Category: Seattle

Learning Across Disciplines and Cultures

The world is only going to become more technological and more global in the next decade. Students should be getting a solid enough grounding in mathematics, probabilistic thinking, physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering that they understand these ways of thinking and the values of these fields. They also need a liberal arts grounding and, particularly, … Continue reading “Learning Across Disciplines and Cultures”

CS + X, for all X

The impact of information-based technologies will continue to grow—probably at an accelerating rate. In nearly every segment of society, we see both quality and productivity improvements because of increased use of automation and digital communication. The impact is obviously huge in some sectors such as finance and publishing. And it will only grow in the … Continue reading “CS + X, for all X”

From AI to Bioengineering

First of all, students should be studying what they are passionate about. Clearly, computer science will continue to spread into all aspects of human life. Within computer science, I believe machine learning and AI are perhaps the biggest study opportunity today. Biology and medicine are also undergoing vast changes. Personalized medicine will become a big … Continue reading “From AI to Bioengineering”

The Convergence of Biology, Medicine, and Engineering

I think learning the fundamentals of a discipline is the most important thing that students can do to prepare themselves for jobs both today and tomorrow. That discipline may be biology, bioengineering, chemistry, chemical engineering or others. I also think doing research is great preparatory experience. Furthermore, I believe the opportunities offered by the convergence … Continue reading “The Convergence of Biology, Medicine, and Engineering”

Computing and-Chinese

My initial response to this question was, “Chinese!” I was only half joking. English is the most popular second language in the world and in our increasingly connected world, the people who have an understanding of other languages—particularly Chinese—will be better equipped. As far as computers go, I studied computer languages in school and even … Continue reading “Computing and-Chinese”

Writing, Literature, and Computer Science

Whether you major in it or not, a fairly non-trivial amount of computer science would be helpful. The other thing is communication. One of the main things we look for when we are hiring people is their ability to write. It’s something that the average person is pretty poor at, but so much of every … Continue reading “Writing, Literature, and Computer Science”

Learn to Learn, and Embrace Serendipity

Here is my advice to students considering pursuing science: —Learn how to learn (science is progressing so rapidly that whatever field you are focused on today will inevitably be different 10 years from now) —Learn how to develop focused attention (i.e. avoid modern day distractions like Twitter) —Master multiple science disciplines—If you can bridge disciplines … Continue reading “Learn to Learn, and Embrace Serendipity”

Marrying the Humanities and the Sciences

Liberal science and technology. We need a new major that prepares the future workforce for constant change by teaching broad-based knowledge in many disciplines. This major would consist of, among other disciplines, the basics of engineering, biology, chemistry, physics, law, business, humanities and communications. This curriculum should be group-based, where students teach each other, which … Continue reading “Marrying the Humanities and the Sciences”

Engaging “Productive Stupidity”

I recently came across an article in Cell Science that intrigued me and gets to the core of this question. The title—“The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research”—was reason alone to pique my curiosity. What I didn’t expect was to find a powerful insight into student learning in today’s highly uncertain world. Martin A. Schwartz, … Continue reading “Engaging “Productive Stupidity””

Be Students of Life

Themselves. Technology, markets, financial vehicles, business methodology, government regulations, entertainment, media, and so on, all aspects of our professions and our entire lives will change at a continuously increasing rate in perpetuity. Which technology, market, industry should I commit to? I don’t believe this is the most relevant question for a student. More relevant questions … Continue reading “Be Students of Life”

Biology 101

Biology 101 and beyond. I would take as much biology as possible, it’s exploding and changing faster than anyone could have expected. Especially our understanding of the “central dogma” itself, where RNA is playing a more critical role than ever thought before. WOW!

Xconomists Peer into the Future, Suggest How Students Should Prepare

[Updated, Jan. 18, 2012—The Xconomist Report on the Future of Education is live—click here.] As the presidential race picks up steam, you know that we will be hearing a lot—a lot more, that is—about the need to create jobs. But where will those jobs come from, and what fields are really likely to spur growth … Continue reading “Xconomists Peer into the Future, Suggest How Students Should Prepare”

Reinventing the Board Part III: The Agenda

CEOs, investors, and board members frequently complain about ineffective board meetings. Steve Blank, Jeff Bussgang, Brad Feld, and Fred Wilson each have suggested board meetings could be improved by changing the format, process, or content. Having good meetings starts by having the right people in the room (as discussed in the first installment of this … Continue reading “Reinventing the Board Part III: The Agenda”

Sanofi CEO Viehbacher on Stirring Innovation in the Era of R&D Cutbacks

Chris Viehbacher has seen plenty of ideas come and go from people trying to shake up the pharma R&D model. No matter how much people have tried to fix things, it still takes a notorious amount of time, money, and risk to create new drugs. Now, as the CEO of Paris-based Sanofi (NYSE: [[ticker:SNY]]), Viehbacher … Continue reading “Sanofi CEO Viehbacher on Stirring Innovation in the Era of R&D Cutbacks”

PivotLink Obtains $13,000,000 Series D Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b181080b-5466-4b99-9a6d-abadbf8c4d1a&Preview=1 Date 1/17/2012 Company Name PivotLink Mailing Address 15325 SE 30th Place Bellevue, WA 98007 Company Description PivotLink is the provider of business intelligence solutions that meet the needs of organizations in a variety of industries. Our PivotLink Solutions and the PivotLink Framework data platform put the full power of business intelligence … Continue reading “PivotLink Obtains $13,000,000 Series D Funding Round”

JP Morgan: Where the Boys Are…And Not the Girls

I set off for five straight days at the annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference last Monday, but on the way drove the carpool to my daughter’s high school that morning in a last ditch attempt to act like a responsible and caring parent. My poor daughter gets completely abandoned during JP Morgan week every year … Continue reading “JP Morgan: Where the Boys Are…And Not the Girls”

WISErg Lands $1,532,759 New Financing Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=c128bf18-62fd-491e-8a15-2b3eaf831192&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2012 Company Name WISErg Mailing Address 93 S. Jackson Street Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description WISErg Corporation is a Pacific Northwest bio resource company based in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 2010, WISErg’s primary focus is on deriving valuable renewable resources from compostable feedstock. Website http://www.wiserg.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction … Continue reading “WISErg Lands $1,532,759 New Financing Round”

Walk Score Secures $2,000,000 Series A Financing

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=a5ca8105-6587-4654-96ea-ae896a59ae75&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2012 Company Name Walk Score Mailing Address 3503 NE 45th St Seattle, WA 98105 Company Description Walk Score’s mission is to promote walkable neighborhoods. Walkable neighborhoods are one of the simplest and best solutions for the environment, our health, and our economy. Walk Score was inspired by the work of … Continue reading “Walk Score Secures $2,000,000 Series A Financing”

Rover.com Obtains $1,832,536 New Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=79f040a8-52fd-426e-9a3e-f96cdfdbccc6&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2012 Company Name Rover.com Mailing Address 1000 Second Avenue Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description At Rover.com, our mission is to allow dog owners to easily tap into the 40 million U.S. dog-owning households as well as a myriad of other pet lovers-including professionals – to meet their dog care needs. … Continue reading “Rover.com Obtains $1,832,536 New Round”

Fundraising Notes: Walk Score, Demand Energy, Mad Fiber, Rover, WISErg

Seattle-based Walk Score, an online service that ranks rental properties, cities, and neighborhoods by how pedestrian-friendly they are, has raised $2 million in a Series A round that could still grow slightly. The company’s recent federal regulatory filing says 11 investors were involved, although more money was added since the form was filed with the … Continue reading “Fundraising Notes: Walk Score, Demand Energy, Mad Fiber, Rover, WISErg”

Systems Biology & the Microbiome

The Institute for Systems Biology will hold its annual scientific symposium this year on April 15-16, with the theme of “Systems Biology and the Microbiome.” Scientists will be discussing systems approaches to health, climate change, biofuels, and sustainability. For more information on speakers and the agenda, click here.

Seattle Genetics Sees Updated Side Effect Warning in Drug Label

Seattle Genetics is getting some new warnings, including one new language about a potentially deadly brain infection, put into the FDA-approved prescribing information of its lone marketed product. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) said today it is working on an update to the label for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), which will include a boxed warning about the … Continue reading “Seattle Genetics Sees Updated Side Effect Warning in Drug Label”

How to Turn a Mobile Health Application into a Real Business

2011 has been a big year for health sciences technology and, specifically, mobile health. Venture capital investors, looking for the next big thing, are beginning to invest in companies developing mobile applications in the health and wellness sector. Smartphones are making new health care applications feasible, and one doesn’t have to look far to see … Continue reading “How to Turn a Mobile Health Application into a Real Business”

Koronis Pharmaceuticals Secures $1,000,000 New Funding Round

Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=b0cf8e09-849a-4e16-a192-f61108643395&Preview=1 Date 1/13/2012 Company Name Koronis Pharmaceuticals Mailing Address 720 3rd Ave. Seattle, WA 98104 Company Description Koronis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company developing anti-viral therapeutics based on Viral Decay Acceleration(TM). In addition to the Company’s lead product candidate, KP-1461 for AIDS/HIV, the Company has programs directed toward the … Continue reading “Koronis Pharmaceuticals Secures $1,000,000 New Funding Round”

Social Game Maker Double Down Sold for Up To $500M

Turns out gambling with digital money can pay off pretty big, too. Seattle’s Double Down Interactive, maker of casino-style videogames for social networks, is being purchased by slot-machine giant International Game Technology for up to $500 million. Rumors of the sale started trickling out this afternoon, and IGT (NYSE: [[ticker:IGT]]) confirmed the purchase just after markets … Continue reading “Social Game Maker Double Down Sold for Up To $500M”

Expedia Exec Durchslag Resigns

Expedia Worldwide president Scott Durchslag has abruptly resigned, according to media reports (first spotted at TechFlash). GeekWire reports that a spokeswoman declined to say why Durchslag left Bellevue, WA-based Expedia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXPE]]) about a year after joining, and there wasn’t an SEC filing reflecting the departure before word got out, which indicates it wasn’t a … Continue reading “Expedia Exec Durchslag Resigns”

Microsoft Claims Patent Licenses on 70% of Android Phones

Microsoft’s “Android isn’t free” campaign continues to roll along, with the Redmond software behemoth today announcing a patent licensing deal with handset maker LG to cover Google’s mobile operating systems. With this deal, Microsoft says it’s got licenses covering more than 70 percent of all U.S.-sold smartphones running Google’s Android operating system. The LG deal … Continue reading “Microsoft Claims Patent Licenses on 70% of Android Phones”

Greenwashing

[Editor’s Note: We asked selected Xconomists a series of questions designed to zero in on the big issues of the year, including “What would you be willing to throw a punch over?”] In both of my fields of distributed renewable energy infrastructure and environmental composites, I would throw a punch at corporations and/or public sector … Continue reading “Greenwashing”

Q4 Venture Deals, Dollars Stayed Strong, Making 2011 Best in a Decade

Venture capital deals backed off just a tad during the last three months of 2011, but remained strong enough to carry VC activity during the year to a new high-water mark, according to data being released today by CB Insights, a financial data firm that maintains a venture capital database. VCs invested $7.6 billion in … Continue reading “Q4 Venture Deals, Dollars Stayed Strong, Making 2011 Best in a Decade”

Facebook’s Parikh: Mum on Google+, Lots to Say About Infrastructure

First things first: Yes, Facebook engineering director Jay Parikh has some thoughts about Google’s move to boost Google Plus above other social sources in its search stream. And no, he can’t say anything about it. Twitter has been out front in criticizing Google’s newest social-signals revamp—named Search Plus Your World—and Facebook Seattle adviser Hadi Partovi … Continue reading “Facebook’s Parikh: Mum on Google+, Lots to Say About Infrastructure”

Elemental Pounces on Feds’ Push to Hush Loud Commercials

Our long national nightmare of TV commercials that are too loud is finally nearing its end—and Portland, OR-based Elemental Technologies is angling to help its network customers keep their programming audio nice and steady. Elemental, whose investors include Seattle’s Voyager Capital and Alliance of Angels, is known mainly for its video-processing products. The company, which … Continue reading “Elemental Pounces on Feds’ Push to Hush Loud Commercials”

Ignition’s Artale: 2012 is the Year of Cloud Applications

For all of you who’ve felt like cloud computing is some kind of foreign territory that you might never visit or fully understand, take heart. Ignition Partners managing director Frank Artale, who specializes in the sector, says everyone else has spent most of the past two years just figuring out what in the hell is going … Continue reading “Ignition’s Artale: 2012 is the Year of Cloud Applications”

From Flingo to Lantos to Shodogg: U.S. Startups Carve Out Niche at CES

For the first time ever, the International Consumer Electronics Show created a zone called Eureka Park specifically to showcase startups from across the country. Fledgling companies have come to CES before and can still be found elsewhere at the conference, but Eureka Park is a new way to highlight them at the 2012 show. At … Continue reading “From Flingo to Lantos to Shodogg: U.S. Startups Carve Out Niche at CES”

A .data Top-Level Internet Domain?

There’s been very little change in top-level internet domains (like .com, .org, .us, etc.) for a long time. But a number of years ago I started thinking about the possibility of having a new .data top-level domain (TLD). And starting this week, there’ll finally be a period when it’s possible to apply to create such a thing. … Continue reading “A .data Top-Level Internet Domain?”

Microsoft’s Ballmer Focuses on Windows 8 in His Last CES Keynote

At his curtain call—for the moment anyway—at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hyped his company’s efforts to innovate and compete across multiple platforms. Microsoft announced previously that after 2012 it will no longer give the keynote at CES. As they waited for seats Monday evening, some members of the press … Continue reading “Microsoft’s Ballmer Focuses on Windows 8 in His Last CES Keynote”

Sonic Sex Toys: Revel Body Puts Fancy-Toothbrush Tech into Vibrators

Turns out sonic-wave motors aren’t just good for cleaning your teeth or skin. Seattle startup Revel Body, newly backed by an array of Northwest angel investors, is using a similar motor technology to power a new line of sex toys. Yep, that’s right—vibrators. Revel Body founder Robin Elenga says the resonant motors that power sonic … Continue reading “Sonic Sex Toys: Revel Body Puts Fancy-Toothbrush Tech into Vibrators”

Madrona Promotes Jacobson, Jordan, Porter

Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group, known as one of the earliest backers of Amazon.com, is promoting partners Scott Jacobson, Len Jordan, and Tim Porter to managing director. In a release, the firm says the trio led six of Madrona’s 14 investments in 2011, including deals with B.C.-based suit-maker Indochino, and Oregon-based cloud-computing companies AppFog and Cedexis. … Continue reading “Madrona Promotes Jacobson, Jordan, Porter”

The Situation at the FDA: We Are All to Blame

[Editor’s Note: We asked selected Xconomists a series of questions designed to zero in on the big issues of the year, including “What would you be willing to throw a punch over?”] It takes a lot to get me riled-up—I’m overly rational, if anything. Outside of the bad behavior we were supposed to outgrow in … Continue reading “The Situation at the FDA: We Are All to Blame”

Of Patent Rats and Blaming Teachers

[Editor’s Note: We asked selected Xconomists a series of questions designed to zero in on the big issues of the year, including “What issues would you be willing to throw a punch over?”] There are two. The first is the state of the patent system, particularly as it affects computing hardware and software (broadly construed). … Continue reading “Of Patent Rats and Blaming Teachers”