Innovation in Action – What? How?…Right Now!

A consortium of upstate Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) consulting groups hosted a one-day seminar to help manufacturers leverage the available tools, services and infrastructure needed to energize the region’s economy and promote job growth through innovation.

“Innovation…What, How, Right Now!” occured on October 11th at Kodak’s Eastman Business Park, 200 West Ridge Road, Rochester.
The event attracted approximately 250 attendees from across the region.

Watch the video Innovation in Action from the program.

Robert Tucker, internationally renowned innovation icon and author of “Innovation Is Everybody’s Business,” and Terry Taber, Chief Technical Officer, and Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company, spoke at the event.

A panel discussion, featuring a variety of industry professionals, will address how government, business, science and academia must work together to enhance a climate of innovation and future competitiveness in the U.S. An open house highlighting local innovation and product development will also be held, as well as tours of Eastman Business Park.

Watch the video of the panel discussion (the panel discussion is about one hour long)

Event sponsors High Tech Rochester, CNY Technology Development Organization, and Insyte Consulting, are upstate coordinators of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a national network of manufacturing advisors who assist small to medium-sized companies.

“MEP is the nation's champion of manufacturing,” said Hutch Hutchison, Manager, New Product Development, High Tech Rochester. “We address a company’s obstacles to success, identifying and leveraging resources to help companies maximize their potential and grow their business.”

“The concept of Innovation Engineering gives our client manufacturers a structured process for creating, communicating, and commercializing innovative ideas,” Hutchison said. “MEP creates services to fill the gaps in the various phases of innovation.”
Advancing innovation from bench top to commercialization is among the most critical topics of the day for manufacturers, Hutchison said. “Commercializing new products is key to adding jobs, which is critical to growing the economy.”

For the event, MEP partnered with Kodak, as the assets, tools and operational resources available through a technology accelerator at Eastman Business Park are linked to the seminar’s message, Hutchison said.