Pittsburgh Innovates

Take Kickstarter’s ability to attract support through crowdsourcing, give it a political twist and you have RedBlueVoice, a new web tool for political advertising, activism and advocacy.
 
RBV was created by high school chemistry teacher Josh Lucas who went to work on the idea in response to the state’s cuts in public education funding last year, a decision he says has taken a drastic toll on programs and resources in the poorest school districts in the state.
 
Bootstrapping the startup, RBV offers web-based tools to help organizations, campaigns and nonprofits—on any side of the political spectrum—raise money to promote causes and generate the media attention they believe they deserve.
 
“We’re working really hard to stay nonpartisan," says Lucas, president and founder. "We think our long term success is as an open platform and unbiased voice.” 

Sto-Rox was among RBV’s first success stories. The school community, teachers and administrators came together and raised $2,600 to pay for ads that will begin running this month on several local TV channels, spreading the word of the plight faced by many of the lowest funded schools districts in the state.
 
“It’s a real chance for a community to affect the conversation around a well publicized issue,” says Lucas. “There’s room in our model for the next election to really give the people some control of the mass media.” 
 
RBV works by offering interested parties a “branded issue portal” page, a webpage where they can advertise themselves and their funding goals. Once an ad is fully funded by users, RBV distributes the ads to appropriate vendors across the nation.
 
RBV makes its money by charging a small transaction fee for each ad funded, in addition to tee-shirts and demographic data sold. 

The site has is attracting a diverse interests. Among them are Haitian Families First, sisters Jamie and Ali McMutrie who are working to help families in Haiti; America’s Finest Hour, a celebration of the life of Ronald Reagan, and The Rox Reborn, celebrating the people and city of McKees Rocks.
 
“There will always be people who game the system,” says Lucas when asked how he plans to police the site. “We will work really hard to deliver honest info to our users.” 
 
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Josh Lucas, RedBlueVoice

Pop City's weekly roundup of hiring in Pittsburgh ranges from Alcoa to Williams Company to several arts and animal care organizations.

Alcoa is posting 15+ jobs in Pittsburgh including engineers, supply chain specialists, senior technicians, field sales consultants, associate counsel and territory sales reps. 

Tulsa, Okla.-based Williams Company, a natural gas firm, has 115 positions opening up in their Pittsburgh offices. Positions are a wide ranging, from engineers, technicians and safety specialists to internships.

Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC is hiring an administrative coordinator to support the Foundation Board of Directors and Research Administration for its Oakland location.

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is hiring a Director of Development. The new director will orchestrate the Zoo’s $20 million capital campaign in 2013 and everything that goes with it. Qualifications include excellent oral and written communication skills and eight-plus year's progressive experience in financial development with non-profit organizations and prior supervisory experience, for starters.

The Andy Warhol Museum is seeking a Director of Development who will be responsible for developing and implementing fundraising strategies and tactics to generate support from foundations, corporations, governments, and individuals in conjunction with Carnegie Museums’ Director of Development for Art and The Andy Warhol Museum’s leadership staff.

Animal Friends is looking for an Adoption & Customer Service Coordinator.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is hiring a Finance Director and Librarian.

The Ward Home in the South Hills, offering independent-living services for at-risk teens, is looking for a Director of Development.

See the previous job listings in Pop City.

Writer: Deb Smit

CMU’s Chris Harrison, a creator of technologies that takes digital devices to unexpected places—like your forearm—was selected by MIT’s Technology Review as one of the world’s Top 35 Innovators Under 35.
 
Harrison has been finding new ways for humans to engage with technology for several years. In the beginning, there was Skinput, a project that challenged the way we use cellphones, allowing users to dial by tapping a projection of numbers on our skin or a table.
 
Then there's Lean and Zoom, a system that automatically adjusts the magnification of a computer monitor based on the distance you sit from the screen. This idea has already been commercialized by CMU’s QoLT Foundry.
 
Touché is a sensing technique Harrison helped to develop as part of a team at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, that enables objects to sense how they are being touched.

“I’m pretty stoked and honored,” says Harrison, who recently returned from a six-week honeymoon in Tanzania. “It’s one of the top awards young scientists can receive early in their careers. It’s a huge honor, as good as it gets.”

Harrison, 28, is a native of England and Ph.D. student in CMU's Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII). The idea is to take everyday devices—a computer mouse or a keyboard—and give it a nuance that makes it easier and more convenient to use, he says.
 
Harrison sees a future where desktops will become dinosaurs and play a waning role in everyday life. Mobile technologies will be found everywhere, from the workplace and hospitals to our kitchen appliances.

“The big high level tagline is empowering people to interact with small devices in big ways,” he says.
 
The list of the illustrious 35 was selected by a panel of experts and the editorial staff of Technology Review based on a evaluation of more than 250 nominations. The 35 winners for 2012 will be featured in the September/October issue of Technology Review.
 
Harrison will join other TR35 honorees in discussing their achievements at the EmTech MIT 2012 conference, at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge Oct. 24-26.

 Writer: Debra Smit
Source: Chris Harrison, CMU

Mindfulness meditation is proving a good way to ease two debilitating human conditions, loneliness and inflammation, according to a study published in ScienceDirect led by Carnegie Mellon University.
 
J. David Creswell, assistant professor of psychology within the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and his team of researchers found that resting in the present moment on a regular basis, an ancient practice dating back to the days of Buddha, actually lowered inflammation levels, a condition thought to be a precursor of many diseases.
 
Meditation has long been considered valuable in alleviating disease, but this is the first study to confirm it as an approach in reducing loneliness and the risk of disease and older adults, says Creswell.
 
For the study, the team recruited 40 healthy adults ages 55 to 85. One group undertook a regular practice of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, a structured program that consisted of weekly two-hour meetings in which participants learned body awareness techniques. The meditating group also meditated privately 30 minutes a day for eight weeks.
 
Each person was assessed at the beginning and end of the study using an established loneliness scale; blood samples were also collected.
 
“We always tell people to quit smoking for health reasons, but rarely do we think about loneliness in the same way,” says Creswell. “This research suggests that mindfulness meditation training is a promising intervention for improving the health of older adults.”

While the research suggests a promising new approach for treating loneliness and inflammatory disease risk in older adults, more work needs to be done, notes Creswell.
 
“It’s important to train your mind like you train your biceps in the gym,” he says.

The team included researchers in UCLA as well.

Writer: Debra Smit
Source: J. David Creswell, CMU
 

Unless you’ve been under a wireless rock for the past week, you’ve probably snapped multiple  pictures of yourself and friends heaving giant Primanti sandwiches over your head--or juggling Rick Sebak’s (like Mitt Romney).
 
The opportunities to add local color to your life are endless with Yinztagram.
 
“I really didn't see it becoming as popular as it has become, I thought it would remain an inside joke,” admits Colin Miller who created the app with Deeplocal colleague Matthew Pegula based on a funny idea suggested by friend Drew at Commonplace Coffee. “It’s nice to see that the community has a sense of humor when it comes to the Pittsburgh culture.”
 
Based on the reactions of friends to the beta version, I knew people would love it but didn't think it would be spread beyond my immediate friends, says Pegula.
 
The photo app that allows users to juxtapose iconic local images—from Green Belt signs to our own golden arches—on top of personal snapshots has taken Twitter and Facebook by storm. (See the best of pics in this weeks Buzz section.) The Primanti’s sandwich, in particular, has found its way into some rather hilarious situations.
 
Miller and Pegula sat they've enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame. Stay tuned. The duo has been taking requests and additional photo ops are in progress. Not wanting to give away too much, they revealed the possibility of the classic Pittsburgh parking chair, or perhaps an angle on the Fort Pitt Tunnel.
 
"We hope to release a version that lets us easily push out new content without having to go through the Apple review process,” Pegula says. “We’ve gotten lots of suggestions and additions and are always looking for more.”

Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Colin Miller and Matt Pegula, Deeplocal

Image of Colin and Rick courtesy Deeplocal

Bringing up baby seems to get easier every day, thanks to advances in mechanical technology. But this one takes infant gear to a new level of ease.
 
Pittsburgh-based Thorley Industries, also known as 4Moms, is rolling out a robotic, one-touch portable crib that pops open without breaking a sweat. If you’ve ever tried this at home with the older technology, you know that getting a portable crib to stand can be as confounding a Rubik’s Cube. 
 
You know the joke, how many parents does it take to open a pack-and-play? All of them.
 
Dubbed “The Breeze,” Thorley’s latest entry on the baby gear market is as pretty to watch in action as their earlier products, the power-folding Origami stroller and the gently swaying mamaRoo. It also comes with a removable bassinet and a portable changing bag.
 
Thorley has raised $20 million led by Boston-based Bain Capital, the private investment firm founded by presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, to expand company product development, invest in supply chain and logistics and initiate global expansion, says Thorley.
 
With headquarters in the Strip District, Thorley employs 52 and sells its product in retail stores across the country as well as 23 countries overseas. The company recently made the Inc 5000 list at #743 and was listed at #55 in the Consumer Products and Services category.
 
Watch it.

Writer: Debra Smit
Source: Emily Cappo, Thorley Industries
 

Each week Pop City posts the latest job openings in the region. Businesses and companies are invited to send their career postings to debrsmit@gmail.com.
 
American Eagle Outfitters has 18 job openings at its corporate office in the South Side. Positions range from merchandisers and buyers to positions in marketing, finance, human resources, planning and allocation, graphic design and IT.

Matrix Solutions is has three openings: software developer, customer support manager and senior sales executive. As a provider of sales strategy management software for the media sales industry, Matrix is in business to meet the unique advertising demands of newspapers, TV stations, radio and cable. 

AT&T has openings for 26 people in Pittsburgh. While many of the positions are for full and part-time retail sales consultants, AT&T is seeking those with experience or degrees in engineering, finance, and management. Among the jobs is a Director Technology and Strategy, which requires at least 10+ years of relevant experience. 

GTECH is hiring an office manager to provide administrative, marketing, and bookkeeping support.  The position entails a combination of administrative duties as well as marketing tasks. Energetic personalities with a good sense of humor who can work in a fast-paced environment are sought.
 
One of Pittsburgh’s premier sustainable initiatives, the nonprofit aims to help Pittsburgh grow by transforming vacant land, connecting people to the green economy, and using green strategies to provide economic and community development opportunities.

Let’s Move Pittsburgh is looking for a program director to lead its Southwestern Pennsylvania chapter. Modeled after First Lady Michelle Obama’s Lets Move! Campaign, the local chapter is a collaboration of organizations here committed to addressing childhood obesity.

The program director reports directly to the executive director of Phipps Conservancy and Botanical Garden.  Prospective candidates should have a bachelor’s degree in a health-related field, master’s degree preferred.

To see previous postings for ShowClix, Deep Local, Google and more, go here.

Writer: Deb Smit
Source: AE, ATT&T, GTECH, Matrix Solutions, Phipps

Photo of AEO in the South Side courtesy of AEO

Point Park president Paul Hennigan is taking the college tour to the next level.
 
By bike, actually.  The Pittsburgh native and avid biker decided last year that the best way to indoctrinate incoming students—especially those working on campus as RAs—was to personally take them on a bike tour of the city.
 
“It’s an eye opening, fun experience for many of the students,” says Hennigan. “As our student ambassadors, this is a great thing to do and know about.”
 
Hennigan meets with the students twice before the tour and they are given an assignment: a one-page summary of the history behind the points of interest along the way.
 
How did the Hot Metal Bridge get its name? What’s the story behind the South Side Boat launch? How did the Pittsburgh Technology Center come to be?
 
“I’ve watched the evolution of this city and the creation of these bike trails.,” he tells the students. “I know these stories. Now its your job to learn the history.”
 
The tour begins at the Golden Triangle bike rental downtown and continues along the Eliza Furnace Trail to the Hot Metal Bridge. Crossing the bridge, the tour continues west on the South Side Trail to the Duquesne Incline, veers sharply left on the hairpin turn that winds up to the Fort Pitt Bridge, crosses the river and traverses Point State Park.
 
From there its over the Duquesne Bridge to the north side and onto Washington’s Landing where the tour breaks for lunch. Then its back across the Fort Duquesne Bridge to The Point and back to the bike rental.
 
Hennigan’s favorite stop is on the Hot Metal Bridge, which he points out was once a conduit that helped moved steel across the river.
 
“We stop in the middle of the bridge. To the right is the gleaming metropolis, to the left is nothing,” he says. “It’s a great juxtaposition.” 
 
The city is our campus, Hennigan says.
 
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Paul Hennigan
 

And from previous weeks...

Google is hiring for a variety of technical positions, engineers all, including software engineers, data scientists and evaluators, product managers, system engineers and technical program managers. Also a human resources business partner.

PNC is posting 340+ jobs across all sectors, everything from mortgage and technical specialists to business bankers and systems analysts. 

Sierra w/o Wires reports this week the hiring of eight people, everything from experienced engineers to an entry level support analyst. 

PNC is posting 340+ jobs across all sectors, everything from mortgage and technical specialists to business bankers and systems analysts. 
 
Aquion Energy is hiring more than 20 people including a director of research and development. In fact, the company, which plans to establish a manufacturing center in Pittsburgh, is always on the lookout for intelligent, committed innovative thinkers to join their world-class team of scientists, engineers and business people. 
 
Avere Systems, developers of high performance storage solutions for data enterprise centers, is at 75 and continues to grow. The company has 10 job openings including: product marketing manager, technical writer, regional sales manager, inside sales rep and various engineers. 
 
The Pittsburgh headquarter of ANSYS in Canonsburg is always hiring, the company reports. Currently the developer of engineering simulation software has more than a dozen postings for its home office, including software developers, engineers and human resources.