brands and businesses to engage their existing customers, get incredible content in return [and benefit from] the power of word-of-mouth advertising."
 
Coeyman built Represent PA with the open source tool Represent Map, which also is responsible for Mapped in Israel  and Represent LA.  He spread the word on social media via posts on Hackernews, Reddit and Twitter, inviting companies to add themselves to the site. As of this writing, it counts 90 startups, three accelerators, five incubators, six co-working spaces, three investors and 18 consulting firms.
 
Coeyman is a recent graduate and a self-described "born entrepreneur." One of the biggest challenges for young entrepreneurs, he says, is connecting with like-minded people, especially in rural parts of the state. "We built this map to connect and promote the tech startup community in our beloved Pennsylvania," the site urges. "Let's put PA on the map together!"
 
Source: Jordan Coeyman , Represent PA
Writer: Elise Vider

Eaton Corporation has two solar installations underway in western Pennsylvania, and has recently completed a third to power its own facilities, provide an opportunity for research and development and "help spread the solar message," says Dan Carnovale, a company executive.
 
Construction has just begun on a 1.3-megawatt solar array adjacent to Eaton's 500,000-square-foot plant in Vanport Township in Beaver County. The project, which will be the largest in western Pennsylvania, will incorporate more than 10,000 solar panels, Eaton's solar inverters and the heavy-duty circuit breakers manufactured at the plant.  When complete, the installation will help power the factory.
 
A much smaller, 250-kilowatt rooftop installation is being built atop Eaton's Moon Township building, headquarters for the company's electrical group, which Carnovale notes accounted for half of the company's $16 billion in 2011 sales. In Warrendale, Eaton has built a small under-50-kilowatt demonstration facility, including vehicle chargers, for testing and as a "show and tell kind of thing," says Carnovale. "The point is to do some testing and demonstrate these [products] that we offer."
 
Eaton, based in Cleveland, has a Pennsylvania workforce of about 2,000, out of 73,000 worldwide. Carnovale expects that the large Vanport Township array will bring with it several ongoing maintenance and monitoring jobs.
 
Source: Daniel Carnovale, Eaton Corp.
Writer: Elise Vider

Shawn Warner was watching his two-year-old daughter drawn irresistibly and dangerously to the plugs in an electrical outlet. Failing to find a product that made it easy for adults to plug and unplug items, but was still safe from tiny fingers, Walker started tinkering.
 
The result is "Secure Connect," which is being manufactured for Warner at Erie Molded Plastics in Erie. Now Warner is applying the knowledge he's gained about taking a product from concept to manufacture with Warners Innovation Solutions  in Altoona, his "invent help company" for other inventors and entrepreneurs.
 
Electrical engineer by education, landscape company owner by trade, Warner says "the hardest part is to get [a product idea] out of your head and make a prototype. It has to be designed in a way that can be mass produced, a feat on its own."
 
Warner sold shares of stock to raise money and worked with a number of local businesses and resources to develop Secure Connect, including ABCD Corp., Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the Small Business Development Center at St. Francis University  and Actuated Development. 
 
Along the way, Warner applied for and won the coveted Good Housekeeping Seal and is actively working on distribution of Secure Connect, which will surely get a boost when it is featured on Lifetime Network's "Designing Spaces" on Oct. 5.
 
In short order, his company has acquired 18 patents and will be launching Umbbies, a full line of electrical products for contractors in the next 60 days. The company already has seven full-time employees and Warner's business plan is to have his own factory up and running in five years.
 
Source: Shawn Warner, Warners Innovation Solutions
Writer: Elise Vider

Every time Burkentine & Sons breaks ground for a new house, they do likewise in their innovative use of technology and social media.
 
Mike Burkentine joined his family's Hanover-based construction and property management business a few months ago with a freshly minted Penn State degree and an inventive approach to keeping customers informed.
 
Every house under construction now has its own Facebook page, a way for buyers to stay up-to-date and share images. And customers get an iPad, loaded with apps that turn the device into a digital owner's manual. Burkentine has devised an array of apps that display contract documents, change orders, warranties and floor plans. Using the iPad, buyers can browse appliances, cabinets and other fittings and try out interior and exterior details and colors. A 3D model allows users to do a virtual walkthrough and arrange their furniture to see how it fits the new digs. The iPad also generates maintenance alerts notifying residents when it’s time, for example, to change the HVAC air filter or install fresh batteries in the smoke detectors.
 
Burkentine got the idea as an intern with a Baltimore builder of mega-commercial projects and skyscrapers. He continued to develop it for the residential market over the next year and a half before pitching it to his father, Paul, and Burkentine's marketing team.
 
"The idea spoke for itself," he says, adding that he continues to tinker: "It's always evolving. It's only a matter of time before the competition catches on."
 
Source: Mike Burkentine, Burkentine & Sons
Writer: Elise Vider

Waiting to enter combat in Iraq, Aaron Lewis distracted himself by thinking about automotive brakes. "We had about two weeks to get acclimated, so instead of worrying about what could happen in combat, I focused on developing a brake shape that could harness a lot of torque," he says.
 
He used his deployment in 2009-2010 to save money and file a patent for his design for a brake system that could be integrated into vehicle drive trains. Now, Lewis Designs, the startup he established in Waterford upon his return, has received an investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA to support continued product development.
 
Lewis says he's been encouraged at every step about the commercial potential for his design, which dramatically increases vehicle performance, stability and control. Lewis is targeting the medium-to-heavy vehicle market and he says that the design might make it possible to eliminate the need for brake systems at each wheel, reducing overall weight and boosting fuel efficiency.
 
Over the next year, Lewis plans to complete virtual modeling and testing at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. The next step will be to build prototypes for testing. Within three years, he hopes to employ at least 50 at a manufacturing facility in Northwest Pennsylvania.
 
"While I served in Iraq …  I learned a lot about economic development," he says. "These same principles and practices that were proven to work in Iraq will be applied through my business to facilitate change in our economy."
 
Source: Aaron Lewis, Lewis Designs
Writer: Elise Vider