Celebrate Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

Alexander Calder, Chat-Mobile (Cat Mobile), 1966 Painted sheet metal and steel wire 20 x 26 x 26 inches. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The Leonard and Ruth Horwich Family Loan (EL1995.10). © 2011 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Ever wonder how science affects art — and vice versa? Through June 17, 2012, the Nasher Museum presents  ”Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy“ an exhibition of the works of modern sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) and seven of his protégés that define space and explore form, balance, color and movement.

Photo by Dr. J Caldwell

To celebrate Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, the museum has teamed up with our local Society of Women Engineers (SWE) chapter to provide fun hands-on engineering-related activities for all ages on Thursday night, February 23, 2012.

The museum’s free admission on Thursday evenings will be in effect and as part of Corporate Sponsor Night,  anyone showing a business card or ID from a RTP company will be admitted into the Calder Special Exhibit for free.

Alexander Calder, Blue Among Yellow and Red, 1963. Painted sheet metal and steel wire 43 x 63 inches diameter. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The Leonard and Ruth Horwich Family Loan (EL1995). © 2011 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Can’t make it Thursday? No worries — RTP is hosting another evening of science and art on April 26 during the NC Science Festival. Stay tuned to the blog for more details on that fun event.

Other interesting /helpful tidbits:

• Alexander Calder received an engineering degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology and took on various jobs, including as a hydraulics engineer and automotive engineer after graduation. It wasn’t  until 1923 that he began his art career. How’s that for left-brain/right brain skills?
• Corporate Sponsor Night is made possible by NetApp, Carolina Biological Supply Company, Parker and Otis, Sigma Xi –  The Scientific Research Society, Clinical Ambassador, American Scientist magazine, Tech Shop, and RTP.
• It’s also National Engineering Week.
• Learn and grab dinner. The Nasher Museum Café will also be open for dinner and/or a drink, from 5-8 PM (café closes at 9 PM).

A Home for RTP’s Founding Universities

Archie K Davis

If you drive down T.W. Alexander in the Park, you’ll likely see signs noting that you’re on the TUCASI campus. While the acronym isn’t immediately discernible, TUCASI stands for The Triangle Universities Center for Advanced Studies, Incorporated and was the first model through which RTP and the Research Triangle Foundation sought to strategically support the founding universities — Duke, UNC-CH and NC State — and to ensure they had a permanent home in the Park.

TUCASI was the brain-child of Archie Davis, one of the Park’s founders. Mr. Davis was the person who went around the state in 1958-59 and convinced citizens and companies from all 100 counties in North Carolina to donate funds toward the creation of an economic development strategy that would ultimately become RTP. Mr. Davis was also committed to the idea that what makes RTP special is our relationship with the founding universities. He wanted to make sure they always had a place in the Park and that the Park/Foundation could continue to support collaboration among the three.

Join the Great Backyard Bird Count

Did you know that there are over 115 different bird species that have been observed in RTP? Starting tomorrow, you’ll have a great reason to get outside and see some yourself!

Bluebirds will begin nesting in March.

The 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up, February 17-20.  This project is one of the largest, most enjoyable citizen-science projects on the planet and this year should be especially interesting because of the warmer temperatures and lack of snowfall that we’ve experienced this winter.

To participate, just count birds anywhere you wish (even outside your RTP office) for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the GBBC. Then, report the highest number of each species seen together at one time on the GBBC website: www.birdcount.org. Everything you need to know is on the website along with an instructional video and downloadable instructions.

You can upload a photo for consideration in the GBBC photo contest. Explore data on the website using maps and charts that show what everyone is reporting. Anyone who participates also has a chance to win great prizes! Tweet about the birds you’re seeing and include the #gbbc tag to have your message show up in the Twitter widget on the GBBC home page. The GBBC is hosted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society along with Canadian partner, Bird Studies Canada.

Just one of RTP's 40 Blue Bird Boxes.

And if you’re interested in getting more involved with birds on a local scale, consider adopting one of RTP’s 40 bluebird boxes for the Spring and Summer. Environment@rtp will be hosting a Bluebird Box Adoption Lunch and Learn event on March 9, 2012 from 11:30am to 1:00pm for anyone interested in the program!  For more information about the Bluebird Box Adoption program or the Lunch and Learn event, visit www.environmentrtp.org. To register for the Lunch and Learn, use our registration form.

What Drives RTP Companies?

One of the greatest assets of RTP is its companies. With more than 170 of them employing more than 38,000 full-time workers, they range from the 1-2 person start-ups to campuses with thousands. They represent a vast array of cutting edge technology that works to resolve some of the world’s most pressing problems or to create the next best app/device/tool to increase productivity in a range of disciplines. In short, they all do pretty neat stuff.

Recently, as I was trying to get a sense of industry trends and issues most critical to our companies,

I found blogs by the leaders of two of RTP’s
I’ll be on the look out for other examples, but in the meantime, here is a glimpse of what GSK and  Cisco see on the horizon:companies that give a sense of the challenges facing their companies and their ideas to address them.

• GSK’s Triple Solution: The first is a blog that Deidre Connelly, GSK’s President, Pharmaceuticals NA posted for the British American Business Council. Within the blog, she notes  GSK’s approach to prevention, intervention and innovation to help the people of the world “do more, feel better, and live longer.” She references an article by GSK CEO Andrew Witty in which he discusses how the company — and entire industry — must better “harness intellectual diversity and unleash creativity” to develop drugs more efficiently but also its need to apply that ability to innovate to reconsider its business model.

• Using the Network to Drive Innovation: In this blog post/video, Cisco CEO, John Chambers suggests that mobility and connectivity will push content and drive innovation. He also notes the importance of bringing together diverse groups to tackle today’s and future problems. Nothing how smart networks have fundamentally changed the way people live — not only how we work and play, but how we address issues like healthcare and how we collaborate to innovate and discover more. He notes how innovation must be enabled by technology and operational excellence if it is to be effective.

Biogen Idec Plugs In

The buzz around plug-in electric vehicles has been livelier than ever in North Carolina, and RTP is certainly becoming a hub of activity for the technology.  RTI unveiled two new electric vehicle charging stations back in November, and just this past Tuesday,  Biogen Idec held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for ten new electric vehicle charging stations at its RTP campus.

Back in November, I had the opportunity to participate in Biogen Idec’s multi-day Sustainability Fair for employees, and got a chance to hear about the exciting work they were doing to bring these charging stations to fruition and procure funding incentives to encourage employees to purchase or lease electric vehicles.  On Tuesday, Biogen Idec’s work paid off, and they cut the ribbon for their new stations, the first for any of their worldwide locations.

Biogen Idec purchased the charging stations with support from the Carolina Blue Skies Initiative, a project led by Triangle J Council of Governments (TJCOG), with $12 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.  Biogen Idec has the distinction of being the first organization in the Triangle to successfully deploy electric charging stations under this initiative.

Biogen Idec installed ten Level 2 charging stations at their RTP Campus.

Pat Hoy was one of the four employees that took advantage of the incentive provided to Biogen Idec employees through Advanced Energy to purchase a Nissan Leaf.  He received a $7500 stipend to offset the purchase price and will also receive a $7500 tax credit.  Speaking briefly at the ceremony, Pat mentioned that one of the greatest benefits of owning a plug-in electric vehicle is that it allows him to bypass the gas station.  “I haven’t been to a gas station in three and half weeks since I’ve owned the car… There aren’t too many other people that can say that.”  He also highlighted some of the technological benefits, such as being able to remotely pre-cool the car’s interior using his smartphone (as long as the car is plugged in).   Read more »

Food Truck Rodeo on Thursday, February 9th!

 Please join us for the February Food Truck Rodeo in RTP!

Date: Thursday, February 9th
Time: 11:30 AM -1:30 PM
Location: RTP Headquarters, 12 Davis Drive (Directions)

Participating Food Trucks:
Pie Pushers Pizza Truck
Chirba Chirba Dumpling Truck
Only Burger Truck
Sunset Slush 

Tables & chairs will be provided.
As always, parking is limited so we strongly encourage carpooling.

We look forward to seeing everyone!

CED on The State of the Entrepreneurial Economy of North Carolina

1,800 companies started.

40,560 jobs created.

$7.7 billion in capital invested.

This is the impact that entrepreneurs have had on the state of North Carolina in the past 20 years.

The “Starting Something: The State of the Entrepreneurial Economy of North Carolina, 1992-2011” report was presented last week at CED‘s Annual Meeting held at RTP Headquarters.  The data for the report was collected by, Maryann Feldman and Nichola Lowe, who are both professors at UNC-Chapel Hill, First Flight Venture Center, an RTP-based incubator, and CED.

Another important finding of the study is that the jobs created by these start-ups have stayed in North Carolina, which is key to the economic growth of the state.  Furthermore, while a majority of the VC funds that have invested in these start-ups are based in the Southeast, there have been investments made from international funds, as well as those based in Boston, NYC and California.

CED took on this initiative both to show the importance of entrepreneurs in our overall economy, but more importantly as a reminder of the various players and ingredients our region’s economy depends on to remain competitive.

At RTP, a central theme of our mission is to serve as an economic driver for the State of North Carolina and the Triangle Region.  It’s interesting to see the role the larger, more established companies in our region play — both as the sources of innovation and new companies and also as end-users or acquirers of some of the new ideas. We are proud to see these great innovators in the Triangle creating a thriving entrepreneurial community that is catching the attention of the nation.  This is what RTP is all about, folks.

For the presentation from CED’s annual meeting, click here.

For the press release, click here.

It Takes Both

Under Secretary Sanchez

While “research” is our first name, the companies in the Research Triangle Park recognize the important linkage between innovation and R&D and manufacturing and actually making “stuff.” This point was made quite clear during a recent visit to the Park by Undersecretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Francisco Sanchez.

At a White House Business Council Roundtable co-hosted with the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, more than 25 representatives from companies and universities in the Research Triangle region—led by NC Department of Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco—came together to provide insights and ideas to the Undersecretary on ways the US Federal government can continue to help North Carolina companies make more and sell those goods to markets overseas.

Exports are a substantial part of the North Carolina economy and the ability to not only think up great products and therapies but produce them and sell them around the world will be key to our future competiveness (a side note and interesting factoid: if “exports”  were considered an industry, it would be our second largest in the State, producing sales of more than $31 billion annually).

One great example of this important relationship was illustrated by the experience of Protochips, an early-stage company that develops analytical tools for more targeted R&D of nano-scale materials, founded by a group of NC State grads. David Nackashi, the  company’s CEO and Co-founder, explained how his company gets excited about the cutting-edge ideas and technologies that Protochips is able to develop within the rich environment of the Research Triangle region. But, he gets even more excited when the company’s low-tech fax machine delivers new orders from customers in Japan and throughout the globe. He touted the great collaboration and programs within our region that allow his company to not only leverage the best of graduates and students of NC State and others around the region, but to work with the state and federal resources to  identify potential markets, make the connections and ultimately make the sale.

His comments echoed those of Beau Mills, the District Director for the Office of Congressman David Price, who noted that our state is a great model of how government, industry and academia work well together and how the partnerships that have grown over the years work to service the needs of not only well-established companies but small start-ups and new ones.

The entire roundtable discussion was a great testament to the talent and innovation in our state and region—and a great example of how the idea that started the Park—getting the public sector, academia and business to work towards an overall strategy—continues to create opportunity for North Carolina and businesses who call this state home.

Envisioning RTP for Future Generations

A guest blog post by Bob Geolas, the new President & CEO of the Research Triangle Foundation

The Research Triangle Park in 1959

Growing up in North Carolina, I have always believed that our state was special, capable of achieving “big things” and destined to play a leading role on the global stage. It does not matter whether you were born and raised in North Carolina or moved here from somewhere else, we all seem to share this confidence in our state.

To me, this comes from our great Research Triangle Park and its history. A bold, even risky, proposition fifty years ago, North Carolina announced its intentions to build a cutting-edge research park in a scrub-pine forest in a state that ranked 49 out of 50. Despite all the challenges, it worked.

Today, RTP stands as a global brand, an innovation hot spot and economic engine for our country. Now, it is time for us to think big again for RTP and North Carolina. Throughout this year, we will begin launching a new development plan.

A vision for the Research Triangle Park of the future

This plan will embrace four principles:

• RTP should be highly collaborative – a place that brings people together in new dense, urban centers with amenities and services.
• RTP should be authentic to North Carolina -  representing modern design and quality work and living spaces.
• RTP should be inspiring - representing the excitement of the future in science, technology, arts and humanities.
• RTP should be accessible – affordable to new technology companies and those looking to grow and expand.

This will be an exciting time for our great Research Triangle Park and I am honored to represent such a special place. I hope you will join us as we begin to launch our next fifty years and the continued promise that is our destiny.

RTP FAQ

One of the most interesting parts of my job is giving presentations to visiting groups about the Research Triangle Park.  From senior government officials based in Kazakhstan to student groups from local universities, the Research Triangle Foundation hosts a large number of visitors each year that are interested in learning more about RTP, and what we at the Research Triangle Foundation do in managing the Park.  Additionally, our front desk receptionist happily greets visitors on a daily basis that come through our doors because they are looking for directions, job opportunities, or interested in learning more about the Park.

The purpose of this blog post is to answer some of the questions that we have received over the years and also give you an opportunity to ask any additional questions, so here we go…

What is the Research Triangle Park Headquarters?

Research Triangle Park Headquarters

The Research Triangle Park Headquarters is the building that houses the executive and administrative offices of the Research Triangle Foundation, the organization that owns & manages the Research Triangle Park.  Additionally, the Research Triangle Park Headquarters houses the Archie K. Davis Conference Center, a 6,800-square-foot state-of-the-art conference facility.

For those visiting the Park, the Research Triangle Park Headquarters has a large kiosk with a map of all companies in RTP.

What is the Research Triangle Foundation?

The Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina is the organization that manages the Research Triangle Park.  The Research Triangle Foundation works to attract quality jobs, foster collaboration with universities and sustain RTP as a continued engine for the region and state’s economic growth.

For a list of Research Triangle Foundation staff, click here.

Map of Research Triangle Park

Do you have a map of RTP?

We have maps of RTP as well as company listings available in hard copy form at RTP Headquarters or online here:

RTP Company Map
RTP Company Map, by industry

How can I learn more about Research Triangle Park?

Our website, www.rtp.org is the most valuable source of information for those interested in learning more about the Park.  Additionally, we have hard copies of brochures on the Research Triangle Park available at our front desk.  Additionally, we have digital copies available here: http://www.rtp.org/rtp_flipbook/.

Can you help me to get a job at one of the companies in the Research Triangle Park?

RTP Headquarters does not have a job board. We recommend you contact the individual companies that you are interested in working for directly.

Click here for a listing of all companies in RTP that has links to the company websites.

Additionally, check out one of the job sites hosted by one some of our partners:
North Carolina Biotechnology Center
North Carolina Technology Association

Where can I find information on available office/lab space in RTP?

Information on available space in RTP is found on our website and below:

Available Buildings
Incubator & Accelerator Space
Available Sites

Are the pedestrian and mountain biking trails in RTP open to the public?

While the jogging trails and mountain biking trails were built primarily for use by RTP employees, they are open for enjoyment by the public.

Pedestrian and bike trails map
Mountain biking trail map

Do you have to be a life science company to locate in RTP?

RTP’s companies represent a wide variety of industries.  While the Park’s life science industry cluster is very strong, we are home to many companies, both large and small, in the IT sector, material sciences and engineering, agricultural biotechnology and financial services.  For more detailed information on the various industries in RTP, check out the industry section on our website.

Is there a fee for companies in RTP (like an owner’s association fee)?

There is no “owners association” fee for companies that locate in RTP.  All owners and tenants of RTP are invited to join the Owner’s and Tenant’s Association, but there is not a fee associated with membership.

Now that we’ve answered what we consider to be the RTP FAQ, do you have any additional questions that you would like us to answer?