In The News

Inside Viridity Energy's microgrid moves

GreenTech Tuesday, May 01, 2012

GreenTech revisits Philadelphia-based Viridity Energy's cutting-edge projects that aim to put a value on energy saved from SEPTA's regenerative braking system.

Viridity is already bidding battery-backed power into frequency regulation markets with partner and battery supplier Axion Power, which has installed Viridity’s system at its New Castle, Pa. manufacturing plant.

Original source: GreenTech

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Fast Company ponders Philly as America's next big tech town

Fast Company Monday, April 30, 2012

Fast Company talks to Technically Philly's Sean Blanda and DuckDuckGo's Gabriel Weinberg, among others, about Philadelphia's bustling technology sector.

"Like many cities, Philly has seen a significant increase in all aspects of the startup lifecycle--start, growth, exit," says DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg. "I think we're riding the global trend here, but also we've had great community leaders as well." He continues: "Our community is very tight-knit, which means it is very easy to connect with the top people in the scene."

Original source: Fast Company

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Women draft their way to the front of craft brewing

Washington Post Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Washington Post profiles prominent ladies of the craft brew scene, including Rosemarie Certo of Dock Street Brewing Co. iN West Philadelphia.

Certo’s interest in beer started when she began making beer at home because she wasn’t happy with what was available domestically at the time. She started Dock Street in 1985 and remembers in the early days going to make a sales pitch to a distributor and being the only woman in a room of more than 50. “I remember not being bothered by it,” she recalls.

Original source: Washington Post

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Science Leadership Academy's Lehmann weighs in on on tech in education

Slate Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Slate's report on the Education Innovation Summit in Arizona includes some time with Science Leadership Academy principal Chris Lehmann.

Lehmann expressed concern that too many in the burgeoning education sector hope to replace teachers with tech. "Before we rush to embrace the idea that the market might do education better than educators," he says, he wants to see a lengthy conversation about the “worst consequences of our best idea."

Original source: Slate

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How the Community College of Philadelphia opens door to four-yeear degrees

The New York Times Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The New York Times spotlights the Community College of Philadelphia's role as a pathway to more selective four-year institutions of higher learning.

Increasingly, the students here are making that jump. Dawn-Stacy Joyner, a former hospital cook, will also attend the University of Pennsylvania. Nine women graduating this spring have been accepted to Bryn Mawr. Larry Thi, who hopes to become a teacher, transferred to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Original source: The New York Times

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Why Philadelphia police are embracing Twitter

Governing Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Governing talks with Philadelphia Police Department communications director Karima Zedan about its officers use of Twitter to fight crime.

Our driving philosophy has been: Why not try to pave the way and use [Twitter] as a great tool to connect to people and put a face to the men and women who serve in the department. That's really what Twitter allows us to do. We've been on Twitter (@phillypolice) since September of 2009. It's been a great way to respond to people's questions, to give information to highlight programs that the police department is doing [and] to highlight the good works of people.

Original source: Governing

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The crime-fighting trees of Philadelphia

Stanford Social Innovation Review Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Stanford Social Innovation Review writes about a study led by University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine epidemiologist Charles Branas that showed greened vacant lots decreased gun assaults.

"We see it happening," says Robert Grossman, director of the PHS Philadelphia Green Program. "The neighborhoods where we’ve done a lot of this work are really transformed." The vacant lots host weddings and barbecues, instead of drug dealers and prostitutes, he says.

Original source: Stanford Social Innovation Review

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A more humane, effective urban prison courtesy of two UPenn students

Fast Company Tuesday, April 17, 2012

University of Pennsylvania architecture masters students Andreas Tjeldflaat and Greg Knobloch are re-thinking the urban prison, reports Fast Company.

499.SUMMIT would be composed of three violently geometric arches that’d rise, and overlap, in the heart of Jersey City. First, a word on why they selected Jersey City: In part, that was the assignment (for a course at Penn taught by HWKN’s Matthias Hollwich). But they also believe that a prime urban location could set the backdrop for a more humane prison experience. “Compared to the typically isolated sites chosen for prisons, this location would have several advantages: It would be close to family, friends, work opportunities, services and professionals needed and most of all; close to society, or rather, feeling as being a part of society,” Tjeldflaat tells Co.Design in an email. “This could make the transition back into society softer.”

Original source: Fast Company

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Inside NovaThermal Energy's bold move to warm a building with heat from sewage

Forbes Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Forbes dives into NovaThermal Energy's first project to warm a building using heat from sewage.

The building, the Southeast Water Pollution Control Facility in Philadelphia, will house the 1 million BTU/hour unit in its basement, where it will directly access and transfer heat from an adjacent sewage channel.

Original source: Forbes

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Philly's green brand works despite shortfalls

Triple Pundit Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Triple Pundit assesses Philadelphia's green initiatives and resulting brand.

Just as private companies are using green branding to build business, Philadelphia has been using the sustainability model to improve its economic outlook. Last year, the city’s Navy Yard was tapped as a sustainable energy innovation hub by the U.S. Department of Energy, which is already paying off in new green jobs.

Original source: Triple Pundit

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Center City-based eResearchTechnology purchased for $400M

Wall Street Journal Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Center City, Philadelphia-based eResearch Technology, a large provider of medical devices and services to biopharmaceutical and health-care organizations, was purchased by San Francisco-based private equity giant Genstar Capital for $400 million, reports the Wall Street Journal.

ERT Chief Executive Jeffrey Litwin said the deal, expected to close during the third quarter, will provide the company with acquisition capital to expand its offering and better serve its clinical research clients.

Original source: Wall Street Journal

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Kensington artist takes renovation work on the road

Eastern Iowa Life Monday, April 09, 2012

Philadelphia artist Lewis Colburn's exhibition, called "After the Architect Has Gone," is on display in April in Iowa City, reports Eastern Iowa Life.

Colburn places a model of his row house, portrayed in a serious state of renovation, on top of a chest of drawers. Experimenting with new architectural-modeling software, Colburn creates a landscape form in one of the open drawers that represents an afghan or quilt, a sign of comfort. The landscape models appear again on a drawing table, serving as places of rest for coffee mugs. The piece also hints at a dining room table set for dinner, another emblem of domestic comfort. A leaky faucet runs into a china basin; a bowl set in a bathroom vanity that is either being repaired or constructed.

Original source: Eastern Iowa Life

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Philly schools could get hands on India's $35 tablet

TechCrunch Monday, April 09, 2012

Philadelphia's Wilco Electronics is aiming for a procurement deal to bring Indian company DataWind's $35 tablet to Philadelphia schools, reports TechCrunch.

It can show video, administer quizzes, mirror class resources, and so on. A tool any teacher would love to have, if it isn’t more trouble than it’s worth. And there are many practical considerations. Charging the devices, keeping them clean, secure, and updated, preventing inappropriate usage, creating class-administration software… the list goes on and on. But that is, of course, part of what pilot programs are meant to explore.

Original source: Tech Crunch

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Philly's role in learning the language of the Web

The New York Times Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Girl Develop It is among the locals featured in The New York Times' look at classes in Web programming and construction.

“Inasmuch as you need to know how to read English, you need to have some understanding of the code that builds the Web,” said Sarah Henry, 39, an investment manager who lives in Wayne, Pa. “It is fundamental to the way the world is organized and the way people think about things these days.” Ms. Henry took several classes, including some in HTML, the basic language of the Web, and WordPress, a blogging service, through Girl Develop It, an organization based in New York that she had heard about online that offers lessons aimed at women in a number of cities. She paid around $200 and saw it as an investment in her future.

Original source: The New York Times

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The E-Lane's fleeting reality and how Philly pedestrians walk on

City of Philadelphia; Prevention Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Further proof that Mayor Michael Nutter is lining up a second career as an entertainer is the E-Lane video and weeklong April Fool's joke that shed light on the real problem of distracted pedestrians.

Meanwhile, Philly rates as the ninth most walkable city according to Prevention, which utilized Walkscore's grades to build a top-25 list.

This spring, Sister Cities Park in Center City opens, with attractions like a family-friendly café, children's discovery garden and play area, and a fountain commemorating Philadelphia's global sister cities—adding to the city's already 10,000 acre park system.

Original source: Prevention

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