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Pirates to Debut All-inclusive Suite at Home Opener; Issue call for technology proposals from Tech Council members

Published March 9, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

For the 2010 season, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball is going high-end. In the few short months since the holidays, the Pirates have been working around the clock to turn four existing suites on the private suite level of PNC Park into Club Cambria – an expansive, all-inclusive luxury suite specifically targeted at businesses and high-net worth individuals. Located on the third base side, Club Cambria offers patrons a perfect view of the picturesque Pittsburgh skyline and the optimal environment for entertaining clients, family and friends while watching Pirates baseball.

Outfitted extensively with Cambria natural quartz countertops, bar tops, tabletops, wall cladding and tile, Club Cambria will not disappoint the luxury-seeking fan. Amenities include a private, full service bar, nine flat screen televisions, suite attendant, coat closet and private restrooms.

“Club Cambria will offer an upscale, private environment to watch a baseball game inside PNC Park,” Lou DePaoli, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Pittsburgh Pirates, said. “The Club will be ready for the home opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, April 5.

“Club Cambria season ticket sales have gone very well,” he continued. “We have sold more than half of the 55 seats available in less than a month and expect to be completely sold out by Opening Day.”

As part of the luxury experience at PNC Park, the Pirates want to provide the latest and greatest in entertainment technology to Club Cambria patrons. To accomplish this, the Pirates turned to the Pittsburgh Technology Council to help connect them with innovative companies that can improve the Club Cambria experience through technology.

Melissa Ungar, CAE, Director, Business Growth Services at the Pittsburgh Technology Council, underscored the importance of engaging local technology companies in this project with the Pirates. “We appreciate the Pirates offering this opportunity to our members,” she said. “We hope that there will be many exciting new technologies that will be incorporated into Club Cambria and PNC Park as a whole.”

Last season, local Internet technology firm Songwhale debuted its Wi-Fi network at PNC Park to deliver exclusive digital content to fans inside the park on their smartphones. DePaoli would love to see more of this type of engaging technology integrated into the fan experience and currently is asking for proposals from Tech Council members to meet this need.

“We are very excited to be working with our fellow members of the Pittsburgh Technology Council on enhancing the level of fan engagement via the use of technology,” said DePaoli. “Our initial focus was on technology for the new Club Cambria, but as we started discussing concepts with Technology Council members we realized there are many possibilities not only for Club Cambria but for many other areas in and around PNC Park.”

Have a technology idea that would improve the fan experience at PNC Park? Let us know! Contact Melissa Ungar at (412) 918-4292.

Club Cambria tickets are being sold on a season ticket basis only and include a seat in the Club for Pirates’ home games, gourmet chef’s tables, unlimited non-alcoholic beverages, private restrooms, concierge service and access to seats for other PNC Park events like concerts. Per seat investment ranges from $125 – $150 per game. For more information on Club Cambria, visit www.pirates.com/clubcambria.

Member Spotlight: Meet the PTC Membership

The Pittsburgh Technology Council has more than 1,300 member companies, all based in SWPA. We’ve got some of the most innovative tech ventures here in our backyard. We thought it would be most excellent to put a small spotlight on a handful of our members each and every week, so you can see the great diversity and talent that we have out there. We encourage you to learn more about these technology companies:

Kennametal Inc. - Kennametal Inc. aspires to be the premier tooling solutions supplier in the world with operational excellence throughout the value chain and best-in-class manufacturing and technology. http://www.kennametal.com

MECCO – MECCO offers the latest innovations in direct part marking for traceability, verification, and part identification in manufacturing, assembly, and other harsh environments. MECCO features a full range of marking technology, including MeccoMark fiber lasers, as well as CO₂, diode-pumped, and flash lamp lasers as well as a complete line of dot-peen indent markers with portable, benchtop, integrated, and custom systems available. http://www.mecco.com

New Perspective Productions – New Perspective is a full-service provider of corporate video, broadcast TV and radio spots and interactive multimedia solutions, including CD and DVD authoring and specialized Internet applications. http://www.new-perspective.com

Pennatronics Corporation – Pennatronics Corporation provides electronic manufacturing services on a contract basis to original equipment manufacturers. We have a state-of-the-art facility in western Pennsylvania capable of assembling leading-edge component and design technology used in the printed circuit industry. http://www.pennatronics.com

ReGear Life Sciences, Inc. – ReGear Life Sciences develops and markets innovative products that provide deep-tissue therapeutic heating to promote pain relief, reduce joint stiffness, and facilitate the body’s natural healing process. http://www.regearlife.com

SCA Technologies, LLC – SCA Technologies is the leading provider of Intelligent Cost Management solutions. Our methodologies focus clients’ enterprise processes on anticipating changes and taking timely action. Our solutions predict the impact of changes in demand and operations on revenue, cost and profits that drive decision making to improve results in anticipation of changes. http://www.sca-tech.com

Sustainable Pittsburgh – Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses. http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org

Thar Technologies – Thar Technologies, Inc., is a global leader in supercritical fluid technology whose single-point-of-access platform delivers supercritical fluid process and equipment technologies to the food, chemical, electronics and pharmaceutical industries. http://www.thartech.com

True Commerce, Inc. – TrueCommerce is a Pittsburgh-based EDI solutions provider founded in 1995. From the beginning, the company vision has been to provide small to mid-tier companies with a comprehensive, end-to-end EDI solution that is easy to implement and fully integrates with their accounting software. http://www.truecommerce.com

Vox Energy – Vox Energy Solutions provides professional design, installation and maintenance for alternative energy systems. We leverage our expertise and services to enable customers to save money, meet their energy goals and environmental objectives. http://www.voxenergysolutions.com

The Week that Was in Pittsburgh’s Tech Scene

Published March 5, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, David Gurwin, dbMotion, Pittsburgh Technology Council, PTC Insider, UPMC

I thought that I would spare you from having to watch a video update of “The Week that Was” and have opted for a hand-written update. Damned Youtube! So here’s what happened this past week:

The Pittsburgh Technology Council and CivicScience launched the PTC Insider as a first-of-its kind on-line community to share your views about business, technology, academia, government and economic development in the region. Through weekly polls, games, and interactive forums, PTC Insider will help you influence the decision-makers that drive our local economy.

David A. Gurwin, a shareholder in the Corporate Finance & Technology Section of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney’s Pittsburgh office and chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and its Entertainment and Media Law Group, recently authored a chapter in the book “Cross-Media Communications: An Introduction to the Art of Creating Integrated Media Experiences,” published by ETC Press.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) recently announced the development of personal health record (PHR) technology that may soon give patients the ability to add critical health information to the electronic health records maintained by hospitals and physicians. UPMC completed the proof-of-concept project in collaboration with Google Health, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and technology partner dbMotion.

Be sure to tune in to TechVibe Radio this Saturday at 1 p.m. or Sunday at 8 a.m. on KQV AM1410. Be adventurous and tune in both days as we’re profiling SIMA, C-Leveled and Circuits!

Member Spotlight: Meet the PTC Membership

Published February 27, 2010 PTC Member , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Abator, AdvizeX Technologies, Beekeeper LAbs, Bettis Atomic Power Lab, C2, Cellumen, CNX Gas, Database Architects, Direct Response Technologies, FASTTAC, Gather, Inservco, Pittsburgh Technology Council

Abator is an 8(a) WBE-certified organization whose focus is building relationships to enable successful information management, applications development and technical support efforts for our clients.

AdvizeX Technologies is a leading information technology provider of infrastructure and enterprise application solutions.

Beekeeper Labs develops personal software for niche markets such as hobbies and crafts.

For the past 50 years, the mission of the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory has been to develop advanced Naval nuclear propulsion technology and provide technical support for the safe and reliable operation of existing Naval reactors.

C2 is an industry leader and innovator in providing workforce solutions to organizations throughout the Pittsburgh area.

Cellumen will be forming discovery partnerships with industry, as well as government and academic centers to more rapidly and deeply understand the functions of genes, proteins and regulatory RNA in living cells.

CNX Gas is a leading producer of natural gas in the Appalachian Basin and the nation’s largest producer of coalbed methane (CBM) natural gas.

Database Architects provides for comprehensive remote and on-site Oracle database administration services with an emphasis on automated database monitoring and implementation of new database features.

Direct Response Technologies, Inc. is a leading technology and media company that has been in business since 1994.

FASTTAC is the developer of the first electronic drawing and document distribution system which provides cutting edge solutions to the A/E/C industry to improve communication, increase collaboration and reduce project risk.

Gather, Inc. is a cutting-edge social networking Web site where intelligent people connect with each other to hold conversations.

Inservco provides world-class Electronic Manufacturing Services to quality-critical industries, such as: medical device, industrial automation and telecommunications.

Chemosensitivity/Resistance Assay Included as Part of the NCCN Principles of Chemotherapy

Published February 26, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: epithelial ovarian cancer, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Ovarian Cancer, Precision Therapeutics

Precision Therapeutics recently announced that The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recently updated the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines for Oncology (NCCN Guidelines™) for Ovarian Cancer Including Fallopian Tube Cancer and Primary Peritoneal Cancer to include the use of chemosensitivity/resistance assays as part of the Principles of Chemotherapy section. While the NCCN Guidelines™ state that this technology is not intended to supplant standard of care chemotherapy, chemosensitivity/resistance assays are being used in some NCCN Member Institutions for decisions related to future chemotherapy in situations where there are multiple equivalent chemotherapy options available. This is a NCCN category 3 recommendation.

Recent studies presented at ASCO and published in the International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer, evaluated the association between prediction of response to chemotherapy and progression-free interval and overall survival in ovarian cancer.

“We offer our gratitude to NCCN on behalf of the many ovarian cancer patients who could be faced with the potential side effects of ineffective chemotherapies. Not only are oncologists recognizing the benefits of using chemosensitivity and resistance assays when faced with equivalent therapeutic options, but they are also paving the way for greater support of personalized medicine in oncology,” says Karen Kaplan, CEO of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.

Epithelial ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancer in the United States and the country’s fifth most common cause of cancer mortality in women. In the year 2009, there were more than 21,000 new diagnoses and nearly 15,000 deaths from this neoplasm in the United States.

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ are developed and updated through an evidence-based process with explicit review of the scientific evidence integrated with expert judgment by multidisciplinary panels of physicians from NCCN Member Institutions. The most recent version of this and all the NCCN Guidelines™ are available free of charge at NCCN.org.

About the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance

The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance is the foremost advocate for women with ovarian cancer in the United States. To advance the interests of women with ovarian cancer, the organization advocates at a national level for increases in research funding for the development of an early detection test, improved health care practices, and life-saving treatment protocols. The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance educates health care professionals and raises public awareness of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer. For more information, visit www.ovariancancer.org.

About Precision Therapeutics

Precision Therapeutics, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a life science company and leader in the development of innovative technology that delivers personalized diagnostics to physicians with the goal of supporting and optimizing difficult treatment decisions in cancer therapy.

Precision’s ChemoFx®, a proprietary drug response marker, measures an individual patient’s tumor response to various chemotherapeutic and biological agents prior to treating the patient. ChemoFx® can complement the physician’s experience and provide valuable patient-specific information, particularly when there is non-uniform response to standard cancer treatment or no clear choice for the next regimen.

Member Spotlight: Meet the PTC Membership

Published February 20, 2010 General , PTC Member , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: i-squared, LunaMetrics, Montauk Energy Capital, One Planet Corporation, Pittsburgh Technology Council, Promethean LifeSciences, Silicon Vox Inc., TAGGART Global, The Odyssey Software Group, Wherever TV, Zeo Technologies

i-Squared – i-Squared is a content management firm specializing in content strategies and content development.

LunaMetrics – LunaMetrics is an Internet consulting firm specializing in increasing conversion rates and driving more traffic to sites.

Montauk Energy Capital – Montauk Energy Capital is an alternative energy company based in Pittsburgh. Montauk is an industry leader in the development and operation of clean and renewable energy projects utilizing landfill gas.

One Planet Corporation – One Planet provides technical translation, software localization, interpretation and cross-cultural consulting.

Promethean LifeSciences – Promethean LifeSciences, Inc. is a Pennsylvania-based biomedical company devoted to creating innovative medical devices tailored to the wound care and reconstructive surgery markets.

Silicon Vox Inc. – Founded in 2006, Silicon Vox is a technology spin out of Carnegie Mellon University. The Silicon Vox mission is to meet the need for faster, more cost effective speech recognizers by delivering hardware accelerated speech recognition solutions that operate orders of magnitude faster than software implementations at a compelling price point.

TAGGART Global, LLC – TAGGART Global USA, LLC is an international design, engineering and construction company providing engineering, procurement, construction management and operations management services to the mining, coke, power generating and material handling industries.

The Odyssey Software Group – Odyssey Software is a Pittsburgh-based technology consulting firm that provides innovative IT solutions and services for corporate and public-sector companies.

Wherever TV – Watch streaming video from over 1,200 internet TV channels – plus listen to hundreds of internet radio stations or share your own webcasts privately and securely.

Zeo Technologies – Zeo Technologies provides custom tailored solutions to the private sector and government bodies in order to achieve increased efficiency and strong security without sacrificing accessibility.

Denise DeSimone Launches C-leveled!

Published February 17, 2010 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Tags: c-leveled, CXO as a Service, CXOs, Denise DeSimone, Executives as a Service

It’s always exciting to see local vetarans of business and technology create something completely new from the ground up.

Such is the case with Pittsburgh serial entrepreneur and businesswoman Denise DeSimone. A few weeks ago, she gave Techburgher some inside scoop on her latest entrepreneurial endeavour – C-leveled.

She amicably parted ways with her last venture — Advanticom – to start her new Executives as a Service company that helps businesses of all kinds (technology, too) augment their teams with experienced CXOs.

DeSimone noted that running a business is more complex than ever these days with the disciplines of finance, operations, technology, sales and marketing growing in sophistication. Small and mid-sized organizations are often lacking seasoned pros in these areas, and don’t have the finances to access the right talent and resources.

This really inspired DeSimone to create C-leveled as a resource to help organizations grow business to new levels without incurring the high costs of more traditional methods, such as hiring a full-time executive or consultant.

DeSimone explained that C-leveled’s CXO as a Service programs begin with a comprehensive assessment of a client’s business. C-leveled then reviews its arsenal of CXOs for a fit with a client’s culture and need. C-leveled’s CXOs are seasoned veterans with years of specialized leadership experience under their belts and are assigned to clients based on their ability to create measurable, positive impact in specific areas of business while minimizing risk and cost.

In the late 1990s, DeSimone started IT infrastructure company Unicorp and sold the business to Convergen. She returned to Pittsburgh and later became CEO of Advanticom.

Get a full tour of her latest creation C-leveled right here.

IQ Inc. Wins 9th Annual Pittsburgh Business Awards

Published February 16, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Barbara VanKirk, IQ Inc., Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Business Awards, Pittsburgh Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals

Here’s some great news from IQ Inc.! Congratulations!

IQ Inc. was selected as the winner for the 9th Annual Pittsburgh Business Ethics Award in the Small Business Category (less than 250 employees) by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals.

The Pittsburgh Business Ethics Awards honors local companies who demonstrate “a firm commitment to ethical practices in their day-to-day operations, philosophies and response to crises and challenges”. The award was presented by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Society of Financial Services Professionals, along with the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership at the University of Pittsburgh, at an awards luncheon at the Omni William Penn Hotel.

Barbara VanKirk established IQ Inc. in 1994 to provide expert consulting, staffing, project management and software engineering services to companies with Information Technology and software needs. IQ Inc. is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) through the Port Authority of Allegheny County. IQ Inc. continues to benefit from steady growth and success under Barbara’s leadership and celebrated its 15th year in business in October 2008.

Circuits LLC Releases Microvia Process to Production

Published February 16, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Circuits LLC, flex boards, microvia process, Pittsburgh, Technology

As finished products become smaller and lighter weight along with new component packages shrinking in size, circuit density is steadily increasing. Microvia technology simply helps designers fit more connections in less space. In keeping up with the ever-shrinking real estate on flexible and rigid flex PCB designs, Circuits, LLC announced today the release of microvia processes from engineering development to production.

Flex boards lend themselves particularly well to high-density interconnect technology since microvias, typically connecting one layer of the PCB to the next, can be manufactured with reasonably high yields thanks to thin dielectrics and glass-free materials. Circuits employs controlled depth laser drilling in combination with finely tuned plasma etchback and plating parameters to achieve the most reliable finished holes. The cross-section published today shows a 4.5 mil diameter hole with .9 mils of plated copper, meeting the specifications for both IPC and MIL standards.

According to Don Anderson, Circuits’ Quality Assurance Manager, “Quality is something we build into our products as a result of our upfront design for manufacturability review, our firm process controls and the strength of our Quality Management System (QMS).”

Circuits builds boards using IPC-6013 as the default performance specification, and uses a QMS designed to meet the requirements of MIL-PRF-31032 and ISO9001:2008. Anderson added that “through-hole interconnect integrity and plating thicknesses are verified through daily cross-sectioning at Circuits.”

Action Alert! Governor Rendell Proposes Computer Services Tax

Published February 15, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Computer Services Tax, PA small business, Pennsylvania State Budget, Pittsburgh, Rendell, Technology

As part of his last budget address to the General Assembly, in February 2010, Governor Ed Rendell proposed the reinstatement of Pennsylvania’s computer services sales tax, which would result in more than $2 billion in new taxes on PA small businesses in the coming decade. Learn more and see how you can get involved.