The second day of the 2018 R&D 100 Conference—held Nov. 15 and 16 the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando, FL—will begin with a focus on how to identify and keep pace with up-and-coming innovations and how to best budget R&D efforts to make sure that your innovations come to life.
The anticipated R&D 100 Awards gala event—where the winners of the 2018 R&D 100 Awards will be announced—will take place on the evening of the second day.
Conference day two kicks off with a keynote titled “Finding the Future: How the Best Organizations Scout Emerging Technology,” (9 a.m.-10 a.m. Grand Ballroom) presented by Scott Kirsner, co-founder of Innovation Leader, a Cambridge-based information service focused on helping innovators in large companies.
The talk will provide actionable insight on how companies can better scout innovation.
“I hope the key takeaway will be that most organizations, given how much innovation is happening outside of their walls, could probably do a better job of scouting emerging trends and technologies,” said Kirsner in an interview with R&D Magazine.
During his talk, Kirsner will discuss how large companies scout the trends and technologies that will be most relevant to their future success and how they then introduce those concepts to their colleagues throughout the organization, and get initial experiments and pilot tests going.
During the presentation, Kirsner will also lead a discussion on some of the challenges of both “operating the radar” that seeks out emerging technologies, trends and business models—and communicating what that radar sees to the rest of the company. He will discuss the pros and cons of scouting in academic, startup and customer environments and look at some of the ways that companies like Kellogg Co., BASF, Nokia, Hospital Corp. of America, IBM, Goodyear, Autodesk and Sherwin-Williams set up scouting activity.
Keeping up with innovation
Identifying what innovations are about to enter the marketplace is only part of the battle. In order to keep up with competition, it is also important to be able to create innovative products quickly.
In the first general session of day two, “Innovate at Speed: Sustaining Innovation in a World of Rapid Change,” (10:10-11 a.m. Grand Ballroom). Christie McCarthy, the Director of New Product Realization for Corning Life Science, will tackle this challenge.
Her talk will focus on how Corning leverages classic R&D principles with evolving innovation methodologies to innovate at speed. Corning has a long history of innovation. Founded in 1851, the company has applied expertise in specialty glass, ceramics and optical physics to deliver ground-breaking inventions that solve tough customer problems—from bulb-shaped glass for Thomas Edison’s incandescent lamps to tough transparent Gorilla Glass for Steve Jobs.
In her talk, McCarthy will discuss the value of a focused and cohesive portfolio and how sustained investment in R&D allows innovation for today’s businesses while creating tomorrow’s growth drivers.
Jobsite of the Future
Following McCarthy’s talk with be the general session “New Ideas in Innovation: Project 2020 and the Jobsite of the Future” (11:15 a.m.-12 p.m.; Grand Ballroom). This presentation will focus on the innovation strategy of Bechtel, a global engineering, construction and project management company. Bechtel delivers landmark projects that create long-term progress and economic growth. The company believes that the key to innovation is to learn safe, learn fast and learn forward. Its core innovation strategy involves a six-step internal process to test assumptions, integrate solutions in the business, and ensure a steady stream of diverse ideas. Bechtel employees around the world have submitted more than 2,600 ideas to Project 2010—with over 500 ideas in the prototype stage. Of these, 35 have been implemented on 42 projects for a total of 125 deployments. Currently, more than $53 million has been committed to prototyping and testing these new innovations.
About the R&D 100 Conference and R&D 100 Awards
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. The R&D 100 Conference features multi-disciplinary General Sessions specially geared for today’s R&D leaders—and up-and-coming leaders—to help them tackle the most important challenges facing the R&D community right now. The conference creates a rare collaborative space where ideas flow and networking is truly special.
The R&D 100 Awards have served as the most prestigious innovations awards program in research and development for the past 56 years, honoring pioneers in science and technology. The 2018 R&D 100 Awards will be presented at the R&D 100 Awards Gala event on the evening of Nov. 16.
Together, the 2018 R&D 100 Awards Gala event and the 2018 R&D 100 Conference explore significant strides in R&D, offering an enriching experience for R&D professionals of all levels and specialties. For registration and conference details visit: www.rd100conference.com.
About Advantage Business Marketing
The R&D 100 Conference, R&D 100 Awards and R&D Magazine are brought to you by Advantage Business Marketing.
Established in 2006, Advantage Business Marketing helps more than one million innovators at science, design engineering and manufacturing companies discover and procure new technologies that give them a competitive advantage. The team provides measurable marketing solutions delivering the news, trends and analysis needed for business success. Advantage leverages proprietary behavioral-data intelligence to strengthen brand awareness, provide thought leadership, drive traffic and deliver qualified leads.
