Oakland : Pittsburgh Innovates

How free are the apps in our smartphones?

That depends on the price you put on your personal information. Many are sucking sensitive information from our phones only to be sold for a profit.

More disturbing, most people don’t even realize it.
 
Researchers at CMU’s School of Computer Science say 80% of all mobile users are unaware that their smartphone is sharing their location, contact lists and other personal information around the clock. Users should be forwarned of the hazards associated with the great, unregulated Internet.
 
“The study basically shows that there’s a very sophisticated amount of information being collected and most people don’t even know it,” Norman Sadeh, a professor at CMU’s School of Computer Sciences and co-founder of Wombat Security, an Oakland-based firm working on tools that teach how to identify suspicious online activity.

Among the 10 invasive apps that surprised users, in a crowdsourced study: Brightest Flashlight, Toss It (game), Angry Birds, Talking Tom (virtual pet), Backgrounds HD Wallpapers, Dictionary.com, Mouse Trap (game), Shazam (music) and Pandora Internet Radio.
 
Apps like GoogleMaps raised few concerns because most knew they were giving up location information, says Sadeh. The bottom line is nothing is free. App developers are in the business of making money by aggregating information that is used to push display ads our way.
 
Insurance companies, for example, have apps that may one day track our location and the speed at which we are traveling, information that will undoubtedly be used to modify our insurance premiums. So what can mobile users do to protect themselves in this wild frontier?
 
Become vigilant of the ambiguous popups that periodically surface asking for access and tap Deny, says Sadeh. iPhone users have some degree of control of this information by going to settings and toggling privacy settings on for each app.
 
“You can always protect yourself by uninstalling an app,” he adds.
 
While the problem carries over to personal computers, the smartphone is more at risk because it travels with you and details and location information are much richer.
 
For the researchers, the study was the first step in identifying the problem. The team hopes to develop smart tools and launch a website that will systematically scan apps and make it easier for users to gain this information.
 
The National Science Foundation, Google and the Army Research Office sponsored the work.
 
Writer: Deb Smit 
Source: Norman Sadeh, CMU

One of the smartest and fastest research computers in the world has come to live in Pittsburgh.
 
Aptly named Sherlock after the British private eye known for his razor-sharp reasoning, the high-performance computer will be unveiled this week at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. It’s the only computer of its kind open to the national research community.
 
“In broad terms, Sherlock brings a really unique way of solving problems to the region and to the country,” says Nick Nystrom, director of strategic applications. “It will enable people to do things that they can’t do any other way.”
 
Sherlock, which has 1 terabyte of memory and supports up to to 512 terabytes of global memory, will allow scientists and industries to sift through large-scale data sets and unlock new relationships and hidden patterns buried in complex bodies of information, assisting researchers in the sciences, medicine, health care, cyber security, social sciences and economics.
 
Sherlock can leap beyond the memory wall with 128-thread computing power. The massive multi-threading means Sherlock can power ahead faster without having to double back to the memory wall for information retrieval. The typical desktop computer runs only one or two threads at a time, Nystrom says.
 
The PSC is a joint effort of CMU and the University of Pittsburgh together with Westinghouse Electric Co. Sherlock was funded through the Strategic Technologies for Cyberinfrastructure program of the National Science Foundation.
 
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Nick Nystrom, PSC

Each week Pop City reports on the latest company news and hiring:
 
Black Box Corp., a global technical services company, is hiring a web marketing manager responsible for web marketing strategy, direction and management for the company’s technology product solution offerings. The ideal candidate will have a minimum seven years of professional experience in technology-based markets and five years in website management.
 
Google Pittsburgh is looking for a lead content writer for its Bakery Square office, as well as software engineers and a Data Scientist. Generally speaking, the ideal candidates will be working in a fast-paced environment with a highly innovative team of people. All the positions are full-time.
 
MARC USA is seeking a creative director-copywriter for its ad agency that is brimming with new business. The ideal candidate should be a “killer writer” and “strategic thinker” as well as a pioneer in all media. 
 
Astrobotic, the CMU spinout in the business of establishing commuter missions to the moon, is hiring an experienced Administrative Assistant to join the team. A bachelor’s degree and experience with graphic design, Photoshop and/or video editing experience is sought. Must be willing to oversee all aspects of an office of a small company. 
 
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is looking for a chief communications officer, someone who will lead the Food Bank’s marketing, communication, education and advocacy efforts in the pursuit of hunger relief in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Marketing and communication skills and the ability to lead a team strategically forward are key.
 
Carnegie Learning is looking for a team-oriented, self-directed software engineer-user interface to create custom components and layout managers in a message-driven environment. Strong software design skills and experience with the Java programming language including Swing and Java 2D are necessary.
 
Pittsburgh law firm K&L Gates is looking for a Website Administrator for its Pittsburgh office, a position that will be responsible for the coordination of an array of relevant content. Sharepoint and Social Media Web 2.0 technologies is a must.

Is your company hiring? Email Pop City and send us your link! Check out more listings from last week.
 
Writer: Deb Smit

Venture capital investment across the region continued to climb steadily in 2012 with 79 deals that totaled $168.97 million, a 7.9% increase over 2011 when $156.53 million was raised and spread over 55 deals. 

The news in Pittsburgh was a bright spot; nationally VC figures declined by 10 percent from the prior year. All figures are from the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data from Thomson Reuters.

“We’re bucking a trend here in Pittsburgh which is very positive,” noted Gary Glausser who joined Innovation Works this month as Chief Investment Officer.

A longtime venture capitalist in the local community, Glausser was with South Side-based Birchmere Ventures for 13 years. He most recently handled alternative investments for the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System, a total portfolio of $7 billion. He is also a member of the IW Board of Directors.

Among the highlights of the MoneyTree report for 2012:

The strongest showing in Pittsburgh was the life sciences and software sectors. More than 23 companies received funding in life sciences, predominantly medical device companies, and 19 software and IT services companies were funded. The number of software company deals last year is a sign of the region’s strength in this sector since software companies generally don’t require large infusions of cash, noted Terri Glueck of Innovation Works.

Innovation Works and The Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG) were the largest overall investors, IW with 12 deals and PLSG with six according to the MoneyTree report.

The companies that raised the largest rounds included: Avere Systems ($20 million), Thorley Industries ($20 million), TriStar Investors ($15 million) Duolingo ($15 million) Knopp Biosciences ($14.94 million) and BodyMedia ($11.89 million). 

Other local investors included: Birchmere Ventures, Draper Triangle Ventures, Adams Capital Management, BlueTree Allied Angels, Eagle Ventures and Pittsburgh Equity Partners.

“I personally think the next few years will be exciting,” Glausser adds. “We’re looking at a pipeline of opportunities here. Our mission is going to be to get the capital to put into these companies.”

Writer: Deb Smit
Source: NVCA and MoneyTree 

Facebook alert: The social media site may adversely influence your behavior, reducing your self-control when it comes to diet and credit card debt.
 
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia Business School have taken it upon themselves to study the underlying psychology of the celebrated social media platform.
 
Titled “Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social Networks, Self-Esteem and Self-Control,” it’s the first academic look at the effects of Facebook on users general well-being, says coauthor Andrew Stephen, assistant professor of business administration and marketing at Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business.
 
Research to date has suggested positive links between Facebook and self-esteem, says Stephen. People on Facebook generally feel better about themselves, more connected to one another and the world.
 
To test this claim, researchers split users in several groups and monitored their behavior. What they found is that people who have strong ties to Facebook—those who communicate primarily with close friends on the site—are susceptible to a decline in self-control.
 
This group shows a greater risk of having higher body-mass indexes and higher levels of credit card debt. This finding held true no matter what the age of the study participant.
 
Whether this is because they are online,--shopping or eating while they are on Facebook--was not determined, but it could indeed be part of the reason, Stephen admits.
 
Conversely, those who interact on Facebook primarily with acquaintances—those whom they don’t know as well—are not at the same risk.
 
Most of the Facebook studies to date focus on the marketing and business side of social media use. Of the few psychological studies done, most say that users are happier despite a risk of feeling left out or not included.
 
“There’s a flipside to this important communication and marketing tool. While users are not sentenced to it for life, they can become aware and compensate for it in various ways, making better eating choices and spending decisions,” he says.
 
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Andrew Stephen, Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business

Image of Andrew Stephen copyright Brian Cohen, Pop City

Looking for a job? Each week Pop City reports on company hiring news in the region.
 
Design Center Pittsburgh is hiring a Community Programs Manager who will be responsible for management and oversight of projects for the grant-making program of the Design Fund. The ideal candidate will provide technical assistance and support around issues of design, planning and policy to community-based organizations.
 
The position demands a highly organized person with experience in architecture, planning and/or community development and strong program management and communications skills.
 
The hiring spree continues at ticketing company ShowClix, which is posting seven jobs and four internships for account executives and managers, software engineers. The news at ShowClix is the recent departure of company co-founder and Josh Dziabiak who is moving to Austin, TX, to work for former AlphaLab company Insurance Zebra.
 
ShowClix has no immediate plans to fill the CEO position and remains committed to Pittsburgh, reports Lynsie Campbell, president. A new funding round is in the works.
 
Tickets for Kids Charities, a nonprofit that seeks to give underprivileged children in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio access to the arts, is looking for an executive director and administrative assistant.  
 
The ideal candidate will have have 10 years minimum experience as a senior manager in a nonprofit or business environment and an established record of success in several areas.
 
The administrative assistant position is part-time, about 20-hours a week, and requires one to two years of experience working in a busy office environment.
 
Carnegie Robotics, a startup company that builds robots, smart sensors and automation components with a strong relationship with the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), is hiring mid-level software engineers for its Lawrenceville office.
 
The full-time positions requires product-oriented software engineers with superior problem-solving skills, high energy, creativity and strong experience in developing C and C++ software for robotics sensing applications. 
 
General Dynamics C4 Systems is hiring an Information Designer. GD works on the latest in visualization and collaboration software for the military and commercial partners. The ideal candidate will have a degree in Design and/or Human Sciences or related field plus a minimum of five years of relevant experience.

Sequoia Waste Solutions is hiring a lead developer and two paid-for-hire interns for its O’Hara Township office. The company, which takes a unique approach to waste disposal and recycling as a service, helps companies save money and recycle products. (See related story.)
 
SnapRetail has a position for a Marketing and Product Management person. The ideal candidate will be an advanced user of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop and be able to execute and create compelling graphics and work with a team.

Treatspace is hiring a Lead Interface Designer.
 
Writer: Deb Smit

When it comes to venues, SXSW in Austin may be the hottest ticket in the country, five days of techno-bliss and partying alongside cutting-edge technologies and the smartest entrepreneurs in the world.
 
This March the city is throwing its own Pittsburgh Innovation Party. Carnegie Mellon University and the Pittsburgh Technology Council have joined forces to stage an officially sponsored event in downtown Austin on Saturday, March 9, from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
 
The event, open to all SXSW registrants, will highlight the best of Pittsburgh innovation and include an interactive arcade of projects featuring companies and students. Pittsburgh’s own Tracksplotation will provide live entertainment.  
 
While Pittsburgh companies and students have always gone to SXSW--and some have thrown their own events--this marks the first time the city has come together to pull off a sponsored event, says Brad Stephenson, director of online strategy for CMU’s Heinz College, a lead sponsor along with CMU’s Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII).
 
“The whole gamut of innovation will be represented at this event, from early childhood education to startups to university technology,” says Kim Chestney Harvey, manager director of the PTC’s Creative Technology Network. “Everyone will be down there showcasing innovation from the region and showing off Pittsburgh as a great place to live, work and learn. It’s a great place to get exposure.”
 
As an official event, the Pittsburgh Party will be promoted through SXSW marketing channels to the more than 40,000 attendees. PTC is currently seeking all innovative projects, partners, companies and sponsors to join the program.
 
Supporting sponsors include: Alpha Lab, The Entertainment Technology Center, Steeltown Entertainment, CMU University Advancement. The event is also supported by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the SPARK Kids & Creativity Network.
 
“It will be electrifying and fun,” adds Stephenson. “We would love to see 1,000 people come through.”
 
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Kim Chestney Harvey, PTC, and Brad Stephenson, CMU Heinz College

Among the latest Pittsburgh-based websites, blogs and apps to surface in recent weeks:
 
Treading Art is the region’s latest resource for cultural happenings in the city.
 
Christine Smith and Melissa LuVisi moved to Pittsburgh after graduating from UCLA, where they met. They were drawn to our region’s thriving arts community and the city’s drive to redevelop and expand.
 
Their background in business development, museum administration and curatorial management is perfect for reaching out to the creative communities in the city. TreadingArt will highlight the scene, promote cultural happenings and post reviews, photographs, interviews, commentary and critiques.
 
In the coming year, the duo plan to launch a membership program with access to arts events—underground openings, panels, tours and workshops.
 
“Eventually we would like to see this transpire into a physical space,” says LuVisi.  “We are truly thankful to have landed in such a receptive and innovative city.”
 
Look for the Weekend Treadings newsletter and agenda events in January of 2013.
 
Built In Pgh is connecting the dots for local entrepreneurs and innovators. The website, brought to you by the same people behind the RustBuilt Initiative, is a clearinghouse for the startup community, listing events, forums, job postings and company news.
 
And here’s several apps and games to keep small minds busy during the holidays.
 
IOnFuture is a cool way for middle schoolers to explore potential careers in the STEM fields. Considering a career as an ecologist or urban planner? How about an industrial designer or Veterinarian? This gives students an opportunity to learn different activities and hobbies they might try as they explore various career paths in science, technology, engineering and math fields.
 
The Lemonade Stand is a free educational iPad game that teaches children ages 3-6 about money and work by letting them actually run a virtual lemonade stand. The app was created through Idea Foundry’s Riveted program.
 
Online reviews comments that it teaches youngsters literacy and math skills while offering kudos for the rocking music.  
 
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Melissa LuVisi, Kit Mueller

 
Birchmere Labs, the $10 million studio seed fund created by Birchmere Ventures to support digital media startups, plans to fund two Pittsburgh-based companies in the near future.
 
While the announcement is not yet official, Birchmere Partner Sean Sebastian confirmed that two local startups will be among the first to receive studio funding. 
 
One of the companies is a digital media technology developed by a professor at Carnegie Mellon. Sebastian declined to provide details on the second, but said both companies would be developed in house initially through Birchmere Lab.
 
“A CMU professor came to us with an interesting idea that has never been done, but he didn’t want to run the company,” says Sebastian. “We struck an agreement and plan to build a company from scratch around the idea.”
 
Birchmere Labs operates as a seed studio fund, a novel approach that allows Birchmere to fund established startups through seed monies and support and build new companies through the studio funding. 
 
“We saw all the internet, media and web 2.0 activity coming, which really didn’t fit into Birchmere IV,” says Sebastian. “It was like putting a square peg into a round hole.”
 
Birchmere Lab was formed with the help of Sean Ammirati, who joined as a principal partner last August. Ammirati has a national reputation in digital media and mobile technologies. He was formerly the COO of tech blog ReadWriteWeb (now ReadWrite) and CEO of mSpoke, which sold to LinkedIn in 2010.
 
Last August Birchmere announced a $40 million venture capital fund, Birchmere IV. The fund has invested in eight companies so far, two local companies among them. Uptown-based NoWait received $2 million and Ross Township-based The Resumator received $2.1 million. Both were Innovation Works’ Alpha Lab companies.
 
While Birchmere continues to invest in the best companies it can find, regardless of geographic location, the recent activity does suggest that local startups might have an advantage.
 
“While there’s no official edict, the closer we are to an earlier stage company, the less heavy lifting is required,” says Sebastian.
 
Writer: Debra Smit
Source: Sean Sebastian, Birchmere Ventures 

Industrial design majors Jonathan Ota and Ethan Frier, both avid bikers, understand the need for bikers to be more visable at night.
 
Studies show that 36% of all accidents occur at intersections, between the hours of 5 and 9 p.m., they say. So when they got a class assignment that asked them put their industrial design know-how to use, they came up with bike lights that can be seen on the road from almost any angle.
 
Called Aura (formerly Project Aura), the system uses LED lights, glowing white orbs that are rim-mounted to the bike to illuminate the wheels, alerting drivers and pedestrians to the presence of a moving vehicle.
 
Aura is a new way for cyclists to not only broadcast where they are, but convey how fast they are traveling, they explain. Unlike wheel tape or gimmicky products like lighted shoes, Aura is intended to make bikes pop out at night amid the urban chaos.
 
“The real innovation is the color changing aspect of the system,” says Ona, who regularly commutes to the Oakland campus. “It offers another level of information to drivers who can recognize more easily what a cyclist is doing.”
 
The LEDs illuminate red when the biker is moving slowly and white as a biker gains speed.
 
The pair are developing the prototype through CMU’s Project Olympus with help from a Student Undergraduate Research Grant (SURG) and support from CMU’s Greenlighting Startups. The plan is to raise money to take the design to the next level and commercialization.

In other CMU news, Astrobotic unveiled its prototype lunar rover, the solar-powered Polaris, yet another step in pursuit of the Google Lunar X $20 million prize. Polaris is equipped to search and drill for water on the Moon’s poles, in addition to other sources of potential energy.
 
This is the first lunar rover developed specifically to drill for water, a feature that was added as a result of scientific research that suggest that water exists on the moon in some form, says Red Whittaker, CEO of Astrobotic and director of the Field Robotics Center at CMU.
 
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Jonathan Ona and Ethan Frier, Aura; CMU

Image of Jonathan Ona and Ethan Frier courtesy of CMU