Q&A with John Aney, Executive Director of Stanford University’s Product Realization Network
Every month, we interview a different expert for their unique insider’s perspective on innovation. This month we met with John Aney, Executive Director of Stanford University’s Product Realization Network (PRN). PRN is a joint project between Stanford’s School of Engineering and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. It collaborates with leading companies in the San Francisco Bay Area to help prepare students for the diverse challenges in product design and manufacturing. John has helped lead this organization for the past six years, and previously worked for a well-known consumer electronics manufacturer.
Q: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for new products?
John: Not surprisingly, I’d say the biggest growth sector is in green tech and clean tech. While it’s true everyone is jumping on that bandwagon, it’s a bandwagon that is going somewhere important. Medical technology is poised to be huge, particularly in the Bay Area. Products that can solve a problem, but do it in a way that is greener—more environmentally or socially responsible—will see continued success. The perceived sustainability of a product will become a differentiator, particularly as retailers, such as Walmart start to develop a sustainability scoring system that gives people information at the shelves.
March 2010
In this issue
- Q&A with John Aney, Executive Director of Stanford University’s Product Realization Network
- Sports innovation at the Vancouver Winter Olympics—and in everyday life
- Heading back to PETCO... and other exciting news about pet products
- FYI: Upcoming tradeshows for new inventions
- More headlines from AbsolutelyNew
- Invention quote of the month
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- Innovation at the Vancouver Olympics
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Sports innovation at the Vancouver Winter Olympics—
and in everyday life
Did you check out all 16 days of Olympic glory? Well, maybe just the downhill skiing, figure skating, and the hockey games? If that was the case, then you might be interested in knowing that Olympic skiers, skaters, and hockey players have all been using the ingenious Kinesio® Tex Tape to help relieve pain and promote the healing of injured muscles.
Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn used the athletic tape to help recover from a shin injury that almost prevented her from racing in the Olympics.* The athletic tape is the invention of Dr. Kenzo Kase, a chiropractor who was looking for a better sports taping method to assist in the healing of traumatized tissue. Kase found that standard taping techniques, such as athletic taping and strapping, provided muscle and joint support, but also reduced range of motion and in many cases inhibited the actual healing process of traumatized tissue. The new and improved athletic tape that Kase developed is able to aid the lymphatic and muscle systems, while simultaneously supporting muscles and joints. **
Heading back to PETCO... and other exciting news about pet products
As you may know, PETCO recently devoted an end-of-aisle display that prominently featured some of our inventors’ products. PETCO’s confidence in our inventive products has led them to order another round of new pet products to be featured in this “prime real estate” section of their stores. That’s great news for all of these inventors because products typically sell 3x better when presented on an end-of-aisle display!
FYI: Upcoming tradeshows for new inventions
Tradeshows are great for showcasing inventions and/or making contacts with industry leaders. The key is to plan ahead, to get the most out of each show you attend. So looking beyond this month, here’s a list of U.S. tradeshows happening in the March to June window.
More headlines from AbsolutelyNew
• NBC Today show features ORB™ and Nail Driver™.
• The ORB™ is featured on ABC-TV
Invention quote of the month
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.“
-Alan Kay