higher education : Innovation + Job News

Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts kicks off this week with giant squid

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Dan Schimmel's head might be in augmented reality, but the picture is pretty clear to him.

"Right now there's a giant, 100 foot squid hovering over the falls at Boat House Row," says the director of Breadboard, the art and technology program at Science Center that oversees the Esther Klein Gallery. Breadboard is participating in the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) with the free citywide VPAP@PIFA, the Virtual Public Art Project. Granted, explains Schimmel, you need a smartphone or other mobile device to see the Augmented Reality squid. "That's somewhat foreign to people, but this is where society's headed."

PIFA is about to overtake the city like a giant encornet (that's French for squid) with over 135 events, running from April 7 to May 1. If bright lights in the big city get you going, check out the 81 foot Eiffel Tower replica at the Kimmel Center, which serves as festival headquarters, with a light show daily at 7 and 10 p.m. The theme of PIFA is Paris 1911, tying in with the recent French-flavored Philadelphia International Flower Show. All over the city, you can catch performances, lectures, dance parties, installations, readings, a fashion show and eleven French chefs in residence at area restaurants.

The $10 million extravaganza showcases local and international talent. Visit a day-long free Parisian street fair April 30 on Broad Street where you can ride a giant Ferris Wheel and enjoy a multitude of acts including Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. PIFA is also sponsoring daily wine tastings, crepe samples, free concerts, and French lessons.

Philly-Paris Lockdown, on April 17 at 8 PM at the Kimmel, features Philly's own ?uestlove of The Roots along with singer-songwriter Keren Ann, followed by an underground afterparty. Fourth Wall Arts hosts a special Salon on April 23 at the newly opened National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall, featuring Ursula Rucker, Mimi Stillman and muralist David Guinn.

JJ Tiziou's How Philly Moves, which just raised $26,000 in a Kickstarter Campaign, will be projecting massive images of Philadelphia's dancers on the side of the Kimmel throughout the festival. Hope: An Oratorio, is a work PIFA commissioned by composer Jonathan Leshnoff, to be performed April 24, performed by The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, along with four soloists, the Pennsylvania Girlchoir and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia.

The Painted Bride, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Slought Foundation, the African-American Museum in Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, WXPN, Philadelphia's Magic Garden, and the Independence Seaport Museum are just a few of the many PIFA sponsors and event hosts. Get detailed program information, tickets, and download a festival brochure at the PIFA website. PIFA, along with the GPTMC, is also offering hotel and ticket packages for the festival.

Source: Dan Schimmel, Breadboard; PIFA; GPTMC
Writer: Sue Spolan

Adaptimmune brings tools in the fight against cancer, HIV/AIDS to Science Center

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Imagine cancer treatment without debilitating chemotherapy and damaging radiation. Researchers in the field of fighting cancer and infectious diseases have recently come up with a way to remove, edit and replace patients' own cells to turn them into cancer and HIV super soldiers in the body. Adaptimmune LLC, one of University City Science Center's newest tenants, is the first company of its kind to develop a methodology for generating high affinity T cell receptors. Dr. Gwen Binder-Scholl, the Vice President of Operations at Adaptimmune, says that this powerful approach is a major departure from previous forms of cancer and infectious disease treatment, offering the advantage of much higher potency with far fewer side effects.

Traditional chemotherapy attacks any rapidly dividing cell in the body, knocking out cancerous tumors, but also killing cells that generate hair and mucous membranes. In this new treatment paradigm, T cells, which are the body's immune soldiers, are harvested from the patient, modified and placed in cell factories to grow, and then returned to the patient via vaccine. The whole process takes only three weeks from manufacture to release, according to Binder-Scholl, so that cancer and HIV can be treated fairly quickly.

"We are really the only company taking the next step towards commercialization of adoptive T cell therapy with high affinity TCRs," says Binder-Scholl, who has been working on T cell receptor research at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute for about three years at the June Laboratory under the guidance of professor Carl June, MD. Binder-Scholl explains that Adaptimmune, a subsidiary of a UK company, approached her to manage and carry forth U.S. clinical trials. While Adaptimmune already has a close relationship with Penn, its overseas leadership qualifies it for the SciCenter's Global Soft Landing Program.

This month, Adaptimmune is opening three new oncology indications: a trial for melanoma, which is very common, and trials for the less frequently occurring cancers synovial sarcoma and multiple myeloma. Depending on how the clinical trials go, Binder-Scholl expects to see data emerge within 12 months and hopes to get approval for the experimental treatment with the decade.

Source: Gwen Binder-Scholl, Adaptimmune LLC
Writer: Sue Spolan

Rowan University gallery set to become South Jersey contemporary art hub

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 29, 2011

South Jersey could become the area's next contemporary art hub, if Mary Salvante keeps up the good work at Glassboro's Rowan University Art Gallery. The Program Director and curator of the space opens a show tonight that melds a multitude of disciplines. Artist Beverly Semmes' exhibit, entitled The Feminist Responsibility Project, combines installation with live performance and video to explore what Salvante terms the third wave of feminism.

"The title is heavy handed in a way. It's a response to the weight of feminism and the role it has s played in culture and politics. It's meant to be ironic and paradoxical as well," says Salvante, who is in her second year as gallery director. The installation, which includes a massive white cloud made of fabric, altered pornographic images, a video of a woman kicking pink potatoes across a white frozen lake, and a performance piece involving two archetypes: The Bitch and the Super Puritan, who sit down to a puzzle made from an altered pornographic image. These elements are meant to juxtapose the last wave of feminism, now considered somewhat over the top, with the attitudes of young women today.

Salvante first saw Beverly Semmes at The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, and says she was drawn to the way Semmes uses fabric as a sculptural material,and how the multimedia aspect of the work adds to the tension of what she is trying to communicate. Semmes lives in New York City and has exhibited internationally, brings a new level of quality to Rowan's offerings, offering the South Jersey institution the opportunity to expand the size of its regional cultural community. The Feminist Responsibility Project opens tonight, Tuesday March 29, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., with a talk and live performance, and runs through May 14.

Source: Mary Salvante, Rowan University
Writer: Sue Spolan

Make room for the Aerotropolis: Drexel's Mobilities in Motion conference explores 'logistics' cities

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Mobility. The word conjures up a multitude of meanings. The ability to move. Mobile devices. Passing through physical and virtual space. Remaining motionless. Social networks and location based apps. Handicapped access. Planes, trains, automobiles, and skateboards.
Drexel's Center for Mobilities Research and Policy, or mCenter, headed up by sociology professor Mimi Sheller, offers a new way to group ideas not previously considered connected under one umbrella. The mCenter is the first in the United States to study mobilities, drawing on the many disciplines of arts, design, social sciences, engineering, computer science, business, law, media, environmental studies and public health.

Tasked with studying movement as a social science, the one year old mCenter drew an international crowd to its conference, Mobilities in Motion: New Approaches to Emergent and Future Mobilities. Held March 21-23, presenters considered scales of mobility, migration, borders, mobile phones, and all kinds of ways to get around, from the skateboard as urban transportation, to air travel, to creating an avatar and traversing virtual environments. Participants from a dozen countries, including France, Japan, the UK, and Brazil, as well as from more local addresses in the United States, spoke on emerging concerns like surveillance and privacy, the continually accelerating cycle of mobile device obsolescence, ethics and social rights, borders, sustainability and more.

Sheller, who is also co-editor of the international journal Mobilities, said, "The event has been incredibly successful, even beyond my expectations. We had excellent keynote presentations and very high quality papers in all of the sessions. People felt a real sense of dynamic interaction and stimulating dialogue across different disciplines and research approaches."

One highlight was keynote speaker Rina Cutler, Philadelphia's Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities, "who gave an incredibly lively and entertaining talk about major infrastructure projects in the city, including her plans for developing an 'aerotropolis' at Philadelphia Airport." The idea that an airport can become a major urban hub, sometimes extending to a radius of up to 60 miles, was coined by professor John Kasarda (not in attendance), whose new book, Aerotropolis, The Way We'll Live Next, describes the next phase of globalization. With the rapid rise of logistics, global business networks, overnight shipping and increased travel, the new metropolis will have a massive airport at its center, with the city designed around it. Kasarda writes that logistics cities are now growing in Seoul, Amsterdam, Dallas and Washington, DC.

Sheller said participants, who included many PhD students as well as professors, were treated to presentations by artists and went on walking tours and as well as a mural tour. Aharon Kellerman, professor emeritus at Haifa University, remarked, "The most striking dimension of the conference was the young age of most of the participants. This is an encouraging trend by itself, notably in North America."

Source: Mimi Sheller, mCenter
Writer: Sue Spolan

Philly Tech Week promises a printer-smashing good time

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 22, 2011

In the spirit of Philly's other well-known celebrations like Beer Week and Restaurant Week, one of the main goals for Philly Tech Week, happening April 25 to 30 in locations across the city, is to have fun. Organized by Technically Philly, the week is meant to connect the many different segments of the Philly technology community, from hackers to Comcast and everyone in between, according to TP co-founder Chris Wink.

At this point, there are about 35 events on the schedule, with more to come. WHYY will serve as headquarters. Wink says the media outlet will host a daily lunchtime speaker series throughout the week, as well as the final big event Friday night. Tech Week coincides with two other major citywide happenings: The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA) and The Philadelphia Science Festival. As a result, says Wink, some gatherings will carry all three labels, such as Augmented Reality Check: Seeing The Future Now, looking at the intersection of art, technology and science, to be held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 26.

Another exciting Tech Week gathering is The Future of Music featuring musician and producer RJD2, coordinated by Tayyib Smith, owner of Little Giant Media, which publishes two.one.five magazine. Smith hopes to draw like minded people actively engaged in creating, promoting and distributing music to envision the role technology will play in the future of music. "I am an analog person who is fronting like I am digital," says Smith, who hopes to get as much out of the discussion as any of the other attendees.

Local firm Azavea, which builds geographic analysis software, happens to be rolling out several projects that same week, and plans to show off the brand new goods. "One is Philly Tree Map," says President and CEO Robert Cheetham, whose goal is to create a crowdsourced urban tree inventory. Two other Azavea projects, Open Data Philly and PhillyHistory.org, will be showcased during Tech Week.

For those who have ever fantasized about going ballistic on your devices, be sure to attend the Office Space Printer Smash, co-sponsored by Nonprofit Technology Resources and The Hacktory. As the title indicates, participants will be encouraged to turn unrecyclable printers into a pile of mangled plastic and metal.

Source: Christopher Wink, Technically Philly, Tayyib Smith, Little Giant Media, Robert Cheetham, Azavea
Writer: Sue Spolan

Optofluidics' technology combines fluids, light to develop better diagnostic tools

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 22, 2011

It's one minuscule step for molecules, one giant leap for mankind. Nanotechnology startup Optofluidics, Inc. has established offices at the University City Science Center's Port Business Incubator. The company aims to develop optical devices that keep biomolecules in place in their physiological state, says Optofluidic's Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, Bernardo Cordovez. "The product will be an instrument that houses and reads the chips that we make."

As the company name implies, Optofluidics uses the combination of fluids and light to detect, identify and manipulate biomolecules and nanomaterials. The idea of adding fluids to scientific optical devices is not a new one. Back in the 18th century, rotating pools of mercury were used to create smooth mirrors in reflecting telescopes. According to Cornell University's Erikson Lab, where Optofluidics co-founder David Erikson initiated research concepts for Optofluidics, new biosensing technologies follow advances in the identification of biomarkers associated with specific diseases and injuries. Two examples are the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which have eluded early detection. The kind of non-invasive nanotechnology that Optofluidics is developing, which will diagnose and detect biomarkers at very low levels, could enable diagnosis even before symptoms appear.

The National Science Foundation recently gave Optofluidics nearly $150,000 in a Small Business Innovation Research award. "The market opportunity is tremendous because most single molecule instrumentation is made for DNA, while nano-instrumentation for handling and studying proteins is still a bit behind," says Cordovez, who adds that Optofluidics' family of technologies has very strong commercial appeal.
Making the move to the Science Center was the easy part. Cordovez cites the University of Pennsylvania's strong biosciences department which will provide "a terrific future employee candidate pool." Philadelphia is slated to become a world leader in nanotechnology research, says Cordovez, with a planned world class nanofabrication center at Penn, scheduled for completion in the next few years.

Source: Bernard Cordovez, Optofluidics, Inc.
Writer: Sue Spolan

FLYING BYTES: Microsoft in Malvern, Art in the Open and the Canal

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Flying Bytes is a roundup of innovation nuggets from across the region:

OPEN UP TO ART
The second annual Art in The Open exhibit has been announced for June 9-12, 2011. The citywide exhibit features a juried selection of artists who will create site specific work along the Schuylkill Banks, from Bartram's Garden in Southwest Philly, and as far north as the Fairmount Park Waterworks. The result is a giant outdoor studio, with art stations for the public to get into the creative process. AIO co-founder Mary Salvante reports that all 2011 artist applications have been received, and the 40 winners will be announced shortly.

A CANAL PROPOSAL
The Manayunk Canal Towpath is about to get an art facelift. The Mural Arts Program, in association with the Manayunk Special Services District (MSSD) and the Manayunk Development Corporation, is calling for proposals to transform the disused canal into a temporary public art location with a focus on sustainability, incorporating water. The canal is the last surviving segment of a waterway that once ran as far as Schuylkill County, bringing coal from the mines into Philadelphia. The installation will coincide with this September's Manayunk Eco-Arts Festival. For more information, send email here.

MALVERN GETS 'SOFT
This week Microsoft opened a new 17,500 square foot Technology Center in Malvern. In attendance at the opening ceremony were Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The Philadelphia area tech center is the tenth in the United States, and joins 21 similar technology centers globally. According to Microsoft, "the center is designed to help companies throughout the mid-Atlantic region improve their use of technology to grow their businesses, add jobs, and strengthen their local communities."

PHILLY'S GONE DIGITAL
Digital Philadelphia and Code for America reports that our local team of fellows is working hard to get government data to citizens. Jeff Friedman says the Philly CfA team conducted over a hundred interviews in February, polling government and city workers, civic leaders including heads of non-profits, block captains, civic developers, and citizens. CfA Philly also held three Friday "hack" events to encourage local developers to engage with government data, an Open Data Forum with help from Young Involved Philadelphia, Technically Philly, and the City, and an open data camp where developers built out four functional mini-apps based on city data.

Source: Mary Salvante, AIO; Microsoft Technology Center, Jeff Friedman, CfA Philly
Writer: Sue Spolan

An incredibly more edible egg, thanks to Penn Vet school

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, March 01, 2011

The egg comes first in the conversation about food safety. Both poultry and egg production are on the rise in the US. According to the USDA's most recent Census of Agriculture, sales have increased 55 percent in the last decade. But it's egg safety that's in the news. On the heels of a massive egg recall last summer, University of Pennsylvania researchers have developed a new test to detect the presence of Salmonella in eggs.

Shelley Rankin, an Associate Professor of Microbiology at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine, says the kit, which detects Salmonella enteritidis, or SE, a strain of Salmonella specific to eggs, provides results in just 27 hours. Rankin explains that the Food and Drug Administration's new Federal Egg Safety Program, instituted in July of last year, was based in part on the Pennsylvania Egg Quality Assurance Program (PEQAP), which was developed by Rankin and colleagues. "I wanted Pennsylvania to be the first state to get a novel, non-culture based test approved by the FDA for our producers to use," says Rankin.

Previous FDA guidelines required some expensive and laborious methods, taking up to ten days to see results. "At that point my colleagues and I within the PEQAP decided we should look for a better method," according to Rankin, whose team was able to identify a gene that is present only in SE. Working in collaboration with California based company Life Technologies, which already sells kits for detection of more than 2500 strains of Salmonella, the new kit focuses a laser, literally, on potential SE contamination. Polymerase Chain Reaction technology amplifies a small segment of the gene which lights up and is detectable via laser. If the light goes on, says Rankin, then SE is present. The Applied Biosystems TaqMan Salmonella enteritidis Detection Kit is FDA approved and contains 96 single-use tests.

"I chose to work with an industry partner to make that test available nationwide to improve the public health of the nation," adds Rankin. Plans are underway, says Rankin, to further reduce testing time from 27 to 12 hours.

Source: Shelley Rankin, PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
Writer: Sue Spolan

Wharton SBDC helps Nikki Jean the singer become Nikki Jean the baker (at least for now)

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Sweet voice, sweet cookies. Nikki Jean is well loved. It's not unusual for her YouTube videos to receive 80,000 hits. She's toured with Lupe Fiasco, and co-written songs with many big names including Bob Dylan and Lamont Dozier. Two years ago, Nikki Jean was signed by Columbia records. And then her album was shelved. Meanwhile, the lovely and talented Nikki Jean's been baking cookies, and she's ready to turn that talent into a business.

She's at the Wharton Small Business Development Center orientation, along with about a dozen entrepreneurs who have assembled to soak up some of this top school's magic. This SBDC is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the US Small Business Administration, and Wharton, with little or no cost to participants. Therese Flaherty, PhD, director of the SBDC, says 70 to 80 percent of people attending the initial gathering will continue with Wharton in some way. "We don't charge but we invest," explains Flaherty, who taught for many years at Harvard Business School. "We'll have one meeting with anyone who has a business plan, but we've got to see some movement to have a second meeting. It could take a year before they come back." Those who commit and take the path through seven prescribed stages have access to Wharton MBA candidates who already work with some of the country's most influential business consulting firms.

Nikki Jean needs a money making opportunity that has nothing to do with the fickle business of selling records. "I come from a family of bakers," says Nikki Jean. "I started baking cookies for friends, and then fans." While on tour, she used a toaster oven to make cookies. When the release date of her shelved album kept getting pushed back, she decided to go for cookie baking full time, and after a quick Google search, she chose Wharton. While working on her business plan to create White Chocolate Raspberry, Oatmeal Rum Raisin and Maple Bacon cookies, she's shopping around for a commercial kitchen space and filling out a large pile of paperwork for the city and state. She's just received news that she's been picked up by a smaller independent record label, so she's going to have to manage a dual recording and baking career.

For Therese Flaherty, the joy lies in seeing grown ups think for themselves. "It's all about giving people a safe place to think and explore their commitments. I love seeing learning." The SBDC is not going to tell Nikki Jean and her assembled colleagues how to make business ideas better; rather, the program offers partnership and plenty of patience.

Source: Nikki Jean, Marie Therese Flaherty PhD, Wharton SBDC
Writer: Sue Spolan

UArts' Corzo Center awarding creative dollars to help spur creators' profits

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A degree in fine arts doesn't often come with instructions on how to take economic control of your creations. The Corzo Center for the Creative Economy at the University of the Arts steps in with a rescue plan, applying the concept of enterprise funding to creative business ideas. With a grant from the Dorrance Hamilton Foundation, UArts professor Neil Kleinman developed The Creative Incubator, a $10,000 opportunity open to graduating students and recent alumni to "give students in arts and media economic control over their lives."

On a recent Wednesday, Kleinman and associate Todd Hestand welcomed a dozen hopefuls to an orientation in preparation for the March 21 proposal deadline. "Some of you are here only for the money," said Kleinman, "Some of you are interested in getting self-positioned, to learn more about how to put an idea out there, and make it continue." Kleinman plans to give two to three applicants with sustainable ideas $10,000 each, divided into three payouts: a third up front, another midway, and the final payment after the project is complete, with the idea that once the $10,000 runs out, profitability is well underway. Last year, says Kleinman, about eight smaller grants were given out, but only one reached the final payout. "Many fell prey to the very problems we were afraid of: no sustainable plan, and lack of awareness about underlying costs." This year, there will be fewer grants and more competition, with greater scrutiny of applicants' business plans, budget, marketing structure and audience.

One applicant is Michael O'Bryan, a 2007 graduate of UArts, who is attempting to create workshops for marginalized youth, combining artistic exploration with civic engagement. He says he got the idea while working two jobs: as a Youth Services Coordinator at The Salvation Army, and as Music Department Coordinator and Community Outreach liaison at the New Freedom Theater.

The Corzo Center offers applicants like O'Bryan, as well as all community members regardless of application status, full entrepreneurial support, including assistance developing proposals and business plans, workshops, special programs, and real world business contacts. Eventually, says Kleinman, the Center hopes to expand its funding to include creative entrepreneurs citywide.

Source: Neil Kleinman, Michael O'Bryan, University of the Arts
Writer: Sue Spolan

Drexel and NCC collaborate on mobile app

Flying Kite Media Tuesday, February 08, 2011

It's a museum at your fingertips. Drexel University's Goodwin College has teamed up with the National Constitution Center for a mobile app that brings a new layer of richness to the center's collections, and virtually brings those collections right out the door. Available at this time for iPhone and iPod users, the basic NCC app is free to download from the iTunes Store and includes news, links to the museum's store and blog, and admission information including hours, tickets and directions.

For a small fee, add interactive multimedia tours of both permanent and traveling exhibitions. That's a revenue stream with long term potential, because shows that stop at the NCC go on the road, and the app remains attached for the life of the exhibit.

Cory Schmitt is director of learning technologies at Goodwin, and he explains that when he started working at Drexel, the mobile tour collaboration with the NCC was somewhat of a back-burner idea. He and Kerry Sautner, who is both an adjunct instructor at Drexel and director of public programs at the NCC, saw iPods as a way to open up a lot of possibilities for engagement and fun.

Since then, Schmitt and team have developed a total of nine iPod tours for the museum. "Three or four are for permanent exhibits, and the rest are for traveling," says Schmitt. In June, the team will launch a tour to go along with a George Washington exhibit coming from Mount Vernon. That show is slated to travel for ten years, and the 99-cent app goes along with it.

Schmitt points out that the app is accessible globally, not just to people visiting the Constitution Center, citing value for "anyone who is interested in US history and democracy," and emphasizing that the NCC offering is living, with news and version updates.

The Constitution Center app, says Schmitt, is the first step in collaborations with local and national museums. "Now that we've completed research and development and have a template, we can go to other institutions and produce their mobile apps as well." Schmitt says his team hopes to develop the NCC app for Android and other mobile platforms.

Source: Cory Schmitt, Goodwin College, Drexel University

Writer: Sue Spolan

Next-generation DrexelOne Mobile brings more of the campus to more smartphones

Flying Kite Media Monday, January 10, 2011

Drexel University's rollout of its next-generation mobile portal, DrexelOne Mobile, which provides secure access to time-sensitive information for students, faculty, and staff, encompasses six native apps available in all of the major app stores; a richer GPS-enabled native mobile application is due in the spring.

DrexelOne Mobile leads the higher education smartphone app world on several fronts. It's the only university portal that works on all current smartphone platforms, including iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm webOS, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7. Dr. John Bielec, Vice President and CIO at Drexel University says that "in today's fast-changing mobile technology landscape, students demand choice and flexibility in platform, vendor, and carrier selection. Mobile technology is consumer driven and no longer able to be dictated by an institution or a single vendor." Even more compelling than the multi-platform approach are DrexelOne Mobile's personalized capabilities, which will only get richer with the launch of the next version. The end user now has access to an incredibly detailed view of campus life, from real time updates on grades, to the next arriving shuttle bus. Drexel students can check course schedules, assignments and due dates, current DragonCard balances, and Dining Center menu. All have access to critical university alerts, a campus directory and map, athletic scores, school news, and the popular Candid Campus photo project.

Kenneth S. Blackney, Associate Vice President of Core Technology Infrastructure at Drexel University, explains that DrexelOne goes beyond what's currently out there for higher education, since typical mobile offerings target just one or two mobile platforms and provide a fixed set of campus facts geared toward the general public rather than individualized feeds to each account holder. Blackney also provided a sneak peak at the impressive, graphically rich version of DrexelOne Mobile to be launched in spring 2011, which includes upgrades for faculty like picture enhanced class lists and a clicker to allow real time classroom interaction between teachers and students; access to employee leave balances,and interview schedules for student co-op jobs.

Source: John Bielec, Ken Blackney, Drexel University
Writer: Sue Spolan

Drexel's portable breast cancer scanner receives licensing from Philly-based UE Life Sciences

Flying Kite Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Every year, foundations for breast cancer awareness tout the importance of getting a mammogram for early detection and prevention of this deadly disease. But for women in other parts of the world who may not have easy access to health care, a treatment requiring expensive x-ray equipment may not be practical. As a breast cancer survivor herself, Drexel University Associate Professor Dr. Wan Shih has watched women from her home continent of Asia suffer from late detection and low survival rates with great interest. She and her team now believe they have a better way.

Citing shortcomings and false-positives of mammogram technology, Dr. Shih and her team created a tissue scanner able to detect cancerous tissue outside of the clinician's office. The scanner detects hardened or dense tissue that may be cancerous, even in women under 40 who may have denser breasts. Earlier this month, Drexel's portable breast cancer scanner project took a big step toward commercialization, signing a licensing agreement with Philadelphia-based UE LifeSciences.

"In India or China, mammography is for diagnostics, not for screening," says Dr. Shih. "So when women are brought to do mammography, they have already found a lump and, by that time, it may be too late."

The project was selected as one of the inaugural projects for the University City Science Center's QED program, a proof-of-concept development grant that helps academic researchers reach the marketplace. After receiving $200,000 from the QED Program and additional support from the Wallace H. Coulter Translational Research Program at Drexel, the device caught the attention of UE LifeSciences, a company dedicated to increasing early detection of breast cancer.

"This product uses no radiation, it is inexpensive and can be brought to women in developing countries," says Dr. Shih. "Traditionally women feel for breast lumps but this product is more sensitive than human hands. Our goal is to get more women in for testing sooner."

Source: Dr. Wan Shih, Drexel University
Writer: John Steele

Bryn Mawr's WizeHive expands online data sharing platform with Ben Franklin funding

Flying Kite Tuesday, December 07, 2010

With social networking tools like online chat and photo sharing becoming more common, many employers have begun protecting against the use of these platforms at work. But the software developers at WizeHive in Bryn Mawr are working to bring these traditionally fun tools into the professional fold. Their online collaboration platform, utilizing many of these sharing tools, received a Ben Franklin Technology Partners investment earlier this month, which will help the company expand in the new year.

"When we started, the focus of the platform was around sharing: sharing documents, sharing tasks, managing projects, having online conversations," says CEO and Co-founder Mike Levinson. "As the product matured, it has become more about helping people automate business processes and about helping them make better, faster decisions whether they are sitting across the room from each other or across the world from each other."

This online collaboration has taken WizeHive beyond the workplace, partnering with universities on managing scholarship applicants and helping media companies like TechCrunch manage contests and competitions. With the Ben Franklin funding, Levinson and company hope to expand staff, increase sales and continue working together on working together.

"We have been very successful at building the sales channel and bringing the platform into different arenas," says Levinson. "What we are really trying to do now with the funding is expand that. The plan is to continue building out what we are doing, just doing a lot more of it in the new year."

Source: Mike Levinson, WizeHive
Writer: John Steele

Enterprise Center's Retail Resource Network hosts Visual Merchandise Workshop for Black Friday

Flying Kite Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The day after Thanksgiving has become as sacred to retailers as any nationally-recognized holiday. The revenue they reap can make up for an entire year of lackluster sales. With another Black Friday approaching, the Enterprise Center's Retail Resource Network (RRN) wants to ensure that Philadelphia's commercial corridors get the most they can out of this holiest of shopping days. This Wednesday (Nov. 17), RRN hosts the Visual Merchandising Workshop, an annual event to help retailers with everything from holiday window displays to store layouts, all in the name of a successful holiday season.

"This workshop touches on the psychology of the shopper," says Retail Resource Network Director Andy Toy. "How you light your storefront, the types of colors you use, the way the aisles are laid out. If done right, it will definitely increase the amount of sales a business can make per shopper and just get people in the store."

The Retail Resource Network is a division of the Enterprise Center that helps retail businesses around the city connect with the resources they need--whether it be funding, consulting or supply chain--to be successful. Toy says that simple things--not having too many stickers on your windows, creating wider aisles--can have a great impact on business. Not only do these workshops seek to help retailers but if the Enterprise Center can target the Black Friday mobs to one store, their hope is that traffic to the rest of the commercial corridor would increase, making it a Happy Holiday for the whole neighborhood.

"If we improve one storefront on a commercial corridor, we will bring more people to that area," says Toy. "That helps improve business for all the stores, makes it safer because there are more people on the street and encourages others to do likewise."

Source: Andy Toy, Retail Resource Network
Writer: John Steele