GrowthPilot

Friday Five | November 2, 2018

by GrowthPilot

In the course of our research for clients, we come across emerging technologies, new materials, new chemistries, growing markets, changing regulatory landscapes, innovative business models, and much more. Every other Friday, we pick five articles, videos, or podcasts that we found interesting and send them your way.

POLYMERS | NANOPARTICLES | MATERIALS SCIENCE

Fluorinated Coating is Utterly Repellent

Scientists have created a super-omniphobic material containing polymer nanoparticles that form a highly texture surface trapping tiny air pockets that then repel liquids. Due to its unique chemistry and texture, this new repellent coating can rebuff oils and organic solvents, stay dry in water, heal itself after damage, withstand high temperatures and harsh acids, and much more. [C&EN]

BIOLOGY

The Human Cell Atlas is Biologists’ Latest Grand Project

The cell is the basic unit of life and has captivated scientists for hundreds of years. Until just the last few years, the technology to explore the inner workings of individual cells did not exist. Now that it does, an ambitious project, the Human Cell Atlas is underway with plans to catalog the 37 trillion cells that make up the human body. If successful, this map of cells could one day be instrumental in helping us better understand and treat diseases. [WIRED]

FIBER OPTICS | INTERNET

‘Twisted’ Fiber Optic Light Breakthrough Could Make Internet 100 times Faster

Fiber optic cables use pulses of light to transmit information, . . . READ MORE

Friday Five | October 19, 2018

by GrowthPilot

POLYMERS | PACKAGING | FOOD & BEVERAGE

Model Predicts Polymer Food Packaging’s Propensity for Absorbing Aroma Molecules from Their Contents

Packaging materials used to store products are a significant source of food and beverage flavor loss. Adapting a well-known model of polymer properties, researchers at A*STAR and Coca-Cola developed a mathematical model that can describe the mixing behavior of polymers with organic compounds and could lead to better tasting foods. [PHYS ORG]

DISRUPTION | TESLA | PODCAST

Tesla and the Nature of Disruption

In the context of an interesting discussion about whether Tesla is disruptive, Benedict Evans and Steven Sinofsky deliver a great overview of opportunity ecosystems in general. If you’ve ever wondered whether you are considering all the right factors when you have a new product idea, this provides high-level answers. [A16Z]

PHYSICS | COSMIC RAYS

Bizarre Particles Keep Flying Out of Antarctica’s Ice and They Might Shatter Modern Physics

A previously unknown and undetected high-energy particle has been making its way up through the frozen ground in Antarctica and blasting into space. What we know of cosmic rays is that they in fact, do the opposite, usually shooting . . . READ MORE

Friday Five | October 5, 2018

by GrowthPilot

COMPOSITES | GRAPHENE | MATERIALS

Graphene Nanotubes Find Industrial Niche in Fiberglass Storage Tanks

Roughly 10% of accidents that involve storage tanks are caused by the electrostatic charge generated when dissimilar materials are in relative motion to each other. To combat this, fiberglass tank manufacturers have typically relied on anti-static fillers such as carbon black or conductive mica, but graphene nanotubes are allowing them to reduce filler ratios by an order of magnitude while at the same time providing other benefits. [COMPOSITES WORLD]

STRATEGY | TRANSFORMATION

How to Embrace Digital Transformation

If you are sick of hearing about digital transformation, it’s understandable: the term has been used so indiscriminately that it’s become almost meaningless. But don’t give up because companies that do it wrong (or don’t do it at all) are not long for this world. This article provides a quick primer about the right way to think about the subject. [RACONTEUR]

PLATFORMS | BLOCKCHAIN | STRATEGY

The Myth of the Infrastructure Phase

Apps always come before infrastructure. Although this piece is . . . READ MORE

GrowthPilot Leadership Special – A Thursday Three

by GrowthPilot

Several times a year we do a special edition of the Friday Five, sharing three important, quick reads in a single area. This time we focus on leadership.

An invitation to GrowthPilot subscribers to the
IMPACT MANUFACTURING SUMMIT or IMPACT R&D SUMMIT
Renaissance Schaumburg | Chicago, IL | October 14-16, 2018

These important conferences bring together manufacturing and R&D professionals from a diverse range of industries to examine the latest developments supporting innovative operations and research programs. We are conference sponsors and can make available to eligible participants full access to the conference with no registration or conference fees, onsite catering, hotel, and a $300 flight reimbursement. More information at the links.

Manufacturing Summit Details | R&D Summit Details

LEADERSHIP

The Two Contagious Behaviors of a Great Boss

All bosses know that their behavior is contagious. Unfortunately, many of them can’t distinguish between the kinds of behavioral tactics that make teams stronger and those likely to backfire. Here, Sam Walker, author of The Captain Class: A New Theory of Leadership, uses George Washington to illustrate the two contagious leadership behaviors that lead to superior results. [WASHINGTON POST]

LEADERSHIP

Don’t Try to Be the “Fun Boss” — and Other Lessons in Ethical Leadership

5 tips gleaned from a 3500-person study of leaders at 30 international businesses. The goal of the work was to answer this question: What should today’s . . . READ MORE

Friday Five | September 21, 2018

by GrowthPilot

MATERIALS | VIDEO

This Improbable Membrane Could Block Germs While Allowing Surgeons to Operate Through It

In what might seem like science fiction, a team of researchers has engineered a reverse filter: it traps small particles and lets large ones through. The filter, held together by surface tension, is a transparent liquid membrane. Instead of sorting particles by size, it sorts them by kinetic energy—larger objects with more force break through, but lighter, slower objects do not. Once broken, the puncture self-heals instantaneously. [SCIENCE]

FINANCE | PODCAST

Should Companies Abandon Quarterly Earnings Reports?

In a tweet on Aug. 17, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study whether it makes sense for publicly held companies to publish half-yearly earnings reports instead of the current quarterly mode. Many have argued that such a switch would help companies take a longer term view of the future to the benefit of both employees and investors. But watchdog groups and regulatory bodies worry that reduced oversight will lead to bad outcomes. This relatively short podcast (and comprehensive accompanying article) does a . . . READ MORE

Friday Five | September 7, 2018

by GrowthPilot

BIOENGINEERING | TEXTILES

Next Generation Cotton You Won’t Have to Iron

A team at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization has started working on a cotton with many of the properties of synthetics, such as being stretchy, non-creasing and even waterproof, while retaining its natural fiber feel. “We’re looking into the structure of cotton cell walls and harnessing the latest tools in synthetic biology to develop the next generation cotton fiber,” CSIRO scientist Dr. Madeline Mitchell said. The goal: use the next generation cotton to take substantial market share from the current synthetics industry. [CSIRO]

INNOVATION

The Future Belongs to Whoever Creates It

An interesting blog post from Jeffrey Phillips, author of Relentless Innovation: “The fact is that the future doesn’t belong to anyone. Given the rapid pace of change and the emergence of new technologies and solutions, you can’t say with much certainty who will win . . . but if we try just a bit we can understand what’s likely to happen and in some instances perhaps even influence it.” . . . READ MORE

Friday Five | August 24, 2018

by GrowthPilot

MANAGEMENT | WORK-LIFE BALANCE

You Could Be Too Much of a Team Player

Amid a sweeping workplace trend pushing collaboration, some people are finding they play a little too well with others, turning some personal qualities that might be strengths in other settings into weaknesses at work. The good news: changing just a few behaviors can regain 18% to 24% of the time you spend collaborating. [WSJ]

ENERGY

Alternative Photovoltaic Systems for the Houses of the Future

Following California’s new mandate requiring solar-powered systems for residential construction, this article highlights technologies likely to get a bump and discusses those that may be coming in the future. Coverage of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) includes alternative roofing materials, window glazings, solar facades, and energy-harvesting concrete. [ARCHITECT]

PHYSICS

Settling Arguments About Hydrogen with 168 Giant Lasers

With gentle pulses from gigantic lasers, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California transformed hydrogen into droplets of shiny liquid metal. Their research, reported on Thursday in the journal Science, could improve . . . READ MORE

Friday Five | August 10, 2018

by GrowthPilot

MANAGEMENT | DECISION MAKING | INNOVATION

Are MBAs Killing Our Companies and Our Economy?

If you wonder why most businesses still think of shareholders as their main priority or treat skilled labor as a cost rather than an asset—or why 80 percent of CEOs surveyed in one study said they’d pass up making an investment that would fuel a decade’s worth of innovation if it meant they’d miss a quarter of earnings results— it’s because that’s exactly what they are being educated to do. MBA education has fostered the sort of short-term, balance-sheet-oriented thinking that is threatening the economic competitiveness of the country as a whole. Is it time for a change? [EVONOMICS]

MATERIALS

Alan Turing’s Only Chemistry Paper Yields Desalination Technique

In 1952, computer science pioneer Alan Turing published his only chemistry paper which suggests a way to explain the formation of patterns such as spots and stripes in nature. And it turned out to suggest a way for scientists to do this on purpose. Chinese researchers created one of these “Turing structures” with patterns at the molecular level, resulting in a membrane that effectively filters the salt . . . READ MORE

Friday Five | July 27, 2018

by GrowthPilot

LEADERSHIP | MANAGEMENT | BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

The Surprising Power of Questions

Questioning is a uniquely powerful tool for unlocking value in organizations: It spurs learning and the exchange of ideas, it fuels innovation and performance improvement, it builds rapport and trust among team members. This article draws on insights from behavioral science research to explore how the way we frame questions and choose to answer our counterparts can influence the outcome of conversations. [HBR]

MATERIALS | SEMICONDUCTORS

Heat-Conducting Crystals Could Help Computer Chips Keep Their Cool

As consumers demand smaller, faster and more powerful electronic devices that draw more current and generate more heat, the issue of heat management is reaching a bottleneck. Researchers at UT Dallas and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created a potential solution: crystals of a semiconducting material called boron arsenide that have a thermal conductivity of 1000 watts per meter-kelvin, second only to diamonds. Boron arsenide’s semiconducting properties are very comparable to silicon. [SCIENCE DAILY]

HUMAN EVOLUTION | ANTHROPOLOGY

A Group of People with an Amphibious Life Have Evolved Traits to Match

. . . READ MORE

Friday Five | July 13, 2018

by GrowthPilot

INNOVATION | LEADERSHIP

What Leaders Need to Do to Boost Innovation

A short, to-the-point post by Alex Osterwalder sharing four elements he believes are crucial for leaders who want to make innovation a reality at their companies. Alex is a clear thinker with deep experience and doesn’t mince words: “Leaders who don’t invest at least 20% of their time into innovation, don’t care about innovation.” [LINKEDIN]

ELECTRONIC MATERIALS | HEALTHCARE | VIDEO

Exploring the Claims of an Electronic Bandage

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a growing and deadly problem. A company called Vomaris Innovations has developed an electric bandage they claim could beat these pathogens. Although the bandage is about a decade old, recent research has shown the technology can destroy hardy, antibiotic-resistant biofilms in pigs. Soon, the makers hope to prove the bandage’s efficacy in human clinical trials, and they also have their eyes on other commercial applications, including sportswear that fights odor-causing bacteria. [C&EN | INTERESTING ENGINEERING]

MATERIALS | TUNABLE SURFACES

Multifunctional Surface Flips from Sticky to Slippery On Demand

. . . READ MORE