Success story: And just like that … Friday! You’ve done it again, intrepid innovator, with another workweek in the books and another weekend on the horizon. Very impressive, as always!
It’s Oct. 22 out there, and before you pick your pumpkins, rake your leaves and watch New York’s football teams embarrass themselves, we’ve got a workweek to wrap up. Let’s finish strong.
Inside voices, please: When you REALLY mean it.
Shout out: There’s no need to raise your voice, but go ahead and emphasize your point – today is International Caps Lock Day, a darling of “your favorite president” and others who don’t necessarily adhere to typographical conventions, celebrated annually on Oct. 22 (and June 28, for some reason).
Completely unrelated to the founder of TRUTH Social, today is also National Nut Day (which, admittedly, is more about dry fruits and legumes than nutjobs and loons).
Very stable geniuses: It’s also Smart is Cool Day, which would likewise seem the antithesis of those who overuse capitalizations.
Presidential pedigree: There are plenty of geniuses to be found at Princeton University, which was chartered 275 years ago today as one of the first nine Colonial America universities.
The Ivy League school now counts dozens of distinguished scientists, one U.S. First Lady (Michelle Obama) and two U.S. Presidents (James Madison and Woodrow Wilson, who also served eight years as Princeton University president) among its impressive alumni.
Oh, chute: Artist’s depiction of André-Jacques Garnerin’s famous first jump, which was anything but smooth sailing.
Drop everything: From the One Chance to Make a Good Impression File comes the first successful high-altitude parachute jump, completed on Oct. 22, 1797, by French inventor/daredevil André-Jacques Garnerin, who plunged 3,200 feet from a hydrogen balloon over Paris.
For those keeping score, Garnerin’s wife Jeanne-Geneviève would later become the first female parachutist.
Deals on wheels: The world’s first car dealership opened its doors in London on this date in 1897, creating a middleman between drivers and manufacturers (the bait-and-switch came later).
Ford tough: Speaking of pioneering auto dealers, shareholders named Henry Ford president of his eponymous Ford Motor Co. on Oct. 22, 1906, replacing primary investor John Gray, who’d led the company since its 1903 incorporation.
Toasts with the most: And it was this date in 1924 when Toastmasters International – the global nonprofit dedicated to improving public speaking and communication skills – held its first official meeting in California.
Wave as you go by: American physicist and radio engineer Karl Jansky (1905-1950) – who discovered radio waves emanating from the center of the Milky Way galaxy, in the midst of founding radio astronomy – would be 116 years old today.
Hit maker: Few in Japan or the USA did it better than Ichiro, ever.
Also born on Oct. 22 were American biochemist and nutritionist Charles Glen King (1896-1988), who discovered Vitamin C; American vaudevillian Jerome Horwitz (1903-1952), the stooge known best as Curly Howard, Larry and Mo’s sidekick; American psychologist and LSD enthusiast Timothy Leary (1920-1996), who shook things up at Harvard; American “Mouseketeer” Annette Funicello (1942-2013), who went from “The Mickey Mouse Club” to the beach; and international hitman Ichiro Suzuki (born 1973), who raked in Japan and Seattle.
Great Scott! And take a bow, Christopher Allen Lloyd! The beloved American actor – known best as “Taxi” driver Jim Ignatowski, “Cyberchase” villain The Hacker and “Back to the Future” crackpot Emmett “Doc” Brown – turns 83 today.
Give the one-time Klingon and two-time Emmy-winner your best at editor@innovateli.com, where your news tips and calendar items always send 1.21 gigawatts straight into our flux capacitor.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
You Shrish: Patel, panel protector.
Genius, the next generation: A Stony Brook University graduate student has been named one of the nation’s brightest young inventors for his contributions to a cutting-edge technology designed to remove dust deposits from solar panels in deserts, where sand buildup can cause power losses up to 25 percent.
Materials science PhD candidate Shrish Patel was the graduate-level winner of the 2021 Collegiate Inventors Competition, a program of the National Inventors Hall of Fame sponsored by Arrow Electronics and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patel captured the $10,000 first prize for his work in SBU’s Orlov Materials Lab, where he developed an autonomous, electric field-assisted dust-removal technology – inspired by NASA tech – capable of restoring a solar panel’s output to 98 percent of capacity.
The undergraduate prize went to Harvard University student Eva Cai, who invented Earflow, a drug-delivery device that injects medications directly into the middle ear – a major advance for patients suffering middle-ear infections. “As our world’s challenges continue to grow in complexity, we increasingly need to look to the next generation of innovators to meet these problems head on,” noted National Inventors Hall of Fame CEO Michael Oister. “We are proud to recognize and celebrate this latest group of collegiate inventors who are committed to creating a better future for us all.”
Traffic report: Nearly 300 “lane miles” in Suffolk County will be smoothed over as part of a multifaceted, multimillion-dollar package of Long Island Expressway improvement projects announced Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
First up is a $19.7 million undertaking that will lengthen three acceleration lanes and three deceleration lanes along the Queens County portion of the heavily traveled highway; that work is already underway, along with the construction of new auxiliary lanes between 48th Street and the Little Neck Parkway, also in Queens. New guiderails – or concrete barriers with reflective markers, or both – will be installed at each location, according to Hochul’s office.
Later this year, Albany will select contractors for two additional projects – representing a combined $80 million investment – replacing 287 miles of pavement on “key stretches” of the LIE in Suffolk County. Hochul called the transportation-infrastructure investments “critical for the continued expansion of a thriving economy,” while Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone applauded the state for improving a “critical corridor” for county motorists. “This project will go a long way to increase roadway safety along this important stretch of highway,” Bellone said Wednesday.
TOP OF THE SITE
Scientifically sensitive: A Stony Brook University anthropologist and colleagues from around the world have set new global standards for the recovery and study of “ancient DNA” samples.
Capitol gain: The pandemic has forced New York State law to catch up with telehealth technologies – good news for providers and patients alike, according to attorney Mark Ustin.
Industry standard: Season 2 of Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast is off and running with Terri Alessi-Miceli, president and CEO of the HIA-LI. Listen now.
ICYMI
Unprecedented growth at the SBU Food Business Incubator; exclusive licensing for a stimulating Feinstein Institutes technology.
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: Los Angeles-based electric-transportation energizer Bird introduces “smart sidewalk protection” that deactivates micromobility devices on walkways.
From Washington: NASA announces winners of the Deep Space Food Challenge, creating novel menus and food-focused tech for future astronauts.
From California: San Francisco-based visionary tech firm Vision Buddy introduces innovative headset to help the visually impaired watch TV and perform daily tasks.
ON THE MOVE
Kerri Smith
+ Kerri Smith has been named chief operating officer for Wading River-based Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York. She previously served as the senior associate at the Maryland-based Annie E. Casey Foundation.
+ Northwell Health has announced two executive appointments:
- David Battinelli has been named executive vice president and physician-in-chief; he served previously as chief medical officer/vice dean of the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and Northwell Health senior vice president.
- Jill Kalman has been appointed senior vice president, chief medical officer and deputy physician-in-chief; she was previously executive director of Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.
+ William Green has joined Uniondale-based Duffy & Duffy PLLC as an associate concentrating in medical malpractice law. He was previously an attorney in the Manhattan office of Morgan & Morgan.
+ Maryellen Cantanno has been promoted to head of community services and outreach for the Freeport Memorial Library. She previously served as reference librarian.
+ Frank Trotta has been re-elected vice chairman of the Suffolk Federal Credit Union’s Board of Directors. He is the publisher of Bellport-based Fire News and the Suffolk County Bar Association’s The Suffolk Lawyer.
BELOW THE FOLD (Final Frontier Edition)
Mars-a-like: Atop Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, as close as it gets. (Photo: Smithsonian/Cassandra Klos)
Life on Mars: Earthbound scientists are creating hypothetical habitats for humanity on the Red Planet.
Weekend warriors in spaaaaace: Political battles are brewing over the creation of a “Space National Guard.”
Kirk finally faces death: How William Shatner’s real-life star trek became a mission to save the world.
Terra Firm-a: Nobody understands Long Island land-use laws better than Sahn Ward, one of the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island. Check them out.
