Thanks to my friend, Phil Yanov, I am at InnoVenture 2013 “live blogging” about a great line-up of speakers this year.
9:15 Charlie Farrell just presented on the SC Dept. of Commerce Task Force on Aerospace and Aviation.
9:20 Jim Stike, MIT-RCF, is talking about his 8 year old start-up – born out of patented technology that takes chopped up carbon fiber material and reprocesses it for aerospace components $9 million in Phase I, II, and II grants. Boeing started working with them to reclaim carbon fiber parts. Chopped fiber, rolled goods, preformed goods. Scrap from virgin carbon fiber manufacturers. Advanced materials company – not just a recycler. Boeing scrap is even turned into carbon fiber drum sticks! Looks like lots of great potential for this company.
9:30 Issac White, Engineering Manager, Stevens Aviation, Inc – MRO = major repair organizations for corporate jets. MRO2 = next generation aerospace customer service – focus on corporate jets. Basically an extended commercial for the company.
9:40 Steve Townes, Ranger – part of Louis Berger Services as of a year ago – SC position in the aerospace industry – opportunities and looking for deals. $1.1B parent company – 1,000 people in the Greenville SC headquarters (former Ranger). Recently acquired Hawthorne Services (possibly as a result of mentions at last year’s InnoVenture). Resulted in Greenville – Charleston partnership. Looking for further complementary acquisitions – aircraft services, logistics and MRO services for large vehicles – fueling and fuel related services.
9:47 Sam Havelock, CEO, Federated Precision, Inc. – advanced manufacturing – marines – 16 years as a SEAL – 46-53 years old for the average machinist – soon we will be facing a cliff as they retire – switched focus to aerospace manufacturing and Boeing – COMAC goal of breaking Boeing and Airbus – focus on importance of manufacturing to the United States and the problem of young people not going into the industry at sufficient rates – looking to acquire small manufacturing companies with owners that are looking to retire – ultra precision parts – looking for “bags of Silicon Valley advice”
9:55 Jody Bryson, President of SC Tech and Aviation Center – 2,600 acre military base was turned into SCTAC – home to 85 aviation and technology companies – small to large – operate airfield, manage the property, involved in economic development, and planning an International Transportation Innovation Center (ITIC) to provide real world testing – Air national guard is building a facility there also – the ITIC has an $11M US DOE grant for 2013-15 – Cisco, GM, Toyota are involved – fly right into to the facility
10:03 Bill McLendon, CEO, Perot Aerospace – brand new enterprise since last month – looking to acquire majority stakes in private companies – patient capital as opposed to traditional private equity – Perot means great businesses such as EDS, PerotSystems, and HillWood (large real estate developer) – philanthropic – aerospace is a 225B domestic market with 3-5% real growth expectations – SC is fertile ground for aerospace investments – investment focus is for companies in the $10M-75M revenue range
10:13 – “Conversation Cafe” – John Warner asking questions of the presenters – impressive characteristics of several speakers – Steve Townes – “InnoVenture has come a long way” – 83% of Ranger employees are veterans – ITIC will be a great magnet for SC – Bill McLendon – graduated first in his class at the Air Force Academy – Charlie Farrell, got into a simulator that was “no round dials” only video screens – 30K new airplanes are going to be being built – almost guaranteed 3-5% growth – importance of education to future manufacturing jobs – Issac White and IP issues for Stevens Aviation – proprietary data in cockpit development – need for talented people and for being more open – Jim Stike, cross fertilization of BMW, Boeing and their advanced materials research in carbon fibers – John Warner, Klein Perkins investment in Proterra – danger of these companies being moved – but for Proterra they decided it was in the right location here in SC – Jim Stike, SCRA played an important role in persuading MIT-RCF to build manufacturing in SC – SCRA Launch took a big stake – Jody Bryson, SCTAC, 50 years old – used to be content but 5 years ago they decided to become more energetic and proactive to develop global reach to bring in more advanced manufacturing (Carberus from Spain) – Sam Havelock – says Federated Precision is an information services company that just happens to make things – relationships in contract manufacturing for aerospace are going to be key – Jacob Hickman, Upstate Alliance, investment recruitment focus – plug for Phil’s GSATC and TA5 – Perot is here because of the concentration of manufacturing, CU-ICAR, etc – great long-term opportunities
1:05 Michael Randall, Chief Economic Development Officer, Health Sciences, Inc. – Clean Shield to address healthcare associated infection (HAI) problems with privacy curtains – Clean Shield is patent pending – easy to install, allows opening and closing of the curtain with new “clean sheets” in 50 sheet packs – seeking partners for effectiveness studies – license from USC Tech Transfer – Health Sciences is a consortium of the three major research universities in SC and several major hospital systems – great example of the Smart State program
1:15 John Warner is talking about how we need a different model in education – introducing Zachary Eikenberry, Planning Coordinator, Next High School – Next Collaborative moving us from a “hunting” model to a “farming” model – realized that education is the key to growing high tech industry in SC – modeled on CART high school in Fresno, CA – online instruction 24/7 followed by project learning – first crowd sourced high school – opening in 2014 – NextHighSchool.org (NHS)
1:25 John Warner – InnoVenture is telling us how his target is 1,000,000 users on InnoVenture.com by December 31, 2014 – comparing InnoVenture to LinkedIn – looking to efficiently and effectively discovering resources – InnoVenture is a database of ideas – example of Milliken and their concrete cloth – USC Ventures, Clemson, – igniting a movement – actual user growth since November 2012 is about 850 users at the moment – InnoVenture is looking for people with big ideas to present – a “LinkedIn” for ideas
1:34 Crowdfunding Panel Discussion – the Southeast is growing despite most Terry Cox, President of BIG in Charlotte, NC, Peter Barth with the Iron Yard, Dirk Brown, Pandoodle and the USC Faber Center, Albin Bajramovic, CEO CrowdEndowed, Dan Ciprari, Entrepreneur-in-residence at the Advanced Technology Development Center, Stanfield Gray, Executive Producer at DIG SOUTH, Mark Knight, Nexsen Pruet, quick background on the JOBS act – enhanced IPO on ramp for certain types of companies, set-up new regulations for raising up to $50M, and then crowd-funding up to $1M (up to $2K or $10K investment) – will preempt state regulations so you don’t have 50 different flavors – not yet legal – SEC still has not promulgated rules despite the pressure – 2 new no-action letters for limited cases – possible test cases, but still limited to accredited investors – Dan Ciprari – Invest Georgia exemption to get arounf the Federal securities laws – also Kansas, Terry Cox experience in Charlotte – lack of capital in Charlotte – deal flow is picking up – brought the SE VC Conference to Charlotte, 60% of start-ups there are still bootstrapped, Peter Barth – teams from this area have the problem of getting the VC folks to come here for board meetings, Dirk Brown – recently raise $2.3M ($1M equity cash, $1.3 convertible debt) part of the problem is the economy and how VC’s are moving up the “food chain” – the angels are filling in for early stage VC’s used to do, crowd funding is filling in for what angels used to do – Peter – seeing more angel groups coming in – Stan – DIG SOUTH used non-equity crowd funding, mentions the success that People Matter is having ($47M) Nate DePore and his experience with BenefitFocus – may be related to the VC’s coming to Charleston for a good visit, great energy is growing in the Charleston entrepreneurial environment – Peter, Iron Yard in Greenville and now Spartanburg, JM Smith (third largest private company in SC – key partner with 200 engineers nearby) also partnered with the Mayo Clinic – Dan (EIR at ATDC) – regional ecosystem? not-so-much – more of a state-based incubator focused on Georgia, Albin – CrowdEndowed – says we should collaborate regionally – telecommute and execute projects with thousands of participants, Dirk – we need serial entrepreneurs – problem of the talent pool for staff to support the CEO, Pandoodle has most employees not in SC, growth of the crowd funding world is heading toward the size of the VC world in the years to come – use of Skype to manage employees outside of SC – Mark Knight – SC is only so big, 23M people around the I-85 corridor running from NC, through SC, and into Georgia, local element of investors that know you – growing to the regional concept – Albin is coming up with some new “best practices” on the funding campaigns – need to prepare before you do it
2:18 Yoav Zilber, Regional Director, Clariter – clarification of petrochemicals for paint, food, cosmetic, etc industries – 4 years ago built first pilot plant, currently building the first full scale plant, looking for partners – BlackBox article and Israel – Start-up Nation – Yoav lives in Atlanta and is involved in the Southeast Israel group – SC – Israel group
2:26 Mohamed ElBatanouny, PostDoc in Civil and Environmental Engineering, USC – concrete issues – making concrete stronger – polymer modified cement composites (PMC) – biopolymer has excellent adhesive properties – looking into early-age crack resistance – checking the concrete at the micro structure level – triboluminescent material – using imaging to see cracks in the concrete – other technique is acoustic emission (AE) have a sensor on the concrete that senses cracking sounds in the material – being used on a bridge on I-77 near Rock Hill, SC – also Miami, Fl – corroded and cracking being analysized – looking for opportunities with DOT, nuclear power plants, and the private sector
2:36 Marek Urban, Professor of Material Science, Clemson – self-healing materials for future technologies – genome-based advanced materials – working up from molecules to materials – materials that mimic nature – science and engineering lead to innovation that leads to economic development – self-healing polymers – scratches on a car surface repair themselves in 30 minutes in the sunlight – self-healing polymers that change color – $5.5M spent yearly on corrosion resistance – “5 Materials that will change the World” article – localized clemson.edu/mse/urbanresearch (named after Prof. Urban, not after research on urban areas)
2:45 Tom Isley – Director, Construction Engineering Management Technology, Purdue University (IUPUT) – using living labs to advance water utility assets management – Chair of the Buried Asset Management Institute – International (BAMI-I) – worked with Atlanta’s huge project to redo its water management assets under Mayor Shirley Franklin (the “Sewer Mayor”) back in 2002 – the opportunity to develop a world-class sewer system (under a consent decree) RWELLS = Riverside Watershed Environmental Living Lab for Sustainability – TRIP = transferring research into practice
2:55 Sami Rizkalla, Prof. Civil Engineering at NC State – innovative projects at Constructed Facilities Lab at NCSU – fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) material – carbon fiber reinforcement makes the polymers about 6 times stronger than steel – FRP panels to make trailers – better fuel economy – make lighter walls with layers of concrete around foam for better thermal and structural performance – also replacing “Double-Tees” used in parking structures with a CFRP grid to make a more sustainable parking structure – also making new types of concrete piles for bridges, etc – rapid repair of damaged columns by wrapping a column with CFRP material
3:05 Alec Wasner, Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries (CEDC) – clean water for Haiti – poorest country in the western hemisphere – water borne diseases – cholera outbreak – Triage system installed in Belle Aire, effective but not sustainable – switched to well drilling units – portable devices – store the water in elevated tanks that flow to the latrines, that can then flow to a biodigester that will create methane that can be used for cooking and reduce deforestation that current cooking was causing – looking for corporate sponsors – the are a non-profit
3:12 Kevin Weir, Innovation and New Business Development, Milliken & Co. – Civil infrastructure repair – US infrastructure is crumbling and it recently was grade D+ with a need for a $3.6TR investment over the next 7 years – the current $91B/yr spent on roads is not enough – Milliken is developing a strategy for how it is going to be a leading solution provider for infrastructure repair using Milliken’s Concrete Cloth, GeoSpray(TM), and RenewWrap(R) – interact with utilities, consultants, entrepreneurs – key is collaboration – a regional network to innovate faster and tackle the regional infrastructure challenges
3:22 Jeff Strahan, Ph.D. – meaningful innovations for repair of civil infrastructure – Milliken is trying to develop another way – making it easier to measure, easier to cut to size, – problems of fires causing composite failure – deep science and poly-collaboration – high-temperature grout, numerous teleconferences trying to avoid the linear “telephone” game problem – they moved from standard products failing in 30 minutes to their new product lasting 2.5 hours
Day 2 9:05 John Warner is delivering the morning kick-off talk – follow-up on InnoVenture.com – Phil Yanov praises what John has been doing in building InnoVenture –
9:10 Ben Klosowski, Turner Padget, IP attorney, discussing the recent change to U.S. patent laws making us a first-to-file country like the rest of the world – publications can become even more problematic – 2004 CREATE Act encourage joint research agreements between universities and corporations – Klosowski argues that university – corporation “nodes” should do more to collaborate than to compete
9:18 Jack roach, Director, Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology (Florence, SC) – additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping – virtual simulations (content creation for companies/virtual prototyping) – augmented reality – using 3D virtual simulations to improve technician training – such as going into a nuclear reactor under emergency conditions – visual maintenance instructions and manuals – recording “tribal” knowledge in visual methods – highly interactive and easily ad0pted by the new generation that is used to video games – train on equipment that is not even in place yet – much safer training environment – EON Ibench Mobile – holographic 3D desktop device – new augmented reality technology on smart phones, tablets and other devices – glass-free 3D viewing – needs customers so he invites you to come visit them
9:28 Bill Ranson, USC Distinguished Professor, Direct Measurements, Inc. (DMI) – embedded wire-free sensor technology used to measure the structural health of machines and operating systems – small, privately-held company, 5 engineers, 2 with Masters and 1 with a Ph.D. – multiple patents – 3 products – a gauge (sensor), reader (imaging device), and software – focus on structural and mechanical systems (about 4% of GDP) – sensors are experiencing enormous growth – they focus more on bridges and energy systems that operate in high temperature environments – gas turbine maintenance sensor – also for jet engines – located at the Midlands Tech NE Enterprise campus – customers are key to small technology businesses
9:37 Matthew Tringali, COO, Emerald Endeavors, Inc. – technology for a cleaner world – was a grad student at FL when they were researching gas combustion – saw the need to make the product more robust – moved from FL to SC upstate about a year ago – SC Launch portfolio company – the product is a combustion analyzer – customized to meet the needs of various customers – measuring up to 9 different gas concentrations using a patented electro-chemical chip – real-time measurement – biolers, turbines, etc – chemical plants, natural gas pipeline gas detection is coming soon – emission sensing market is large – analysis of competitive technologies – selling to big automation and control companies – review of the management team – starting with their chips and growing to putting them into the product – plans to grow to 80 employees in 5 years
9:46 Dave Hamilton, Business Development Manager, Flextronics – 3rd year of presenting at InnoVenture – more than $25B in revenue and over 200,000 employees – 2,600 engineers – in 30 countries – second largest contract manufacturing company in the world – automotive, medical, and many other verticals – design, manufacture, distribution, service – considerable experience in plastics – trends beginning to favor US manufacturing – global wage growth and fuel costs moving in the right direction – making selective acquisitions – automating all production and support processes – reviewed Columbia, Charlotte, Raleigh locations – implementing lean processes
9:55 Andrew Lee, A & Q Nano, co-founder and managing partner – IMCS – Integrated Micro-Chromatography Systems – example customer who is raising turkeys, ducks and chickens but loosing inventory – feed stock contamination – switches to the problem of analyzing huge numbers of samples related to human health – medical expenses related to Vitamin D analysis – IMCS is providing a huge increase in the speed of analysis of various biological samples – DPW Lab is the sister company
10:04 Bethany Acampora, Tech Commercialization Officer, Clemson University – working with COMSET and the Sonoco Institute – printing and testing capabilities – conducting inks (RFID), OLED Inks (flexible displays), diffractive inks for anti-counterfiting – water based solutions for the colloidal inks – scalable low cost production through high-speed roll to roll technology – different additives allow customization – established IP portfolio (4 issued patents, 1 still pending) – in competitive billion $$ markets
10:12 John Ballato, Professor, Clemson University – COMSET Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technology – the use of light and lasers globally represents a 7 trillion $ market – National Academies report about how essential optical technologies are to the US – lasers being used in automotive and aerospace in cutting and welding – lasik surgery in medical health – gene sequencing – drilling wells with lasers – shooting down missiles – how to get the research from the universities to industry – in the middle are high-impact companies that try to navigate the valley of death – contrasted with the German model where 2 public-private entities play a big role in moving the innovations forward – Big Idea – establish a Fraunhofer-type entity to partner with universities to accelerate the development and adoption of light technology
10:20 Panel Discussion regarding “light” manufacturing – John Warner updated us on George Fletcher – thanked Bobby Pearce – further discussion of John Ballato’s Fraunhofer-type group – making stuff – using the innovations created in the past 5, 10 years – how do we accelerate the current economic development model – the German model is touted as very effective – EU has photonics as one of their top 8 target technologies – billion Euro initiative – Brad Hendrix, VP of AFL, makes equipment that is used in connections with lasers – splicing fiber with CO2 lasers – Stefan Bude, Draexlmaier Automotive, using lasers in making car interiors and air-bags – also the use of lights in headlights and interior lights in cars – the company proprietary technology issues balanced against the ecosystem of smart people – inventions help on cost competition issues – John discussing the Michelin model for dealing what they will and will not talk about – Flextronics = they make stuff – consortium would need to be lead by a customer – typically their customer keeps the IP – Flextronics manufactures for the customer’s specifications – ecosystem may create customers – Louis Gossett, President and CEO of the SC Manufacturing Assoc. – started in textiles and expanded into all areas of manufacturing – need to build the ecosystem that creates the skills needed to grow SC – finishing a white paper about what executives in SC need to grow manufacturing and participate in re-shoring – get the business community on-board to lead the policy makers – complimenting Clemson and John Ballato – John Warner on Plato’s “Republic” and the advantages of specialization and trade to create abundance – Plato was talking about clusters – Adam Smith and the pin factory – more recently Michael Porter tells us we need to focus on building clusters – Louis Gossett on what the legislature will and will not focus on – mention of last night’s award of the Przirembel Prize to the SC SmartState program and the 48 researchers that have been recruited to the program – further mentions of how industries can move away from SC and how we are changing that to cause industries to move to SC (BMW bringing Draexlmaier) – Jack Roach – SiMT started in 2007 and has had a tough road due to the economic problems – they help a lot of entrepreneurs with prototype development – added another building to create an incubator / accelerator type facility – working with the few entrepreneurs in the area – sometimes work with Sonoco divisions in designing packaging – John – Michelin and Milliken have started creating something of an ecosystem in the upstate – next steps in moving from PowerPoint slides to an effective organization – German company with Beaufort and Georgia manufacture glass “sticks” that are 1,000 lbs in size – they are creating “champions” locally and back in Germany – Tony Boccanfuso UIDP – asking about the Fraunhofer (.66% government funding and .34% industry funding) – already a US Fraunhofer for automotive manufacturing – John Ballato trying to promote this type entity in the southeast for photonics and/or light manufacturing – Bobby Pearce asking about joining a group to ask the Legislature to continue to support the SmartState program – Louis Gossett says the SCMA will be part of such a group – John Warner says some criticize the SmartState program and knowledge-based economic development – special-ops folks in Afghanistan and the weight of their batteries – this is a great example of why this is important
1:00 John Warner – references Tom Vogt talking about how universities should be called multi-verses since there is nothing “uni” about them – networks of networks – the entrepreneurial folks at the universities are the ones that “get it” – Phil Yanov – introduces
1:05 Devan Collins, Entrepreneurial Development, Charlotte Research Institute – UNC, Charlotte Venture Challenge – 5th year – 95 entrants – 1st stage opportunity assessment for 5 minutes – 19 finalists worked with mentors over 4-5 weeks – grand prize was $25K won by GreenBugs out of Beaufort, SC – got connected to Lowes who was their mentor – use InnoVenture to follow these companies
1:10 Gregory Pickett, Professor and Chair, Marketing – Clemson University Network – the challenge of connecting to mentors, others with similar passions – the MBA-e students are in many different industries – InnoVenture helps to connect these ideas to a diverse group of others – he has been at Clemson since 1991 – reference to silos and how the InnoVenture network is breaking them down – looking to create start-ups that stay in the up-state region
1:14 Greg Hilton – Director for CETi – USC’s Start-up Resource Center, Co-Founder of Rolling Rock Investments, Community Activist – it is time to do more with the $240M in sponsored research that USC has – leverage the talent – discover, connect to talent and resources, accelerate – check out the demo zone – Koala Bottles, 52 Apps, SAGE
1:20 Greg Hillman, Interim Executive Director of SC Launch, SCRA Big Check presentation – talks about how InnoVenture and SCRA have developed links over the years and thanking John Warner for his efforts – the basics of what the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) is made up of – movement with something like a VC fund of $50-$100M – applied R&D sector manages contracts valued at over $2B – over 15,000 jobs created over the history of SCRA – presenting Frank (started in 2006) a total of $1.2M (5th traunch in the amount of $125,000) Zip-It Wireless is the company – says it could be a billion $ opportunity – has raised about $18M total so far from SCRA and VC’s – praise for SC Launch and John Warner/InnoVenture – continues with the SCRA Knowledge Economist award program for Mayor Knox White and his many accomplishments – Knox White praises his team and talks about the great things Greenville has accomplished over the years
1:35 John Warner talking about InnoVenture being a “LinkedIn” for ideas rather than people – same presentation as yesterday – follow the ideas on-line so the promoters can keep you updated as things move forward
1:43 Phil Yanov kicks off the section for Intelligent Transportation and Mobile Services
1:45 Scott Kolber, COO, Roadify – coming in remotely from New York – Waves getting acquired by Facebook for $1B – “when is my ride coming – why isn’t it here” – building a global business around providing the answers to these questions – open data from transit agencies – Google standard data format – Roadify distributes this open data through their “3 screens or channels” – been angel funded up to now and looking for VC funding – digital signage for stadiums, arenas, offices, retail & street level – SmartCity 24×7 (another company) is instaling Interactive Kiosks in New York City – also have a mobile app that won a NY contest a couple of years ago – provides official information as well as information from riders such as comments on Twitter – 60% greater weekly utilization than the competition – providing information on all types of ground transportation services – founder sold Dynamic Logic to WPP – numerous awards and honors
1:54 Peter Muller, Board Member, Advanced Transit Association – Big Problems with cars and clogged roads, accidents, costs – public transit should be the answer but not that many people use it – the US is way behind in driver-less transit systems – the solution would be on-demand (little or no waiting), nonstop, extremely safe, cost less than light rail – chart about what the usage would be in cities around the world – survey currently on-going in Greenville – hurdles – current projects tend to be small, scale-up to entire city has not really been proven – big idea is to fund demonstration systems around the country – new federal funding bill is due in October 2014 – could lead to research and manufacturing opportunities – wants to put together a lobbying effort
2:04 Mike Lester, CEO, Taxi 2000 – sustainable transit – personal rapid transit (PRT) company – World Bank says we need to invest a $175B in sustainable transit systems – Big Idea is job creation – will be a $45B industry – San Jose is focused on starting a program to locate the industry in their city – SkyWeb Express is the Taxi 2000 answer – point to point mass transit – automated cars that are on no schedule and every trip is non-stop – UAE – Wilbur Smith study found that 24% would use such a system and save huge amounts of CO2 not going into the atmosphere – Taxi 2000 has been 3rd party reviewed – wants to work with Greenville – currently located in MN
2:12 Jochen Lauterbach, Professor at USC and SmartState Chair – they design nano materials – SAGE – drones (fuel and battery powered) – Lockheed Martin battery powered drone files 2 hours – trying to extend the flying time substantially – can use a fuel cell to extend the flight to 8 hours – uses LPG – need to convert jet fuel to LPG since there is a supply chain for JP-8 jet fuel – the catalyst is tolerant of impurities – scale-up is doable but they need capital to better build the devices – reformer tech could take diesel fuel and convert it to power – silent power generation – efficient and about the same usage as a noisy generator – confident in the catalytic converters – looking for partners to build a professional demo unit – looking for capital to create this unti
2:22 Lisa Bollinger, Senior Planner for the Spartanburg Area Transportation Study (SPATS) – map tool gives customers information on transportation and tourism – “Revolutionize Your Route” plays on the region’s role in history – bicycle and pedestrian master plan – NGO’s help to spread this government information through ESRI and Adobe software – encourages physical activity and may encourage businesses to want to locate in Spartanburg – the route focuses on safety of the bicyclist or pedestrian – looking for partners to create a mobile app and make the product more interactive and expanded to the region
2:30 David Clark, University of Tennessee, Dir. of Center for Transportation Research – a vision for high-speed rail development in the south-east – Piedmont Atlantic Mega-region from Birmingham to Raleigh-Durham and eastern and southward – suitable for 100-600 mile journeys – great safety record – speeds in excess of 155 mph (up to 200 mph) Amtrack averages 40 mph – advantages and problems with high-speed rail – need right-of-ways that permit high-speed service – need to identify the corridors where future high-speed rail can occur – advocating an incremental approach – mentioned the problems that California is having
2:40 Nicholas Robinson, Designer with Cottingham, UK audio remote session – servo tilt-lean dynamic posture adaptive vehicle driver seat – mentioned a 1970 Ralph Nader talk that motivated him – driver-less technology – lean left – steer left – lean right – turn right – today’s driving technology is counter-intuitive – the needs of the one sometimes outweigh the needs of the many – switching in and out of driver-less modes while taking naps – similar to driving a motorcycles in leaning and turning – cyclists rarely fall asleep – proposing the dynamic control seat for manufacturers – sliding lever system – can reduce the damage to the driver in the case of an accident – looking to find collaborators or to sell his IP for $1M – the amount of savings from preventing one accident
2:52 Fred Payne, Green Villages, Greenville County Council Member – attractive communities, multi-modal transportation, mixed-use communities where you can live, work, shop, etc, connected internally and externally – elevated PRT vehicle – bicycles – wants to develop a new road/transportation line along several new green villages – personal express taxis – Heathrow airport has the personal PRT vehicles since 2011 – think “car on monorail” or “horizontal elevator” – point to point, on-demand, private – Austin, TX study says it will work with these features – need funding but the technology has been around for a long time – mentioned the Verdae masterplanned community
3:03 John Warner – loves the Green Villages brand – thinks it can scale globally – Fred – next steps – get government leaders involved and get private money (grants are nice but cannot depend on them) tonight there is a workshop at the University Center – Lisa – more about SPATS – part of the planning and development office – they work from base information – do they have the sidewalk maps – sustainable, multi-modal transportation but what are the barriers? Cannot rely on Federal funding – need local investment – also need the political will to allow developers to create these green villages and similar places – may impact current easements – Mike – where is the most traction to be found – downtown live-work areas in Greenville – you are trying to make connectivity – should be able to do it better in Greenville than in San Jose for example – Peter – where are there successes we can point to – Morgantown WV connects the two campuses until they built an experimental PRT system – eventually it has become fantastic – Federal government turned their back on PRT – took 30 years for the WV folks to make it be the great success it is today – we are letting communities around the world take the lead on PRT – David – no one is pushing us on high-speed rail – problems of state to state coordination – Fred – we have iCAR, there does not appear to be a lot of competition for green villages – Fred mentions how innovative Knox White has been – wants an electric bus to CU-iCAR (Proterra) and bicycle trails and walking trails – personal express taxi service – developers are key to projects like Verdae – Ultra out of UK, Taxi 2000 out of MN, says we have the right-away taken care of – need the technology to be demo-able – need political will and developers – regulatory environment and business case need to be properly developed