Racy content: Welcome to Friday, dear racers, as we speed across the finish line of another busy workweek and shift down toward another well-earned pitstop.
It’s June 23 out there, and we’re decelerating in style with another hot-rod innovation review. Tap those brakes and take it slow for a few minutes.
Doesn’t exactly bowl you over: But porridge has been a boiled breakfast staple for centuries.
“Invisible women, invisible problems”: We start with International Widows’ Day, the UN’s annual reminder that widows in most industrialized nations may have options, but there are millions of women – with millions and millions of dependents – who lose basic rights and dignities when they lose their partner.
Runs in the family: Speaking of partners you can trust, today is also National Family Owned & Operated Business Day, an Innovate Long Island house favorite saluting mom and pop and the next generation of legacy leaders.
And it never rains but it’s porridge on National Porridge Day, also getting its sweetened grains on every June 23.
Crayon writing: Porridge, of course, factors heavily into the beloved children’s classic “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” – slightly darker (and porridge-free) is “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent,” Washington Irving’s collection of twisted tales (including “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”) introduced on this date in 1819.
Proto-type: What might Irving have accomplished with a typewriter? Sadly, we never found out – the first practical typewriter wasn’t patented until June 23, 1868, nine years after the master scribe’s death (and at first glance, it looked anything but practical).
Flat icon: Other famous patents issued on this date include one for inventor Frank Zamboni’s namesake ice-resurfacing machine, issued 70 years ago today.
Small packages: Kilby thought big.
Small wonder: It was this date in 1964 when Nobel Prize-winning Texas Instruments electrical engineer Jack Kilby patented the integrated circuit, reconceptualizing miniaturization and heralding the age of microelectronics.
Play time with Spud: And it was that very same day – June 23, 1964 – when co-inventor Arthur “Spud” Melin patented the hula hoop.
Melin was just getting started – his fingerprints are all over the Frisbee, the Superball and the Hacky Sack.
Let’s talk about sex: American sexologist, biologist and zoologist Alfred Charles Kinsey (1894-1956) – a massive 20th Century influencer who helped ignite the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s – would be 129 years old today.
Crusader: Becky Cloonan broke a Bat-barrier in Detective Comics Issue No. 1,000.
Also born on June 23 were Italian philosopher and historian Giambattista Vico (1668-1744), often credited with inventing the philosophy of history; French industrialist Édouard Michelin (1859-1940), who co-founded the Michelin Tyre Co. with his brother André; English mathematician and logician Alan Turing (1912-1954), the computer-theory pioneer and namesake of “the Nobel Prize of computing”; American businessman and NFL owner Art Modell (1925-2012), a self-made man with a complicated legacy; and American computer scientist Vinton Cerf (born 1943), a recognized Father of the Internet and winner of the aforementioned A.M. Turing Award.
Bat woman: And take a bow, Becky Cloonan! The American comic book creator – best known for her Manga-styled Tokyopop and Vertigo work, and as the first woman to draw DC Comics’ main “Batman” title – turns 43 today.
Wish the artist well at editor@innovateli.com, where our crusades (caped and otherwise) begin with your news tips – and your calendar events shine like a Bat-Signal.
About our sponsor: Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, more than 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
The sound of scholarships: The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame went the extra mile with its academic scholarships this year, adding an unprecedented fifth award.
The first-ever Pat DeRosa Memorial Scholarship – a wind instrument-focused stipend honoring the late Huntington music teacher and “world’s oldest professional saxophone player,” according to the Guinness Book of World Records – went to Babylon Junior-Senior High School oboe player Coleman Schubert. Traditional Distinction in Music scholarships went to violinist Christopher Hummel of Harborfields High School, percussionist/pianist Jacob Leshnower of Half Hollow High School East, guitarist/singer Luca Alexandru of Syosset High School and trumpeter Alexis Panebianco of Mineola High School.
The awards were presented for the first time in the main exhibit hall of LIMEHOF’s new Stony Brook museum, which opened last fall. “We are immensely proud of our scholarship winners … their talent, dedication and commitment to their craft inspire us all,” noted LIMEHOF Educational Programs Director Tom Needham. “We believe that their journey will not only shape their own futures but also contribute to the rich musical legacy of our community and beyond.”
Beach front: Mount Sinai Doctors-Long Beach keeps a longstanding promise made to the barrier island.
Still recovering: Mount Sinai South Nassau has officially opened its new Long Beach healthcare pavilion, a $35 million medical mecca highlighting the Oceanside-based hospital’s ongoing efforts to buttress services across the barrier island.
The multispecialty Mount Sinai Doctors-Long Beach pavilion rises from the ashes of the old Long Beach Medical Center – and, more euphemistically, from the destruction of Superstorm Sandy, the 2012 disaster that sparked what the New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System dubbed a “healthcare revitalization plan for Long Beach.” Boasting 15 private examination rooms, multifunctional laboratories, a state-of-the-art electronic health-record system and the latest X-ray and ultrasound-imaging tech, the pavilion offers specialized medical services covering cardiology, gastroenterology, pain management and more.
Located on the hospital’s Long Beach campus, it also “represents our commitment to help restore specialty medical services on the barrier island,” noted Mount Sinai South Nassau President Adhi Sharma. “The facility will provide leading medical specialists who can care for a wide range of conditions … and we plan to expand services there over time as the need demands.”
TOP OF THE SITE
All dolled up: An innovative ‘play café” in Rockville Centre encourages kids to drop the videogame controllers and try something a little more imaginative.
Access granted: Helen Keller Services, a major resource for vision- and hearing-impaired Long Islanders, announces its tech-heavy 2023 Access-Ability Awards.
To be continued: Another exciting addition to Season 4 of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” drops next week – until then, catch up with legendary DJ Johnny Juice, regional socioeconomic force Marc Alessi and 36 other master innovators.
ICYMI
Samanea New York’s latest entertainment destination, Long Island’s first engineer of the year.
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 California: San Jose-based professional-services automation ace Rocketlane optimizes customer time-to-value with innovative Internal IQ feature.
From New Jersey: Newark-based contract development partner BioCentriq helps early-stage biotechs race to market with LEAP Advanced Therapy Platform.
From New York City: Social audience analyst StatSocial enhances brand impact-measuring Silhouette platform for more accurate marketing metrics.
ON THE MOVE
Thomas Ward Jr.
+ Thomas Ward Jr. has been appointed dean of Farmingdale State College’s School of Arts & Sciences, effective Aug. 1. He has been the assistant dean since 2019.
+ Bryan Mastrangelo has been elected to Medford-based Suffolk Credit Union’s Board of Directors. He is a Suffolk County police officer.
+ Carolina Melo has been hired as vice president and branch manager at First National Bank LI in Rockville Centre. She was a senior client officer at Signature Bank in Rockville Centre.
+ Marisa Leva has been hired as a malpractice paralegal at Islandia-based Davis & Ferber. She was a legal assistant at Islandia-based Lewis Johs Avallone Aviles.
+ John Porchia has been appointed to the Oakdale-based Suffolk County Water Authority’s Board of Directors. He is an attorney at Lite & Russell in West Islip.
+ Deborah Franco has been hired as president of Merrick-based Liberty New York Water. She was vice president of rates, regulatory and sustainability at New Jersey-based SJI Utilities.
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 (Art Studio Edition)
Major draw: One of the original Da Vinci sketches heading to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.
Hyped up: How to buy your way into the pricey art world.
Writing on the walls: How graffiti finally gained social acceptance.
Leonardo to go: How original da Vinci drawings wound up in Washington.
Medical masterpieces: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Northwell Health, where healthcare innovation is always a work of art. Check them out.
