Talking with ... William Thomasmeyer
Defense robotics center chief points to 50 funded projects
William Thomasmeyer
Job: President, National Center for Defense Robotics, and executive vice president, The Technology Collaborative.
Age: 53
Hometown: Syracuse, N.Y.; resides in O'Hara.
Education: Bachelor of science, computer science, University of San Francisco, 1976.
Career: 1976-77: programmer analyst, On-Line Systems, Pittsburgh; 1977-83: vice president, marketing, Ross Systems, Palo Alto, Calif.; 1983-86: co-founder, Software Illustrated, Pleasanton, Calif.; 1986-95: president, Virtual Microsystems, San Mateo, Calif.; 1995-97: president, Logicraft Information Systems, Amherst, N.H.; 1997-98: president, Mestek Technology, Westfield, Mass.; 1998-2000: president, MCS, Pittsburgh; 2000-01: senior vice president, sales and marketing, CareCentric, Atlanta; 2002-present: co-founder and president, National Center for Defense Robotics, Pittsburgh; 2005-present: executive vice president, The Technology Collaborative, Pittsburgh.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
By Joyce Gannon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When William Thomasmeyer moved to Pittsburgh in 1998 to run MCS, a Mestek subsidiary, he was struck by similarities between the role the U.S. Department of Defense had played in the early days of the semiconductor industry and the role it was playing in Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute.
He said he had a sense "that maybe the technology was evolving to the point it was now feasible to think about commercializing some of it."
"We thought the best way to get some momentum would be to pursue federal funding and use that to help some local companies advance their technology," he said. "Our initial federal funding was $1.5 million in 2002." U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, was the initial sponsor.
Now Mr. Thomasmeyer is the president of the National Center for Defense Robotics and executive vice president of The Technology Collaborative, both based on the North Shore.
Q: What progress has the center made since its inception? .....
A: Since [2002] we've procured a total of about $18.5 million in federal funding. We've got 50 projects totaling about $14 million either completed or under contract or in progress.
Q: Has Pittsburgh lived up to the title "Roboburgh" bestowed upon it in a Wall Street Journal article some years back?
A: Reflecting on the business climate and growth strategy for the region's robotics sector.
Of that $14 million, about $12.5 million is being subbed out to about 25 different companies and organizations that are developing projects related to unmanned ground systems for the Defense Department.
We try to get very close to the defense customer and try and understand what their unmet needs are and where are the gaps they're looking to fill. Then we take the funding and seek companies ... members of our Agile Robotics Alliance ... that are best positioned to address those particular needs and use the funding to develop projects.
Q: What are some of the promising companies or ventures you're working with?
A: We're fortunate here in the [Pittsburgh] region that we have a good mix of companies involved with defense robotics -- which are developing unmanned systems for the military customer -- and companies developing applications for the commercial markets.
We have two large established companies: McKesson Automated Healthcare, which uses robotics technology to automate prescription fulfillment in hospitals, and Bombardier Transportation, which makes unmanned people transportation systems for airports and for certain urban environments.
And there is a group of companies finally hitting their transition point where they have established products, identified markets and small, established customers ... [such as] Seegrid Corp., which makes unmanned material handling solutions for warehouses and manufacturing. ... And there is HyperActive Technologies, which makes an intelligent solution for fast-food restaurants to recognize traffic flow.
Q: Does the recently created Congressional Caucus on Robotics have special significance for our region because Mr. Doyle is a co-founder?
A: One of the aspects of these caucuses is they really should be, and are by nature, bipartisan. ... The nature of these things is to be forums for education. For the first few years we're going to focus on educating [the caucus] on Capitol Hill by bringing in guest speakers to talk about industry-type issues ... and prioritizing the issues a little bit.
One of the things Mr. Doyle was very firm about from the beginning is this shouldn't be just about defense robotics, and he's right. ... Industrial robotics is an important element of our economy. That's an industry that's been around 40 or 50 years; so we reached out to the Robotic Industries Association, and they recently voted to support the caucus as well.
Q: There was a fair amount of hype about Pittsburgh as a robotics center after the Wall Street Journal dubbed the city "Roboburgh" in 1999. Has it lived up to that hype?
A: I think the promise that was held out in that article still exists. I think the rate at which the promise is likely to be fulfilled was optimistic. ... And I think, yeah, Pittsburgh is definitely one of the regions that's generally identified as one of the areas that's likely to be a leader in this as it continues to grow.
I started five years ago with a call from a venture capitalist maybe once or twice a year. And I'd say now I'm getting those calls just about every quarter from a new venture capitalist inquiring about what's going on, what companies are doing what, what opportunities there might be.
Q: What are some of the drawbacks to developing the region here compared with the other robotics hotbeds -- Silicon Valley and Boston?
A: I think probably our greatest shortcoming is we don't have the critical mass of experienced entrepreneurs that you see in Boston or the [San Francisco] Bay Area.
People will also point to the funding issue, the amount of venture capital available here compared with those regions. But I actually think that critical mass of entrepreneurs is probably the greatest obstacle we have to overcome. ...
The real issue isn't competition between Boston and Pittsburgh or Silicon Valley but that we should really be looking at what's going on in Japan or Korea and other countries. In the industrial side of robotics, a lot of activity in fact did move offshore. Some of the leading industrial robotics companies are based in Japan or Europe.
Foster-Miller, a Boston-based robotics company and leading provider of defense robots, in April acquired two [Pittsburgh] companies: Applied Perception and Automatika. One of their primary motivations beyond access to the technology those companies offer was that they recognize Pittsburgh as a leading center for this technology and this was the best way to establish a strong, initial presence. They're intent on growing here in the region and forming partnerships and relationships with the researchers at the Robotics Institute.
Q: So how can Pittsburgh attract more entrepreneurs to run companies?
A: We've started the Venture Executive Database Program. We're trying to identify people who have connections or roots in Pittsburgh and who might have an interest if the right opportunity came along in locating back here to head up a company or new venture or as an adviser or as a mentor. ...
We're certainly starting to see progress in terms of "newbies" -- new graduates wanting to stay in the region. But a certain percentage of graduates I think are always going to want to go off and experience the big city lights of a New York, a Chicago, a Washington, D.C., a Boston, or wherever.
But I think there are a lot of people with connections to Pittsburgh in their late 20s or early 30s with young families who want to return here for all the usual reasons we cite, including cost of living and quality of life. Our belief is if we can start to identify some of those individuals and are successful in growing some of those companies, we can make some of those marriages happen.
Q: What is The Technology Collaborative?
A: The Technology Collaborative is the result of a merger in January 2005 of the NCDR and Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse. The Digital Greenhouse was formed to help facilitate the formation and growth of a digital technology cluster here in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Really, one of the keys to the development of the robotics industry is the continuing advancement in digital technology: increasing the speed and power of the underlying electronics and computers and reducing their cost.
Q: How do you like living here compared with the San Francisco area and New England?
A: I guess I have a little bit of a unique perspective having lived in the Bay Area and up in New England. I often think that people who are native to Pittsburgh or never lived or spent considerable time anywhere else can't really appreciate in many ways just how good it is here and appreciate some of the real strong assets and strengths that we have.
I don't know whether Pittsburgh is a big small town or a small big town. It's one of the few places you have the dual benefit of a relatively small community -- it's a collection of small boroughs and townships -- and yet has big-city amenities. And it's convenient and affordable.
I don't think the weather is nearly as bad as people tend to think it is either.
Joyce Gannon can be reached at jgannon@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1580.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07203/803293-28.stm
Defense robotics center chief points to 50 funded projects
William Thomasmeyer
Job: President, National Center for Defense Robotics, and executive vice president, The Technology Collaborative.
Age: 53
Hometown: Syracuse, N.Y.; resides in O'Hara.
Education: Bachelor of science, computer science, University of San Francisco, 1976.
Career: 1976-77: programmer analyst, On-Line Systems, Pittsburgh; 1977-83: vice president, marketing, Ross Systems, Palo Alto, Calif.; 1983-86: co-founder, Software Illustrated, Pleasanton, Calif.; 1986-95: president, Virtual Microsystems, San Mateo, Calif.; 1995-97: president, Logicraft Information Systems, Amherst, N.H.; 1997-98: president, Mestek Technology, Westfield, Mass.; 1998-2000: president, MCS, Pittsburgh; 2000-01: senior vice president, sales and marketing, CareCentric, Atlanta; 2002-present: co-founder and president, National Center for Defense Robotics, Pittsburgh; 2005-present: executive vice president, The Technology Collaborative, Pittsburgh.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
By Joyce Gannon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When William Thomasmeyer moved to Pittsburgh in 1998 to run MCS, a Mestek subsidiary, he was struck by similarities between the role the U.S. Department of Defense had played in the early days of the semiconductor industry and the role it was playing in Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute.
He said he had a sense "that maybe the technology was evolving to the point it was now feasible to think about commercializing some of it."
"We thought the best way to get some momentum would be to pursue federal funding and use that to help some local companies advance their technology," he said. "Our initial federal funding was $1.5 million in 2002." U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, was the initial sponsor.
Now Mr. Thomasmeyer is the president of the National Center for Defense Robotics and executive vice president of The Technology Collaborative, both based on the North Shore.
Q: What progress has the center made since its inception? .....
A: Since [2002] we've procured a total of about $18.5 million in federal funding. We've got 50 projects totaling about $14 million either completed or under contract or in progress.
Q: Has Pittsburgh lived up to the title "Roboburgh" bestowed upon it in a Wall Street Journal article some years back?
A: Reflecting on the business climate and growth strategy for the region's robotics sector.
Of that $14 million, about $12.5 million is being subbed out to about 25 different companies and organizations that are developing projects related to unmanned ground systems for the Defense Department.
We try to get very close to the defense customer and try and understand what their unmet needs are and where are the gaps they're looking to fill. Then we take the funding and seek companies ... members of our Agile Robotics Alliance ... that are best positioned to address those particular needs and use the funding to develop projects.
Q: What are some of the promising companies or ventures you're working with?
A: We're fortunate here in the [Pittsburgh] region that we have a good mix of companies involved with defense robotics -- which are developing unmanned systems for the military customer -- and companies developing applications for the commercial markets.
We have two large established companies: McKesson Automated Healthcare, which uses robotics technology to automate prescription fulfillment in hospitals, and Bombardier Transportation, which makes unmanned people transportation systems for airports and for certain urban environments.
And there is a group of companies finally hitting their transition point where they have established products, identified markets and small, established customers ... [such as] Seegrid Corp., which makes unmanned material handling solutions for warehouses and manufacturing. ... And there is HyperActive Technologies, which makes an intelligent solution for fast-food restaurants to recognize traffic flow.
Q: Does the recently created Congressional Caucus on Robotics have special significance for our region because Mr. Doyle is a co-founder?
A: One of the aspects of these caucuses is they really should be, and are by nature, bipartisan. ... The nature of these things is to be forums for education. For the first few years we're going to focus on educating [the caucus] on Capitol Hill by bringing in guest speakers to talk about industry-type issues ... and prioritizing the issues a little bit.
One of the things Mr. Doyle was very firm about from the beginning is this shouldn't be just about defense robotics, and he's right. ... Industrial robotics is an important element of our economy. That's an industry that's been around 40 or 50 years; so we reached out to the Robotic Industries Association, and they recently voted to support the caucus as well.
Q: There was a fair amount of hype about Pittsburgh as a robotics center after the Wall Street Journal dubbed the city "Roboburgh" in 1999. Has it lived up to that hype?
A: I think the promise that was held out in that article still exists. I think the rate at which the promise is likely to be fulfilled was optimistic. ... And I think, yeah, Pittsburgh is definitely one of the regions that's generally identified as one of the areas that's likely to be a leader in this as it continues to grow.
I started five years ago with a call from a venture capitalist maybe once or twice a year. And I'd say now I'm getting those calls just about every quarter from a new venture capitalist inquiring about what's going on, what companies are doing what, what opportunities there might be.
Q: What are some of the drawbacks to developing the region here compared with the other robotics hotbeds -- Silicon Valley and Boston?
A: I think probably our greatest shortcoming is we don't have the critical mass of experienced entrepreneurs that you see in Boston or the [San Francisco] Bay Area.
People will also point to the funding issue, the amount of venture capital available here compared with those regions. But I actually think that critical mass of entrepreneurs is probably the greatest obstacle we have to overcome. ...
The real issue isn't competition between Boston and Pittsburgh or Silicon Valley but that we should really be looking at what's going on in Japan or Korea and other countries. In the industrial side of robotics, a lot of activity in fact did move offshore. Some of the leading industrial robotics companies are based in Japan or Europe.
Foster-Miller, a Boston-based robotics company and leading provider of defense robots, in April acquired two [Pittsburgh] companies: Applied Perception and Automatika. One of their primary motivations beyond access to the technology those companies offer was that they recognize Pittsburgh as a leading center for this technology and this was the best way to establish a strong, initial presence. They're intent on growing here in the region and forming partnerships and relationships with the researchers at the Robotics Institute.
Q: So how can Pittsburgh attract more entrepreneurs to run companies?
A: We've started the Venture Executive Database Program. We're trying to identify people who have connections or roots in Pittsburgh and who might have an interest if the right opportunity came along in locating back here to head up a company or new venture or as an adviser or as a mentor. ...
We're certainly starting to see progress in terms of "newbies" -- new graduates wanting to stay in the region. But a certain percentage of graduates I think are always going to want to go off and experience the big city lights of a New York, a Chicago, a Washington, D.C., a Boston, or wherever.
But I think there are a lot of people with connections to Pittsburgh in their late 20s or early 30s with young families who want to return here for all the usual reasons we cite, including cost of living and quality of life. Our belief is if we can start to identify some of those individuals and are successful in growing some of those companies, we can make some of those marriages happen.
Q: What is The Technology Collaborative?
A: The Technology Collaborative is the result of a merger in January 2005 of the NCDR and Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse. The Digital Greenhouse was formed to help facilitate the formation and growth of a digital technology cluster here in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Really, one of the keys to the development of the robotics industry is the continuing advancement in digital technology: increasing the speed and power of the underlying electronics and computers and reducing their cost.
Q: How do you like living here compared with the San Francisco area and New England?
A: I guess I have a little bit of a unique perspective having lived in the Bay Area and up in New England. I often think that people who are native to Pittsburgh or never lived or spent considerable time anywhere else can't really appreciate in many ways just how good it is here and appreciate some of the real strong assets and strengths that we have.
I don't know whether Pittsburgh is a big small town or a small big town. It's one of the few places you have the dual benefit of a relatively small community -- it's a collection of small boroughs and townships -- and yet has big-city amenities. And it's convenient and affordable.
I don't think the weather is nearly as bad as people tend to think it is either.
Joyce Gannon can be reached at jgannon@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1580.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07203/803293-28.stm
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