Singled out: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, and not just any Friday but what’s shaping up as the coldest day of the year on Long Island, with midday temperatures predicted to plunge toward single digits.
Fortunately, the cold snap is also predicted to last a single day – as of Thursday night, Sunday’s highs were projected to once again approach 50 degrees.
Double your pleasure: Bite off whatever you can chew on National Bubble Gum Day.
Love doctors: With climate change continuing to wreak its havoc – relative warmth here, counterintuitive winter brutality across the heartland – we steadfastly salute science, starting with National Women Physicians Day (keep reading to see why that’s today, of all days).
Speaking of the science of healthcare, it’s also National Patient Recognition Day, when the medical community (male and female) puts extra emphasis on patient satisfaction.
That’s sweet: Less enamored with Feb. 3 are dentists, who must deal with the enamel-decaying aftereffects of National Bubble Gum Day and National Carrot Cake Day, both chewed annually on this date.
Independencia: Other sweet gestures associated with Feb. 3 include Spain’s official recognition of U.S. independence, proclaimed on this date in 1783 – seven full months before the Treaty of Paris officially ended the Revolutionary War.
Do you know me?: Young Sam Clemens, sans ‘stache.
The Twain shall meet: “Mark Twain” was born 160 years ago today, when Samuel Clemens – young scribe for Missouri’s Territorial Enterprise newspaper – penned a humorous travel piece under the now-legendary pseudonym.
Having a ball: Other ingenious innovations bouncing into action on Feb. 3 include A.G. Spalding and Bro., a Chicago sports-equipment store started by brothers Albert and Walker Spalding on this date in 1876 – with an $800 loan from their mom – that became a preeminent sporting-goods manufacturer.
Weather in spaaaaace: More blasting than bouncing was the ESSA-1, the first U.S. weather satellite, which lifted off on this date in 1966.
The Luna has landed: And on that same day – Feb. 3, 1966 – the Soviet Union’s unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft bounced gently on the Moon, marking humanity’s first ever soft-landing on another celestial body.
The probe ejected a capsule with a television camera, providing the first panoramic views of the Moon’s surface.
Well done: British physician Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) – the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, innovative founder of medical schools and societies and progenitor of the aforementioned National Women Physicians Day – would be 202 years old today.
Short list: Warwick Davis (here as Fitwick, one of his three “Harry Potter” characters), is the highest-grossing supporting actor of all time, and it’s not close.
Also born on Feb. 3 were British paleontologist Gideon Mantell (1790-1852), an old-school dinosaur detective; U.S.-born Canadian railway official Sir William Cornelius Van Horne (1843-1915), who directed construction of Canada’s first transcontinental railroad; American chemist and weapons manufacturer Hudson Maxim (1853-1927), who exploded onto the scene during World War I; Kenyan wildlife conservationist George Adamson (1906-1989), known alternately as Baba ya Simba (“Father of Lions”); and American psychologist George Miller (1920-2012), a cofounder of cognitive neuroscience.
Big star: And take a bow, Warwick Ashley Davis! The English actor – whose spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, a rare bone-growth disorder, resulted in dwarfism and indirectly made him the global box office’s most bankable supporting actor – turns 53 today.
Give Willow/Wicket/Professor Flitwick your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we strongly support your news tips – and bank on your calendar events.
About our sponsor: Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, 750 outpatient facilities and 70,000-plus employees. We’re making research breakthroughs at the Feinstein Institutes and training the next generation of medical professionals at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra/Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. Visit Northwell.edu.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Return key: Thousands of Long Island high-schoolers are anxiously awaiting word on their college admissions – but few truly understand the return-on-investment of their upper education.
To that end, the New York Institute of Technology has introduced Return on College, a unique ROI calculator that helps students comprehend the financial costs – and potential professional payoffs – of various undergraduate-degree programs. The calculator was designed and developed by Virginia-based Vantage Point Consulting, which selected New York Tech as a beta test site in 2021 before officially releasing Return on College last year, starting with the Old Westbury-based institute.
Combining labor-market insights with reams of federal data – from the departments of Labor and Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and elsewhere – the tool provides a comprehensive analysis of dozens of New York Tech undergraduate-degree programs. “[We are] proud to be the first higher-education institution in the nation to implement this robust ROI tool,” said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karen Vahey. “Our prospective and current students … will benefit from the transparency into the cost of and return on a New York Tech degree.”
Read my lips: Would you mind repeating that?
Qapla’, Waverly Labs! From our Innovate Brooklyn Bureau (not really, but great idea, right?) comes Waverly Labs, pioneer of “smart translation” solutions, and Forum, a mobile app channeling “Star Trek’s” universal translator.
The final frontier’s mythical device, of course, instantly translates the native tongue of virtually any alien race into English (even their lips speak English!), ideal for starship crews and television audiences. Forum doesn’t go that far, though the AI-powered mobile and web-based app (via free, Personal, Professional and Premium packages) instantly translates 20 Earthly languages (and 42 dialects) in audio and text – providing real-time comprehension and interactivity in one-on-one interviews, auditorium lectures, theater performances and beyond.
Waverly Labs CEO Andrew Ochoa, who cofounded the westernmost Long Island startup in 2014 with Vice President Sergio Del Rio, trumpeted “the latest speech recognition and machine translations” behind his company’s newest next-generation solution. “Forum leverages our core translation technology … in a compelling and easy-to-use app,” the CEO noted. “We are on a mission to bridge global communications by building a world without language barriers.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Right place, right time? The Debrief returns with Jones Lang LaSalle exec Derek Trulson, who details the socioeconomic needs, clear vision and unprecedented availability of public funds converging at Midway Crossing.
Sweetening the pot: Sands Las Vegas hopes an educational partnership with Nassau Community College improves the odds of a fabulous hotel-casino coming to Uniondale.
Group Effort: Independent Group Home Living Project Founder Walter Stockton joins Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast to discuss five decades of helping the Island’s most vulnerable populations – and the critical importance of helping the helpers.
ICYMI
A slow road to comprehensive personal wellness; a fast track to successful digital transformation.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From Utah: Salt Lake City-based on-demand packaging pioneer Packsize builds out automated erected-box system, ideal for e-commerce.
From Illinois: Itasca-based design/engineering/manufacturing master Robertshaw creates innovative, sustainable gas-stove-emissions solution.
From New York City: Luxury membership community Select adds exclusive member benefits to Mastercard’s muscle, creating swanky World Elite card.
ON THE MOVE
Nicolette Fiore-Lopez
+ Nicolette Fiore-Lopez has been appointed to the SUNY Old Westbury College Council. She is the chief nursing officer at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson.
+ Joshua Feldman has been appointed to the Young Professional Board at Levittown-based New Ground. He is an associate at East Meadow-based Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman.
+ Joel Gali has been promoted to vice president and administrator of Commack-based Gurwin Jewish-Fay J. Lindner Residences. He previously served as chief engagement officer.
+ Jason Belle has been elected vice chairman of the Melville-based Long Island Water Conference’s Board of Directors. He is a supervisor at West Hempstead Water District.
+ Stephanie Alberts has been appointed vice-chairwoman of the New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Law Section’s Continuing Legal Education Committee. She is a partner at Forchelli Deegan Terrana and co-chairwoman of the firm’s Tax, Trusts & Estates Practice Group.
+ Amanda Cicio has been hired as an engineer 1 at Woodbury-based D&B Engineers and Architects. She is a recent graduate of SUNY at Buffalo.
+ Nichole DeBiasi has been hired as a senior administrative assistant at Ronkonkoma- based Sasserath & Co. She was a legal assistant at Melville-based Tenebaum Law.
+ Syosset-based Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island has elected David Pennetta, executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield in Melville, and Ted Stratigos, managing director and principal at Avison Young in Melville, as co-presidents.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask Northwell Health). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (It’s All In Your Mind Edition)
Slow burn: Get it … before it gets you.
Flame on: Beware the first signs of burnout.
Stress test: It’s personal resilience vs. work-based anxiety.
Balancing act: Work isn’t family, and it’s dangerous to think it is.
Minds over matter: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Northwell Health, where healthcare’s biggest brains lead the charge. Check them out.
