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Siemens ConneCTs
Event highlights company’s commitment to open
innovation
Apr 08, 2016 | CT - Corporate Technology Carolyn Joiner
A booth on autonomous systems presented an overview of how tomorrow’s production systems, energy systems, and
transportation systems will execute high-level tasks without detailed programming. The demonstrator shows an autonomous
microgrid illustrating energy automation technologies developed at CT to make power systems based on high levels of
renewable generation robust against black-outs.
Following on the heels of a press conference at the German embassy in Washington
to welcome the U.S. as official Partner Country to the Hannover Fair, an event called
“Siemens ConneCTs: Answering the Digital Call” took place in Princeton, New Jersey
on April 5-6.
Digital technologies are reshaping the world. In their wake, we are seeing disruptive innovations
affect ever more markets and companies in terms of the ways in which business is conducted
and in which innovations are created.
The “Road to Hannover” at the German Embassy
A press event held at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. on April 4 was designed to welcome the U.S.
as the official Partner Country to the Hannover Fair, the world’s biggest Industry fair. Attending the event
innovations Industry 4.0
CT Corporate Technology
CT Corporate Technology News for Customers
Digitalisierung
Topics
Discover Corporate Technology
Page 1 of 4Siemens NewsCenter - Event highlights company’s commitment to open innovation
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2. A hackathon team called ‘Siemens Drone’ from Corporate Technology
and Healthcare used a semi-autonomous drone to showcase their
project. Team members from left: Yubo Wang, Maxwell Rutman, Hasan
Bank, Guannan Ren, and Chou Clifford
Innovation is both global and local; that’s why Siemens is connecting with scientific communities
around the world, including at its Princeton Corporate Technology US (CT US) research and
development facility. One of the ways CT US is answering this “digital call” is through its premier
annual thought leadership, networking and innovation event entitled “Siemens ConneCTs:
Answering the Digital Call.” The event brought together thought leaders and experts from
Siemens, industry, academia and government to discuss how the digital transformation of
industry will affect the U.S.
“A key part of Corporate Technology’s mission is to create the right framework for global
partnerships with research institutes and the start-up scene, to actively steer and drive forward
partnerships with leading universities, government, and innovative start-ups, and to support the
Siemens Business Units with implementation,” said Siemens CTO Siegfried Russwurm at the
event. In addition to providing a networking environment, Siemens ConneCTs provides a venue
for Siemens’ US divisions to discuss their top business and innovation priorities and for CT US to
showcase its technologies and ideas for solutions.
“It is critical that we continue to move forward in developing our plans for digital technologies
across all Siemens's businesses in the US,” said Eric Spiegel, CEO of Siemens USA. “As a big
company, we will need to disrupt ourselves in order to outgrow the market over the next five
years.”
A New World of Innovation
Open innovation has become an
essential part of Siemens’ processes.
A key part of this is the company’s
Open Innovation concept, which
emphasizes crowdsourcing of ideas
and, in software, so-called
hackathons. Held in tandem with
Siemens ConneCTs, the Siemens US
2016 Hackathon welcomed
employees from business units across
the country as well as those from an
external leadership and management
training company called “Own the
Room.” These mixed teams
collaborated over a 48-hour period to
develop innovations that will create
new opportunities for Siemens.
“Siemens’ Hackathon generates excitement, not only for everyone involved but for everyone
who believes in the power of innovation. For companies like Own the Room, being able to co-
innovate with Siemens brings a best-of-both set of possibilities,” said Bill Hoogterp, Chief Product
Officer of Own the Room. Zineb Slam and Dimia Iberraken of CT US’ Automation & Control
Technology field teamed up with Own the Room. “Working with an external company allows me
to tie the pieces of my knowledge acquired from Siemens together to fit different experiences
from Own the Room. I believe with diverse exchanges come better ideas,” says Slam. All Own
the Room Hackathon ideas are covered by an existing Non-Disclosure Agreement.
were German Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Wittig, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews, and
Member of the Managing Board and CTO of Siemens AG. Professor Siegfried Russwurm.
Siemens ConneCTs
"Siemens ConneCTs – Answering the Digital Call” is a
Siemens US-wide technology & thought leadership forum.
Answering the digital call means making connections in
terms of new trends, and with society at large.
Related Links
Siemens and Industrie 4.0 in the US: two customer
references
Digital Factory: Smart Manufacturing in the U.S.
Corporate Technology in the USA
Contact
Carolyn Joiner
CG RC-US EI CCS
Arthur Pease
CG EI EC T4
Most Read
On the runway
Siemens is working with Airbus to develop propulsion
systems for electric flight – a project of “Innovation AG.”
Huge success in the USA
Order for the turnkey construction of a combined cycle
power plant including service valued at over US$800
million.
„Digitalization is the future of the oil and gas industry“
How can oil and gas clients improve operational safety,
reduce costs and at the same time boost productivity?
Watch the video of Lisa Davis.
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3. Dr. Douglas Maughan, Cyber Security Division
Director at the Department of Homeland
Security
Another essential part of open innovation is active collaboration with universities and research
institutions. CT US has strong ties with universities, in particular Princeton University. “There is a
lot of interest in accelerating Princeton’s regional ecosystem to make better use of local
industries here like Siemens and universities to mimic the Cambridge and Bay area,” said Spencer
Reynolds, Professor, Senior Associate Director of Corporate Relations at Princeton University.
Looking through the government lens, CT US partners
with Siemens divisions and universities to secure
government-funded projects. Its Government Research
Program connects CT US with government funding to
pursue high-risk, high-payoff opportunities that can
develop innovative, game-changing, capabilities for
future Siemens products and solutions. “I’d love to see a
partnership with Siemens, where Siemens and DHS are
co-investing in promising technologies to accelerate the
transition to market,” said Dr. Douglas Maughan, Cyber
Security Division Director at the Department of
Homeland Security.
The industry keynote speaker, Jim Euchner, Vice
President of Global Innovation at Goodyear, touched on
how open innovation has overrun his own established
organization. “How do we untether ourselves from the
business model inside our own companies?” Euchner
asked attendees.
Showcasing Innovations
Siemens’ technology prowess was demonstrated during an Innovation Showcase at Siemens
ConneCTs. For instance, Livio Dalloro’s Automation and Control team surprised Siemens divisions
with a display of biomimetic design techniques that enable the recreation of nature’s work in
human-engineered products.
A ‘Hack the Network’ board game was a popular stop at the Cyber Security booth. Using Siemens
control systems as the game’s base metaphor, the CT US cyber security group uses game play to
improve everyone’s understanding of threats and risks to systems Siemens develops. Nearby
Rutgers University students were so inspired by this educational board game that they are
creating a Hack the Hacker mobile device application.
Another team from Automation and Control excited visitors with a runtime analytics and flame
monitoring demonstration for gas turbines. It used raw, time-domain combustion dynamic
pressure sensor information to determine the flame status on each combustor basket. “This
allows dynamic pressure sensors to replace optical flame detectors, saving instrumentation and
maintenance costs,” noted Siemens Research Group Head Hartmut Ludwig.
For many of the engineers at CT US, answering the digital call is not just their job – it is their
calling. With an eye on Siemens ConneCTs 2017, tentatively to be held March 28-30, CT US plans
to once again illustrate how partnering with industry, government and university strengthens
Siemens’ innovative power while actively and successfully shaping the future.
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