Tap the brakes: Welcome to Friday, intrepid innovators, already the last Friday of February 2024, with just six leap-year days to go before we’re into March – and 1/6th of the New Year is over!
Yes, things are moving fast. What we need is a nice, relaxing weekend to slow things down a bit – but first, one more workday to wrap up this busy week. Here’s an engaging innovation newsletter to start it off right … take your time and enjoy!
Good boy: Rover wants a cookie on National Dog Biscuit Day (and every day).
Rational thought: We kick off our Feb. 23 edition with National Rationalization Day, which you might think is about spewing all-new bull$#!+ (like killing a critically important bipartisan border-security deal because it’s “much better for the opposing side”), but is actually about reconciling past mistakes.
What a treat: Back here in reality, we dig into National Dog Biscuit Day, spotlighting the crunchy cookies that are essential for training your best friend and maintaining doggie dental health.
Humans, meanwhile, have a much softer time of it – today is also National Banana Bread Day, baked moist and fresh and delicious every Feb. 23.
Where everybody knows your name: Boston looked a little different when it was incorporated in 1822.
Beans to that: Well known for baking beans is the City of Boston, which was incorporated as a city – Massachusetts’ first – on this date in 1822.
Start your engine: Also cooking up a little Feb. 23 innovation was German engineer Rudolf Diesel, who earned a German patent in 1893 for his eponymous Diesel Engine, an internal-combustion breakthrough.
On a roll: Creating a candy craze was Brooklyn shop-owner Leo Hirschfield, an Austrian immigrant who introduced Tootsie Rolls – named for his 5-year-old daughter – 128 years ago today.
Wooden you know: Other childhood favorites associated with this date include the Disney classic “Pinocchio,” which premiered on Feb. 23, 1940.
Turn me on tonight, ’cause I’m radioactive: And it was the night of Feb. 23, 1941, when plutonium was discovered in California.
After years of research, artificially produced transuranic element 94 – often described as “the world’s most dangerous element” – was unambiguously identified by Nobel Prize-winning Berkeley National Laboratory nuclear chemist Glenn Seaborg.
WEB of life: American sociologist William Edward Burghardt “W.E.B.” Du Bois (1868-1963) – a socialist, historian and civil rights activist who was the first Black American to earn a Harvard PhD and founded the NAACP, among other accomplishments – would be 156 years old today.
Take a seat: Naruhito underwent the Sokui no Rei (the Ceremony of Accession) in 2019.
Also born on Feb. 23 were German British composer George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), a Baroque master revered for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi and organ concertos; British botanist Agnes Arber (1879-1960), an anatomist, morphologist and the first woman botanist elected to the Royal Society; American film director and producer Victor Fleming (1889-1949), who helmed “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone With the Wind” and other classics; South African American physicist Allan MacLeod Cormack (1924-1998), a Nobel Prize-winning diagnostic-imaging pioneer; and Canadian Naval officer, astronaut and politician Marc Garneau (born 1949), the first (known) Canadian in space.
Banzai! And take a bow, Naruhito (or maybe we should bow to you)! The Emperor of Japan, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019, turns 64 today.
Wish Japan’s 126th emperor well at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips rule – and your calendar events always get the royal treatment.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
FAFSA friends: Deciphering the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form – which asks numerous questions to help determine high schoolers’ eligibility for federal aid with college expenses – ain’t easy.
To that end, SUNY Old Westbury has assembled a 10-student team to help prospective collegians and their families navigate the FAFSA form, with virtual meetings, on-campus office hours and “pop-up” visits at off-campus locations – including a recent visit to Westbury High School – in the offing. The State University of New York FAFSA Completion Corps is a SUNY-wide effort, but Old Westbury is the only Long Island campus taking part this semester.
While an updated FAFSA application process has “simplified in many ways the process of applying for aid,” personal guidance for future collegians and their families is still critically important, according to SUNY Old Westbury Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing Bryan Terry. “For many families … there remain nuances and needs that can be hard to understand,” Terry noted. “Through these student leaders, our goal is to ease the process and help students get all the aid available to them.”
High cyber diet: The Suffolk County Community College Cybersecurity Club shined in the NCAE Cyber Games.
Hack job: Suffolk County Community College’s Cybersecurity Club held its own – against a slate of bigger schools – in the Northeast Regional round of the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity’s Cyber Games competition.
Held Feb. 17, the Cyber Games challenged first-time cyber competitors to juggle industry-standard CompTIA Security+ competencies and frameworks approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education. The SCCC squad competed in two simultaneous games: one in which they responded to cyberattacks against a custom-made computer infrastructure and a “capture the flag” challenge that tasked them with locating digital clues hidden on servers, in encrypted text or in applications.
The team finished third in the Northeast Regional, behind Vermont’s Champlain College and Pennsylvania’s Penn State University – solid evidence of “hard work, dedication and a high-caliber curriculum,” according to SCCC Cybersecurity Club Advisor Jon Sadowski. “Suffolk students were able to surpass teams from selective universities, showcasing the college’s exceptional quality of education and the commitment of Suffolk’s faculty,” Sadowski added. “Their success … reflects the transformative power of the college’s curriculum.”
TOP OF THE SITE
COP in: With the U.S. Department of the Interior approving its Construction and Operations Plan, Equinor has earned another key endorsement of its ambitious Empire Wind offshore energy farm.
Worth a shot: Will Innovate Long Island ever reach 1 million newsletter subscribers? No. Don’t be ridiculous. (Doesn’t mean we can’t try, though … and your part in this grand quest is always easy, always free!)
ICYMI
A renowned geneticist will leverage a $3.1 million federal grant in the Feinstein Institutes’ ongoing battle against autism, Alzheimer’s disease and other deadly neuropsychiatric disorders.
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 Francisco-based lifestyle brand Athleta reimagines women’s workouts with high-performance Train Collection activewear.
From Florida: Tampa-based prepared-meals brand Fitlife Foods bolsters talent recruitment and retention with employee-friendly Corporate Meal Solutions.
From Ohio: Cleveland-based hospital system MetroHealth teams with private industry and a designated organ-procurement organization to automate organ and tissue donations.
ON THE MOVE
John Fabbricante
+ John Fabbricante has been hired as director of facilities operations at SUNY Old Westbury in Old Westbury. He was director of engineering at The Carnegie Hall Corp. in Manhattan.
+ Emily Mastaler has been named chief administrative officer of Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, effective May 2024. She was president and CEO of River Hospital in upstate Alexandria Bay.
+ Michael Pastine has been hired as assistant vice president and chief information officer at SUNY Old Westbury in Old Westbury. He was team leader and senior network security analyst at Fordham University in the Bronx.
+ Maria Lianos Johnson has been hired as counsel in estate litigation at Uniondale-based Farrell Fritz. She was a trusts and estates counsel at Garden City-based McCoyd, Parkas & Ronan.
+ David Wicks has been promoted to chief operating officer for Eastern Suffolk BOCES in Patchogue. He previously served as district superintendent.
+ Zoe Yang has been hired as senior vice president of strategic partnerships at New York Cancer & Blood Specialists in Ridge. She was assistant vice president for growth strategy at AdvantageCare Physicians of New York in Manhattan.
+ James Francis Jr. has been appointed executive director for public safety and security at Garden City-based Adelphi University. He was previously in law enforcement operations at the City University of New York’s Baruch College.
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BELOW THE FOLD (Hold Everything Edition)
White lies: Drying out in rice could actually fry your phone, Apple warns.
On hold: Funding delays could hand Pacific U.S. allies to China.
Hold the phone: Why you shouldn’t put your wet iPhone in rice.
Hold that thought: How technology companies plan to read our minds.
Stronghold: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Nixon Peabody, where smarter services, top teamwork and the strongest spirit fortify your company’s legal lines. Check them out.
