Babe was honored for his excellence in communications as the leader of Bayer’s U.S. operations and for his ongoing efforts to promote Pittsburgh worldwide.  This includes: 

• Establishing news media accessibility through local and national interviews.
• Encouraging local and national news media to cover business, education and diversity issues.
• Advancing Bayer internal communications via an Intranet site and hosting regular events for Bayer employees and retirees.
• Actively promoting worldwide attention to the Pittsburgh region throughout the G-20 Summit.
• Leading the community team that secured and announced the United Nations’ 2010 World Environment Day to be held in Pittsburgh on June 5. 

BLUE BELT TECHNOLOGIES CLOSES SERIES A FINANCING

Blue Belt Technologies, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based medical device company developing the next generation of “smart” surgical instruments for use in orthopaedic and neurosurgery procedures, has closed on a $2.4 Million private equity Series A round of financing.  The round was led by private investors and included the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and Innovation Works (Pittsburgh) and consisted of both new investments and the conversion of existing convertible notes.

This investment will be used to finalize development and prepare for FDA submission of our core product, the Precision Freehand Sculptor, and will provide the resources necessary to prepare for full market release of our Orthopaedic and Neurosurgical products, according to Craig S. Markovitz, Blue Belt Technologies, Inc. Chief Executive Officer. 

MADGETECH INC. INTRODUCES THE QUADTEMP2000

MadgeTech, Inc., a provider of reliable, low-cost data logging solutions, just released the QuadTemp2000, a four channel thermocouple logger equipped with an LCD.

The QuadTemp2000 has a reading rate of up to 4Hz and can store up to 500,000 readings per channel. To maximize memory capacity users can enable or disable channels. For easy identification, each channel can be named with up to a ten digit title.

The convenient LCD is an ideal tool to ensure process parameters are met, in real time. Each channel is identified by its title, and the current reading, minimum, maximum and average statistics can all be obtained through the display. The statistics can be reset for different cycle processes where tolerance values may vary.

VISTEON JOINS VELOZZI TO PRODUCE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY VEHICLES

Visteon Corporation is the newest addition to the growing list of automotive suppliers coming onboard in collaboration with Velozzi as the automotive industry races to bring a new generation of alternative energy vehicles (AEVs) to market. With this announcement, Visteon joins a growing number of organizations – including Bayer MaterialScience – that are supporting Velozzi’s groundbreaking AEV project.
Visteon and Bayer MaterialScience have successfully collaborated on other material innovations for the automotive industry. In this initiative, Visteon will provide design and engineering expertise for the interiors of the Velozzi Solo Crossover and Supercar Sports Car, both competing in the Automotive X Prize. Visteon will leverage its global reach, understanding of consumer preferences and design expertise using the latest technologies to engineer the interiors of the Velozzi vehicles for a winning combination of comfort and style.

“For more than a decade, Bayer MaterialScience has been at the forefront of offering environmentally responsible materials,” Gerry DiBattista, market segment leader of IT, electrical/electronic polycarbonates said. “These new grades are an extension of our already-strong commitment to manufacturing eco-friendly products that maintain aesthetics, durability and longevity while also meeting the needs of our customers who are increasingly looking to boost the sustainability of their products.”

These sustainable products include three new flame-retardant Bayblend polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) blend resin post-consumer recycled content grades, a first for Bayer MaterialScience. These new Bayblend grades maintain the properties of a typical flame-rated PC/ABS product, including good rigidity, hardness, dimensional stability, impact strength and creep resistance. Bayblend grades are ideal for housing and other electrical and lighting components, as well as the IT, telecommunications and medical industries. In addition, an extra one or two points are possible in the U.S. Government’s Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) by selecting these grades.

Other eco-friendly products from Bayer MaterialScience are two bio-content polycarbonate blends containing polylactide (PLA), a polymer derived from plant materials. “The bio-content PC blends do not readily decompose like straight PLA and have very good impact and stiffness properties,” DiBattista explained. “They are the perfect solution for companies interested in promoting a strategy of using durable materials derived from renewable resources.” Uses for the bio-content grades include cell phones and smart phones, portable electronics, furniture, sporting goods and automotive interiors.

Bayer MaterialScience developed the new grades as part of its commitment to sustainability, which impacts the products it produces and the markets it serves. The company’s brochure about environmentally-friendly solutions and technologies offers more information. For a copy, call 1-800-662-2927 or visit www.bayermaterialscienceNAFTA.com.

Panopto Updates Lecture Capture Platform

Knowledge capture company, Panopto, announced the pending release of the next version of its free lecture platform, CourseCast v2.1 and the accompanying Blade Pack of value-added features and services. These are significant additions to the CourseCast lecture capture platform, including the ability to remotely manage recording configurations across the enterprise through a single Web site, a background service that transfers new recordings to the server when the Panopto Recorder is closed, speaker biography/abstract support and enhanced LDAP support.

The Council uses Panopto technology to capture segments of our TechVibe radio show. We had Panopto CEO Brad Winney in the studio this past week. Watch the segment here.

Lincoln-Era White House — A New Interactive Web Experience

The White House Historical Association, in a project created with Argentine Productions and Semiotic Technologies (These guys aren’t Council members yet…), have developed an interactive, web-based environment recreating the Lincoln-era White House. The goal of the game-based exploration experience is to give the player a sense of the social and political atmosphere that surrounded the White House during the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It provides background on the steps leading to Lincoln’s decision to issue the Proclamation, and the varying perspectives of important figures in the nation’s capital in 1863.

There are hidden facts in each area that you visit.  On the front grounds, you can learn about Tad’s goats.  In the Library, you can find out what Lincoln liked to read.  Visit  Lincoln’s White House here.

iSquared Unleashes a New Blog

i-Squared Inc., a Pittsburgh based consultancy specializing in Enterprise Content Management (ECM), will promote the value of ECM on a new Blogsite titled, i-Wise ECM Zone.

“One important aspect of this Blog is to educate both IT and business side personnel on how they can get more business value from their portal deployments,” says, Joyce Query, President of i-Squared. Check out the new blog here. 

Bayer MaterialScience introduces Bayblend® M301 FR polycarbonate

Bayblend® M301 FR polycarbonate/ABS blend – an innovative material for the health care market that meets crucial biocompatibility test requirements – is now commercially available.

Developed by Bayer MaterialScience LLC (BMS), the non-reinforced, flame-retardant resin is a polycarbonate blend formulated for use primarily in the health care market, specifically for surface device applications contacting intact skin. The resin meets Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ISO 10993-5 for cytotoxicity, and ISO 10993-10 for irritation and sensitization testing requirements.

The material’s combination of physical properties, flame retardance and compliance with these three ISO biocompatibility standards provides medical device and equipment manufacturers with an added safety factor and increased confidence. This, in turn, may potentially streamline the approval process so they are able to bring life-saving products to market more quickly, according to Bayer.

In a statement released by Bayer:

Babe (51) will continue in his current role as President and CEO of Bayer MaterialScience LLC, where he has led the BMS NAFTA region since 2004. He was previously head of Bayer Corporate and Business Services LLC, and thus responsible for central administration and service activities in the United States and Canada. Babe has held various management positions in the Bayer Group organization, including assignments in Germany, since joining the company in 1978. A native of West Virginia, Babe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University.

Greg was recently interviewed by TEQ Magazine in an article entitled “The Best Stuff: How WPA Became a World Center of Material Science.”

Company: Bayer Corporation Web Site: www.bayer.com Location: Pittsburgh, PA 15205 Description: Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is part of the worldwide Bayer Group, an international health care, nutrition and innovative materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. Read more.