Here's an Idea

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, James F. Jordan, Healthcare & Life

Efficient inventory management is crucial for manufacturing companies to maintain smooth operations. Pittsburgh-based Gather AI is using drones to automate inventory monitoring processes for warehouse operators to decrease the cost of inventory, improve productivity, and boost revenue. Sankalp Arora, CEO and Co-Founder of Gather AI, discusses how the idea of using drones to find and fix inventory errors in warehouses originated as well as the design challenges the team faced while developing this technology.  

Clinicians today are hampered by insufficient and delayed lab diagnostics. Nutromics has created a breakthrough technology that combines multiple DNA sensors with microneedles. The diagnostic platform does everything a blood test does and more: it is a lab-on-a-patch.

On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Peter Vranes, CEO and Co-Founder of Nutromics, discusses how the patch will track multiple, crucial targets continuously and in real-time, giving clinicians critical, personalized insights.

Natilus was first established a startup in San Diego, California in 2016 with the goal of developing a blended wing body (BWB) autonomous air cargo carrying aircraft. In April, the startup completed the first flight of the sub scale prototype of its Kona aircraft. On this episode of Here's an Idea, Natilus CEO Aleksey

Early in his career, Matyushev was the Lead Aerodynamicist at Piper Aircraft. Later, at Kratos Defense he served as the aerodynamics lead on unmanned aircraft systems. Aleksey holds an aerospace engineering degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

Biotricity is connecting cardiologists to real-time patient data while empowering patients to help prevent and manage various heart diseases — which is the leading cause of death in the United States. On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Waqaas Al-Siddiq, CEO and Founder of Biotricity, discuss how the company is bridging the gap in remote monitoring and chronic care management with innovative, remote biometric monitoring solutions. One such device, Bioheart, continuously records ECG information for extended periods.

Biotricity was named one of Fast Company's 10 most innovative medical device companies of 2022. And, Biotricity's Bioheart 24/7 heart monitoring device was named one of TIME magazine's best inventions last year.

University of Arizona engineers have developed a new system that allows autonomous vehicles to scout out underground habitats for astronauts. On this episode of Here's an Idea™, Wolfgang Fink, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer engineering at UArizona, discusses how the approach could help address one of NASA’s Space Technology Grand Challenges by helping overcome the limited ability of current technology to safely traverse environments on comets, asteroids, moons, and planetary bodies such as Mars.

Amprius Technologies has achieved a new battery energy density breakthrough of 500 Wh/kg with its lithium-ion cell, the Silicon Anode Platform. Mobile Power Solutions, an independent testing house offering battery regulatory compliance and performance testing, verified the Silicon Anode Platform's energy density performance.

The results indicate that this cell model provides >504 Wh/kg and >1321 Wh/l at 25°C. Check out the recent announcement from Amprius here and the results of the performance verification test here.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are transitioning from future-facing buzzwords to a near term possibility for commercial and military aircraft avionics systems. 

In February, Intel published a jointly written white paper with Daedalean, a Switzerland-based startup and developer of artificial intelligence and machine learning software for avionics systems. The white paper proposes a reference architecture for addressing future certifiable machine-learned avionics systems requiring high-performance computing. Luuk van Dijk, co-founder and CEO of Daedalean, joins the podcast to discuss how the reference architecture could enable the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in future avionics systems. 

Effective lubrication is essential to any mechanical system. For example, it is responsible for providing a continuous flow of oil to the engine of the aircraft. As aircrafts have evolved, so have lubrication systems.

Now, a Florida-based startup Zulu Pods, has developed the ZPod, a self-contained, sealed, oil tank and pump that can be installed into existing low-cost expendable jet engines. The ZPod is small enough to fit in the palm of a hand and is produced with 3D printing. Daniella Sladen, Co-Founder and CTO of Zulu Pods, talks about what inspired her to create ZPods and how the technology promises to revolutionize lubrication systems design for single-use engines like those found in drones and missiles.