Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Pittsburgh Recognized By National PDMA as Top Chapter

Just four years after starting the Chapter, Pittsburgh PDMA was recently recognized by the National/International PDMA Organization as a Tier 1 Chapter.  Pittsburgh Joins Chicago, Minnesota, the Carolinas, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin among the top ranked Chapters in the Nation. The total number of Chapters across the US and Canada is 28.


Criteria and scores for the ranking include event and program activity, membership and participation growth, Board and volunteer engagement, and successfully meeting the fiscal responsibilities allocated to each Chapter.

Congratulations to our board, membership, and program participants for your hard work and support. We are proud to have such a dedicated and talented community of product development professionals focused on sharing knowledge and experiences here in the Western Pennsylvania Region.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

2013 Product Innovation Management (#PIM13) Conference



October 26 - 30, 2013 - PDMA Conference
2013 Product Innovation Management (PIM 13) Conference
Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, AZ

PDMA's 2013 Product Innovation Management (PIM 13) Conference is a five-day collaborative conference that will enable you to gather insights on the latest research and proven strategies from the best practitioners and though leaders in the industry to help you solve your toughest innovation problems.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Open Innovation Process from Kennametal Published In National Journal


The July issue of Research-Technology Management (RTM) Journal featured an informative and revealing paper, “Technology Landscape Mapping At the Heart of Open Innovation” co-authored by Irene Spitsberg, Sudhir Brahmandam, Michael J. Verti (PDMA Board Member), and George W. Coulston (Past PDMA Board Member) from Kennametal, Inc.




The team shares a new framework, with associated processes and tools developed in the Innovations Ventures Group at Kennametal, to show how technology landscape maps can help organizations build awareness of strategic technologies and identify opportunities at the intersection of emerging technologies and customer needs.




If you are interested in learning more about this paper, please contact Michael Verti, Manager of the Innovations Group at michael.verti@kennametal.com.





If you have an article or paper that you would like to submit for an upcoming newsletter, please submit it to rzegart@koppglass.com

Monday, September 30, 2013

Science 2013—Convergence is the University of Pittsburgh’s 10th Annual Technology Showcase



October 2 - 4, 2013 - Technology Showcase 

Science 2013 - Convergence


Alumni Hall, University of Pittsburgh



Science 2013—Convergence is the University of Pittsburgh’s 10th annual celebration of science and technology. This exciting event showcases the region’s academic strengths in science, engineering, medicine, and computation and highlights some of the incredible research happening in these areas. You’ll experience great science presentations from some of Pittsburgh’s leading researchers, as well as keynote lectures by distinguished guest scientists. The event will also feature exhibits, poster sessions, a career development workshop, a new technology showcase, networking opportunities, and more.


Tuesday, September 24, 2013

(WEBCAST) Successful Innovations: How Companies are Creatively Meeting the Need for Growth with New Products



September 26, 2013 - Webcast | 2:00pm - 3:00pm EST




Join Susan Ward from ITECS Innovative Consulting where you will learn: tools that will help predict disruptions, identify adjacencies and develop a more robust innovation portfolio; processes for improving speed to market and getting more ideas from concept to commercialization; and best practices for showing the value of the innovative initiative and ensuring that innovation is practiced across all functional units of the business.


Thursday, September 19, 2013

PDMA Pittsburgh Welcomes New Board Members



We would like to welcome two new Pittsburgh Chapter Board Members:



Eric Anderson is an associate dean for the College of Fine Arts and associate professor of industrial design in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also a co-director of the Master of Product Development Program, a unique program between the engineering, design, and business. He co-teaches the award winning Integrated Product Develop (IPD) capstone course for MPD along with faculty from mechanical engineering and business. He also teaches undergraduate industrial design studios.


Eric is a Chairman Emeritus for the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) Board of Directors having served several years prior as an officer working with talented practitioners, educators and staff to shape strategy, policy and programs to improve the society and support the discipline. He is also a member of the IDSA Academy of Fellows. Prior to joining academia, he spent over a decade as a full time design practitioner for corporate departments and consulting firms based in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia and designed products that include medical instruments, tradeshow exhibits, corporate identities, and consumer products.


Connie Palucka is the Managing Director of Business Growth Services at Catalyst Connection and leads the consulting team that works directly with manufacturers to help them achieve their growth goals. She joined the company in 2005 and brings over 20 years of experience in the chemical, catalysis and nuclear power industries.


Before joining Catalyst Connection, she directed global sales teams, participated in and led product development programs, and successfully executed a number of strategic initiatives that included the development and commercialization of new technology, the improvement of various internal processes to build value-added capabilities, and the building of alliances to achieve strategic goals.