Scott Kirsner giving his opening presentation.
Opening day of the 2017 R&D 100 Conference continues this afternoon, Thursday, Nov. 16, diving deeper into this year’s theme, “Emerging R&D Capabilities” with more breakout sessions and expert insights from R&D leaders. The day’s events will conclude with an exclusive preview of R&D Magazine’s 2018 Global R&D Funding Forecast.
The third annual 2017 R&D 100 Conference is taking place at the Walt Disney World Swan Resort in Orlando, Florida, culminating in the R&D 100 Awards gala event on the evening of Nov. 17.
Today’s afternoon session kicks off with “Optimizing R&D Performance Through Metrics,” (1:15 p.m. – 2:05 p.m., Osprey Ballroom) presented by Bradford L. Goldense, CEO of Goldense Group, Inc. (GGI), a Needham, Massachusetts consulting, education and research firm.
In his session, Goldense will discuss how R&D performance can be improved with the right approach and the right set of measures. He will outline four distinct R&D strategies—Pure Innovator, Platform-Derivative, Balanced Portfolio and Follower/Extender—as well as feature case study metric portfolios that support each strategy. He will also discuss the top 25 R&D measures corporations use today and how they have changed in the past decade.
Biospecimen Technology and the Future of Labs
Afternoon sessions in the Life Science track begin with the presentation, “Bridging the Gap in Precision Medicine: Connecting Researchers With Biospecimens Through Technology,” (2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m., Parrot) given by Christopher Ianelli, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO of iSpecimen. Ianelli founded iSpecimen in response to the precision medicine movement and the growing demand for biospecimens by life science researchers.
In his session, Ianelli will discuss the iSpecimen technology and how it is driving innovation in the biospecimen space. Using a powerful, multi-faceted search platform, the technology enables medical researchers to intuitively search millions of available human biospecimens and solves one of the research industry’s biggest challenges—how to compliantly find and obtain quality biospecimens in a cost-effective manner.
The second breakout session in the Life Science track, “Exploring the Future of the Laboratory Environment: The Lab2050 Initiative,” (3:30 p.m. – 4:20 p.m., Parrot) will focus on the Laboratory of the Half Century—LAB2050—a SmithGroupJJR initiative to dig deep into scientific trends, technologies and economics that will shape design concepts of laboratory environments in the coming decades. Presented by Adam Denmark, the Director of Lab Planning and a Principal at SmithGroupJJR and Edward Burton, Vice President, Science and Technology Practice Director at SmithGroupJJR, the session will look ahead to the future of the research environment, challenging widely held beliefs about the research space.
In their session, they will outline why the success of the research laboratory of the future will be based on new technology, the pace of innovation, the continued need for sustainability, and R&D funding and initiatives globally.
Accessible Transportation and Robotics Technology
The Robotics &Autonomous Systems afternoon track will open with the presentation “Technology Changing the Future of Accessible Transportation” (2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m., Mockingbird), given by Mohammed Yousuf, a program manager for the Accessible Transportation Technology Research Initiative (ATTRI). Yousuf will discuss how ATTRI is leading efforts to research, develop and implement transformative solutions, applications and systems to help all people, particularly those with disabilities, effectively and independently plan and execute their travel, while addressing individual mobility needs. The ATTRI program is researching and developing accessible transportation applications that supports accessibility for a complete trip, from origin to destination.
The Robotics &Autonomous Systems track will continue later in the afternoon with “Advanced Robotics Technology and Developments in Performance Measurement Standards” (3:30 p.m. – 4:20 p.m., Mockingbird), presented by Roger Bostelman, an Electronics Engineer in the Intelligent Systems Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The presentation will focus on NIST-led developments in robot cranes, healthcare robotics and performance measurements of mobile manipulators. In his session, Bostelman will discuss highlights of the NIST RoboCrane, the Home Lift, Positioning and Rehabilitation (HLPR) Chair, and the novel performance measurement developments of six degree-of-freedom optical tracking systems and mobile manipulators. The RoboCrane technology has been transferred to industry for Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disaster cleanup and for aircraft depainting. The NIST performance measurement developments have led to new performance standards, including new standards currently underway for exoskeletons.
Innovation in Wire and Cable and Business Resource Tools
The Information & Communication Technology track will kick off its afternoon session with “Transformational Innovations for Energy, Information & Communication Industries” (2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m., Swan 10), presented by Srinivas Siripurapu, PhD, Vice President of Global Technology at General Cable.
In his presentation, Siripurapu will provide examples of high-level, new technology innovations that will enable the faster adoption of disruptive technology driven trends such as renewable energy integration, fifth generation mobile networks (5G), Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomous vehicles.
A few examples of these innovations will be discussed in detail, including General Cable’s E3XÒ Technology, the utility industry’s first heat dissipating overhead conductor that can transform the power grid through higher efficiency and sustainability. Siripurapu will also discuss how power grid modernization, the public’s appetite for faster access to information and the development of relevant disruptive technologies have accelerated innovation in wire and cable products.
Later in the afternoon Thursday the Information & Communication Technology track will continue with the presentation “FLC Business: A How-to Guide for Leveraging Federal Resources,” (3:30 p.m. – 4:20 p.m., Swan 10) given by John Dement, the Chairman of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC).
The session will focus on the FLC online business resource tool, FLC Business, which gives anyway access to free federal laboratory resources to advance their business or research and development efforts.
In his presentation, Dement will discuss how FLC Business is a great tool for any business, agency, or academic institution to search all federal laboratories, facilities, equipment, patented technologies, funding opportunities and programs available for public access and collaboration. By applying the latest software technology such as the open source Apache Solr search engine, FLC Business offers versatile search capabilities for its users as its data continues to grow.
Forecasting the Future of R&D
The conference’s opening day will conclude with an exclusive preview of the 2018 Global R&D Funding Forecast, a long-standing, annual R&D Magazine report that features insight on 100 countries, along with summaries on industrial sector trends, academic research, specific “hot” technology regions around the globe, and detailed spending plans by U.S. government agencies. It is presented by Tim Studt, who has served in variety of senior editorial positions at Advantage Business Media for more than 28 years, as Editor-in-Chief of R&D Magazine and Laboratory Design. Studt has authored R&D Magazine’s annual Global R&D Funding Forecast for the past 26 years, and continues to write trend reports and feature articles for R&D Magazine.
R&D Magazine’s Global R&D Funding Forecast is a significant indicator of future trends and provides key insights and unduplicated information that examines the specific challenges for 2018—potential winners and losers in R&D and the potential short-and long-term consequences of these investments. This presentation will provide a valuable tool to bring back to the workplace for actionable goals and strategies. The full report will be available in January 2018 through R&D Magazine.
“The first day of the 2017 R&D 100 Conference offers a wide variety of insights from R&D leaders across disciplines.” said Bea Riemschneider, Editorial Director for R&D Magazine. “We are honored to be able to showcase these industry experts as well as facilitate engaging discussions among R&D professionals across all job functions. We look forward to continuing to expand on these insights and conversations on day two of the conference.”
The R&D 100 Awards have served as the most prestigious innovations awards program in research and development for the past 55 years, honoring pioneers in science and technology. In 2015, the R&D 100 Conference was launched as an educational event that both celebrates the historic R&D 100 Awards and provides an educational opportunity that is unique for the R&D community. For registration and conference details visit www.rd100conference.com.
