Cabinet concerns (no, no … the kitchen kind): Welcome to Friday, dear readers, as we bite our tongue on questionable Presidential Cabinet nominations (that only Gaetz us in trouble) and focus instead on the conclusion of another productive workweek and the well-earned weekend ahead.
Before we jump into your week-wrapping review, this quick note from Innovation High Command: Innovate Long Island will be mashing potatoes, baking pies and brining turkeys Thanksgiving week, so please watch for your usual trifecta of awesome newsletters on Nov. 18, 20 and 22, and then enjoy your holiday week with family and friends – we’ll return with fresh awesomeness Dec. 2, starting with your regularly scheduled Monday Calendar Newsletter. More reminders next week.
After: This might be a tad extreme, but surely there’s plenty in your fridge that needs to go … TODAY.
Reduce, reuse …: Back here on Nov. 15, we’re kicking things off – and promoting sustainability – with America Recycles Day, when it’s in with the old and out with the new.
Here’s an idea that never gets old (but can be easily forgotten in these less-than-principled times): Giving, purely for the benefit of others. It’s a lovely thought fully embraced on National Philanthropy Day, celebrating charitable acts around the nation and the world.
Don’t spoil it: While we’re all for embracing well-aged items and ideas, there are absolutely some past-their-prime elements you don’t want to use again – hence National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, when we’re meant to freshen up the old icebox.
So toss last month’s leftover lo mein and pour yourself a nice bowl of raisin bran – breakfast of champions on National Raisin Bran Day, celebrating the classic fiber-and-fruit combo every Nov. 15. (For the record, the seminal cereal’s early history is not as sweet as you might think.)
History class: Many of its ideas would be recycled when it was supplanted in 1789 by the actual United States Constitution, but the Articles of Confederation – essentially, the first U.S. constitution – was adopted by the Continental Congress on this date in 1777.
The short version: Pitman used simple symbols to represent the different sounds letters make.
English 102: Pitman Shorthand – the game-changing shorthand writing system developed by English publisher and teacher Isaac Pitman, who relied heavily on phonetics – was published for the first time on Nov. 15, 1837.
Advanced engineering: Utilizing Nikola Tesla’s groundbreaking alternating-current system, hydroelectricity generated by the Niagara Falls Power Co. was first transmitted over a long distance – 26 miles, all the way to downtown Buffalo – on Nov. 15, 1896.
Driver’s ed: Two days after we marked the anniversary of the New Jersey/New York-connecting Holland Tunnel, we commemorate the 1940 opening of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, which first welcomed traffic 84 years ago today.
Chemistry final: And it was Nov. 15, 1960, when the alkaline battery – more specifically, the “Dry Cell,” offering significant increases in efficiency and lifespan – was patented by industrious scientists Karl Kordesch, Paul Marshal and Lewis Urry of Ohio.
The trio ceded the patent to the Union Carbine Corp., the eventual manufacturer of Eveready batteries.
Solo artist: Georgia O’Keeffe did it her own way.
Georgia on our mind: American painter, sculptor and draftswoman Georgia Totto O’Keeffe (1887-1986) – a pioneer of modernism who eschewed major art movements and became one of the 20th Century’s most significant creators – would be 137 years old today.
Also born on Nov. 15 were German-born British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822), who refined telescopes, discovered Uranus and developed a workable theory of stellar evolution; American physician Sara Baker (1873-1945), an openly gay suffragette who made several notable public-health contributions; British industrialist, electrical engineer and aerospace pioneer Sir Frederick Handley Page (1885-1962), the “Father of the Heavy Bomber”; American jurist and television personality Joseph Wapner (1919-2017), the first to preside over “The People’s Court”; and American professional wrestler, actor and singer (!) Randy “Macho Man” Savage (born Randy Poffo, 1952-2011), a leading squared-circle superstar of the late 20th Century known best for his aerobatics and crazy-brilliant promos (including this all-timer).
Dancing Singing queen: And take a bow, Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad! The Norwegian Swedish singer – known best as Frida, the cofounder and lead singer of Swedish supergroup ABBA – turns 79 today.
Give the Countess of Plauen your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we’ll face our Waterloo without your news tips – and we’ll always Take a Chance On Me your calendar events (so Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!).
About our sponsor: Stony Brook University Economic Development collaborates with regional innovators, supports startups and facilitates early-stage enterprise by leveraging the resources of a SUNY Flagship University and partner Brookhaven National Laboratory. Combining state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, the world-class expertise of 900-plus scientific investigators and best commercialization practices, Economic Development and its partners have the collective imagination and ability to attain exciting new heights for the Long Island innovation economy. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Child support: In a worst-case scenario where your child needs emergency medical attention, your best bet may be a Northwell Health hospital.
That’s the word from the New York State Department of Health’s Always Ready For Children Pediatric Recognition program, a statewide initiative designed to rate hospital emergency departments on their ability to help youngsters in need. As of this week, the sprawling New Hyde Park-based health system boasted 16 of the 30 hospital ERs – including 11 on Long Island – certified by the Health Department program, which considers children-sized equipment, specialized staff training and pediatric-focused preparation, among other factors.
The designations are far from child’s play, since treating young patients “isn’t like treating a small adult,” according to Joshua Rocker, chief of Northwell Health’s Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, who praised the health system’s Always Ready For Children designations. “Children have needs adults don’t and require specialized care,” Rocker added. “These designations show that every Northwell Health emergency department is dedicated to making sure children get the care they need, no matter where they are.”
Higher education: Strain Stars donates some green to Farmingdale State.
Jail break: A six-figure donation from one of the nation’s busiest cannabis dispensaries will establish a new Farmingdale State College scholarship program for the children of incarcerated parents.
East Farmingdale-based Strain Stars – Long Island’s first legal recreational-use cannabis dispensary not located on Native American land – has gifted $100,000 to fund the Strain Stars New Hour Endowed Scholarship, which will provide financial assistance to current and prospective Farmingdale State students whose parents are in prison. The scholarship program will be administered by New Hour for Women and Children Long Island, a Brentwood-based nonprofit that supports incarcerated women and their families.
Providing this break “will make a meaningful difference in the lives of students affected by mass incarceration,” noted Strain Stars Chief Financial Officer Jasmin Singh, and will “reduce the stigma of parental incarceration,” according to New Hour Executive Director Serena Martin. “This gift truly personifies the beauty and power of philanthropy,” added Farmingdale State Vice President of Development and Alumni Engagement Matthew Colson. “We couldn’t be prouder to partner with Strain Stars and New Hour and (be) entrusted with this great responsibility in service to our shared community.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Investigation celebration: Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell students showed off their big brains – and impressive investigative skills – during the medical school’s 13th annual Medical Student Research Week.
Essential functions: Keep your entire innovation team in the loop – subscriptions to Innovate Long Island’s educational and entertaining newsletters (including our essential, subscriber-only Monday Calendar Newsletters) are always easy, always free.
ICYMI
Leveraging science, compassion and common sense, a new human breastmilk donor program at South Shore University Hospital is keeping premature babies nourished – and keeping them off mass-produced baby formula – until their moms are ready to produce.
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 Michigan: Plymouth-based desktop enhancer Stardock Software brings the power of artificial intelligence to Windows 10/11 with a new application upgrade.
From Colorado: Denver-based alcohol-detection ace SOBRsafe straps on a new wristband device to help businesses and individuals measure users’ alcohol levels.
From California: Costa Mesa-based wellness wunderkind Nama elevates taste and nutrition with a high-tech plant-based milk maker.
ON THE MOVE
Leydy Renteria-Merced
+ Leydy Renteria-Merced has been hired as executive director of Centro Corazón de María in Hampton Bays. She was an English as a new language coordinator/teacher at South Shore Charter School in Central Islip.
+ Craig Schwab has been hired as chief operating officer at Arrow Security in Smithtown. He was global head of corporate security at BlackRock in Manhattan.
+ Melville-based H2M architects + engineers has hired a number of executives formerly with Plainview-based CA RICH Consultants:
- CA Rich Project Manager Michael Yager is now a senior project scientist
- CA Rich Vice President Jason Cooper is now a department manager
- CA Rich Principal Charles Rich is now a technical advisor
- CA Rich Environmental Scientist Jessica Proscia is now a senior project scientist
+ Alan Petrilli has been promoted to Long Island regional manager for middle market banking and specialized industries and national apparel industry lead at JPMorgan Chase in Melville. He was the metro-New York market executive.
+ Rachel-Anne Scelfo has been hired as a partner in the Land Use and Municipal Practice Group at Farrell Fritz in Hauppauge. She was planning commissioner for the Town of Babylon.
+ Joshua Lester has been hired as a construction inspector I/water supply at Woodbury-based D&B Engineers and Architects. He was a construction inspector at New York-based SIMCO Engineering.
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 Stony Brook University). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Size Matters Edition)
Just add Onion: If you thought InfoWars was ridiculous before…
Coral creature: Science discovers a sea creature bigger than two basketball courts.
Sticker shock: The NHTSA’s second-largest-ever civil penalty dents Ford’s bumpers.
The Wars is over: Why the Onion was happy to pay “less than a trillion dollars” to purchase InfoWars.
The bigger, the better: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including Stony Brook University Economic Development, where no cutting-edge commercialization ambition is too big. Check them out.
