Every month, we recap the biggest tech and startup happenings in Rhode Island. (To get this info every Tuesday, sign up for the Rhode Island Inno Beat newsletter.)
Innovators and startups across the Ocean State were busy in August as the end of summer draws near.
Providence's Cambridge Innovation Center got a new manager
In August, RI Inno spoke with long-time Rhode Island resident Stacey Messier who recently joined the Cambridge Innovation Center location in Providence as its new general manager.
Messier, a resident of Exeter, was previously commuting almost four hours a day into Cambridge to work at edX prior to the pandemic and said she had always dreamed of finding something local in Rhode Island, but didn’t think it would be possible.
RISD students tackle sustainable design
August also marked the start of a new year for collaboration at the Rhode Island School of Design. Last month, several student groups, in partnership with the Hyundai Research Collaborative, explored four distinct areas of innovation in sustainable design: sustainable ceramics, digital media, glass and robotics.
They are working with RISD faculty in collaboration with the design teams at Hyundai and Kia. An exhibition at RISD showcasing the student projects in the form of images, videos and physical prototypes is planned for fall 2022. The research project looks at the "relationship between nature, art and design," exploring what it takes to create "socially and environmentally just societies."
Could Rhode Island be a video games hub?
After successfully gathering several stakeholders in the video game sphere earlier in the summer, groups including New England Institute of Technology (NEIT), the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, Bryant University, Innovation Studio, IGDA RI and MassDigi established a new organization called the Rhode Island Digital Games Institute, or RI DIGI, with the vision of making the Ocean State a digital games hub.
Alan Resnick, vice president for strategic planning at NEIT, said RI DIGI would focus on three goals within its first year, including assembling small teams of college students to develop games from the ground up.
Soothing Alzheimer's patients
A company making technology to help those with Alzheimer's disease started raising funds in August. SoulCare Innovations co-founder Mary Beth Marshall worked for years as a nurse and later in end-of-life care as a chaplain. She noticed the parallels between the neurological development of infants and the progressive neurological degeneration of people with Alzheimer's, and saw that both groups felt soothed by being gently rocked.
While the Providence-based company was formally incorporated in 2021, Marshall's idea has been in development since 2019. Earlier this month, SoulCare co-founders Anubhav Tripathi and Marshall reported they had started fundraising beyond their own initial capital with a $100,000 private angel investor with a personal interest in helping to improve care for people with Alzheimer's.
Night-vision technology company is growing fast
Over the last 11 years, thanks to Joe Janson, founder and CEO of Night Vision Technology Solutions (NVTS), the North Kingstown company has developed cameras for the U.S. Navy, Army, allied nations and commercial maritime industry. NVTS has experienced a boom in business over the last two years thanks to electro-optical infrared camera systems for military, autonomous and manned-surface vessels and vehicles.
Janson said in August the company partnered with Veteran’s Venture Capital, which took a minority position in NVTS, in order to meet a surge in sales and take the company to the next level.
Preventing heat-related injuries for workers
August is usually the hottest month of the year, so RI Inno caught up with AVTECH President & COO Richard Grundy.
Amid a spike in heat-related problems, organizations are using "Room Alert" technology from a Warren-based company, AVTECH Software, to monitor their environments to ensure safe working conditions. The company's monitoring software provides the real-time temperature and actual airflow from a HVAC vent, allowing facility managers to monitor, log and alert when the temperature goes up.
A mask that shows your smile
Optrel Inc., a company that manufactures eye, face and respiratory protection for workers in the health care and industrial markets, launched the P.Air Clear, the world's first NIOSH-approved N95 respirator with a transparent window in August.
Optrel Inc. opened its North American HQ in East Greenwich, Rhode Island in 2014, although the privately-owned company is headquartered in Wattwil, Switzerland. The company, which has been in business for approximately 30 years, is best known as the original inventors of auto-darkening technology and one of only two manufacturers worldwide that oversees our auto-darkening lens manufacturing process, Copper said.
