This week, May 22, to be exact, is the anniversary of The Wright Brothers receiving their first patent for a ‘flying machine’— the world’s first flyable airplane—that made its historic flight a hundred and seven years ago. So we thought it was a good time to take a look at the Wright brothers and learn a little more about these two remarkable men.

Orville and Wilbur Wright were born right after the Civil War: Wilbur in 1867 and Orville in 1871. As youngsters, the boys were encouraged by their parents to be mechanical and to think outside the box.  Their father Milton was a Church bishop who often traveled between parishes and would bring the boys various souvenirs and trinkets he found during his travels. As the story goes, one day he brought home a toy ‘helicopter.’ The device was made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band to twirl its rotor. The boys were so excited they played with it until it broke, so they built their own. In later years, they pointed to their experience with the toy as the initial spark, that ignited their interest in flying.

In 1889, Orville got the idea to start a printing business and, with Wilbur’s help, he designed and built a printing press out of spare parts they acquired. They printed odd jobs as well as their own newspaper.  By 1892, the brothers began repairing bicycles for friends and started their own repair business. They opened a bicycle shop in 1893, and three years later, began making their own bicycles.

Around 1899, Wilbur read about a famous German glider pilot, Otto Lilienthal, who died while flying one of his own gliders, and this rekindled his early thoughts of flying. He requested information about flight experiments from the Smithsonian Institution and within a few months, had read all he could about flying. Wilbur also spent a lot of time observing birds in flight and noticed that they changed the shape of their wings to turn and maneuver. He thought that he could mimic this technique to obtain roll control by warping, or changing the shape, of a portion of the wing.

Based on these observations and studies, the Wrights determined that three things were needed to create a flying machine: wings to provide lift, a power source for propulsion, and a system of control, which they defined in three axes of motion: pitch, roll, and yaw. They brain-stormed how to achieve the same effect that birds used with man-made wings and eventually invented a way to arch the wingtips slightly to control the aircraft’s rolling motion and balance. As they later recounted, Wilbur came up with an ingenious system of slightly warping the surface of each wing to change its position in relation to oncoming wind by twisting an empty bicycle inner-tube box. The brothers tested their theory using a small kite and it worked.

Over the next three years, they designed a series of gliders which would be flown in both unmanned and piloted flights. In 1900, they moved to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina because of its wind, sand, hilly terrain and remote location.  After a major failure, they built a wind tunnel to test a variety of wing shapes and their effect on lift. Based upon these tests, they had a greater understanding of how a wing works and could calculate with greater accuracy how well a particular wing design would fly.

During 1902, the brothers designed and flew a glider with a 32-foot wingspan and a tail for stabilization.  With successful glides to validate their wind tunnel tests, the Wright Brothers designed a motor and a new aircraft sturdy enough to accommodate the motor’s weight and vibrations. The craft weighed 700 pounds and came to be known as the Flyer.  After two attempts to fly this machine, Orville Wright took the Flyer for a 12-second, sustained flight on December 17, 1903 and history was made.

Photos:
http://www.myhero.com/images/guest/g242901/hero75123/g242901_u88055_The-Wright-Brothers_pic_2.jpg
http://aarongraham.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/wright_flyer.jpg

Sources:
http://inventors.about.com/od/wstartinventors/a/TheWrightBrother.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers
http://wrightbrothers.info/

Humanity pines for flying cars. Science fiction has inundated us with the prospect of automobile technology taking us from driving down the street one minute and flying off to grandma’s house the next. But we’re failing to realize that we’re skipping a huge, more practical step in car technology – the self-driving car.

“Cars that can drive themselves, a staple of science-fiction, have started to appear on roads in real life. Google’s self-driving vehicles are the best-known, but most carmakers are also developing them. In 2011 BMW sent a robotic car at motorway speeds from Munich, the German carmaker’s hometown, to Nuremberg, about 170km away (with a driver on board just in case). Audi got a self-driving TTS Coupe to negotiate 156 tight curves along nearly 20km of paved and dirt road on Colorado’s Pikes Peak, with nobody behind the wheel. Proponents say that driverless cars would reduce road deaths, ease congestion, reduce fuel consumption, improve the mobility of old and disabled people and free up time spent commuting.” – The Economist

The benefits of self-driving cars go far beyond the pleasure of telling your friends “look, no hands.” Self-driving cars would give our nation’s disabled citizens the freedom to travel with ease. One would have to assume that drunk-driving accidents would flat-line, and these cars would grant a society hell bent on multi-tasking the freedom to do work, watch “Game of Thrones” and even discipline the kids without having to hold onto to a wheel and watch the road.

How does a self-driving car work?

According to the article from The Economist:

“In many ways self-driving cars are a logical extension of existing driver aids such as lane-keeping systems (which follow road markings and sound a warning and correct the steering if a vehicle starts to drift out of its lane), adaptive cruise control (which maintains a constant distance from the vehicle in front, rather than a constant speed), auto-parking systems (which can reverse a car into a parking space), emergency braking (which slams on the brakes if an obstacle, another vehicle or a pedestrian is detected in front of the car) and satellite-navigation systems. Computerized control of a car’s steering, acceleration and braking is already possible under some circumstances, in other words. For a car to drive itself, these systems must all be tied together using software, and supplemented with a set of sensors so that the software can tell what is going on around the vehicle.

“Accordingly, today’s self-driving cars are covered with sensors. Mapping nearby features, spotting road edges and lane markings, reading signs and traffic lights and identifying pedestrians is done using a combination of cameras, radar and lidar (which works like radar, but with pulses of light rather than radio waves). Ultrasonic detectors provide more accurate mapping of the surroundings at short range, for example when parking. Gyroscopes, accelerometers and altimeters provide more accurate positioning than is possible using global-positioning system (GPS) satellites alone. Google’s cars scan their surroundings to build a detailed 3D map of features such as road edges, signs, guard-rails and overpasses. Each time a car follows a particular route, it collects more data to update the 3D map.”

So don’t hold your breath for flying through your neighborhood and coming to an even more awkward 4-way, mid-air stop sign. The immediate future has more practical plans in store for automobiles.

Photos:

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/10/self-driving-cars/

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/08/google-sees-self-driving-cars-in-3-5-years-washington-insurers/

Source:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/04/economist-explains-how-self-driving-car-works-driverless

Since May is National Bike Month, we thought this would be a good opportunity to look into the history of a very important safety device—the bicycle helmet. Bicycles have been around since the 1860’s, when a machine known as the Velocipede came on the scene. But this bike wasn’t a big success due to its barrel-stave like metal tires which made riding on the cobblestone roads of the day a bone-jarring experience, to say the least.

By the 1870’s, the High Wheel Bicycle became popular because the solid rubber tires and long spokes of the large front wheel provided a much smoother ride than its predecessor. But because the rider sat so high above the center of gravity, if the front wheel hit a rock or crack in the road, the entire machine rotated forward on its front axle, and the rider was dropped unceremoniously on his head. In fact, the term “taking a header” comes from bike riders. As head injuries began to climb, it became apparent that something had to be done.

By the 1880′s, riding clubs were becoming more and more popular and, as their members saw that head injuries were a problem, they began to advocate the use of helmets. At first, they used pith helmets. Pith is a plant material that is easily crushable, but was likely the best material available at the time. Although it would probably break up on impact, riders only needed protection against a single impact to know the helmet saved them, and know it was worth buying another helmet.

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was apparent to racing and club bicyclists that the worst injuries and the most fatalities came from head injuries. Racers began to use helmets formed of a ring of leather around the head and a wool ring above that. Then the style evolved and the ring of leather was supplemented by strips of leather arranged longitudinally on the head. These offered a little better protection than the pith helmets, but still more was needed. Over the coming decades, helmets were developed with hard exteriors and foam liners, but they tended to be either heavy or ineffective in a crash, and sometimes both.

By the 1970’s, a group called the Snell Foundation began comprehensive testing of bicycle helmets and found that none of the helmets on the market were really effective, so they established some basic criteria for head protection, which coincided with the bike boom of the 1970’s, when many American adults took up cycling as an exercise and a sport. Then in 1975, Bell Auto parts invented the first real helmet for cyclists. It consisted of a hard plastic shell padded with a foam-like material. This was the beginning of the modern helmet.

In 1984, The American National Standards Institute introduced standards for helmets that were widely accepted. This helped to remove ineffective helmets from the market and raise the quality of all helmets. Soon a foam liner made of expanded polystyrene was invented, and by the 1990’s a thin hard shell was added to the polystyrene foam helmet for durability.

Today’s helmets are even lighter, more streamline, and have multiple vents for comfort and adjustable straps to make them more secure and easier to wear. As statistics reinforced the drop in head injuries with the increasing use of helmets, many states in the U.S. have made it mandatory to wear helmets while riding a bicycle—a move supported by medical and road safety organizations. Most parents today teach their children to never ride their bikes without a helmet, putting on a helmet should become as natural as wearing a seat belt and as easy as, well, riding a bicycle.

Photos:
http://www.feministe.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/old-bike.jpg
http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/269408/helmet-bicycle-brown-leather-circa-1930-1939

Sources:
http://www.helmets.org/history.htm
http://www.pedalinghistory.com/PHhistory.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/351378-the-history-of-the-bicycle-helmet/
http://www.trails.com/facts_36413_history-bicycle-helmets.html

Beyond being actors, can you determine what Haley Joel Osment, Robin Williams and Brent Spiner all have in common? If you guessed that they all played androids, then you are right and most likely walked out of at least one movie theatre in your life.

The idea that robots could help out around the house with daily tasks, child rearing and companionship has been a staple in science fiction since Robbie the Robot from “Forbidden Planet” and Rosie from “The Jetsons.” So why aren’t more homes teaming with robot Robin Williamses? The short answer is “Do you really want Robin Williams in your house?” (OK, that was a question.) The long answer is that scientists might be getting close.

According to a Press Release from Hanson Robotics:

“Dmitry Itskov, founder of the 2045 Initiative and Global Future 2045 congress (GF2045) has announced that he will unveil the Dmitry Avatar-A head — the world’s most human-like android head — at the GF2045 congress, scheduled for June 15-16 at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.

The Dmitry Avatar-A head is an exact robotic replica of the head of Mr. Dmitry Itskov himself and was created by award-winning roboticist Dr. David Hanson, founder of Hanson Robotics. Hanson is best known for his robotic androids of Albert Einstein and Philip K. Dick, and the latter will also be exhibited at the GF2045 congress.

Dmitry Itskov himself commented: ‘The world’s best two creators of state-of-the-art robotic faces — Dr. Ishiguro of Japan and Dr. Hanson — are speakers at our GF2045 congress. In this project Dr. Hanson pushed the state-of-the-art even further. This achievement shows that science is literally just a few steps away from being able to make an artificial human head and body shape that is extremely realistic and nearly indistinguishable from the original.

‘The Dmitry Avatar-A head represents the most expressive facial robot in history and far exceeds the life-like characteristics of previous robot portraits of humans in both technology and artistry,’ stated David Hanson. ‘The Dmitry Avatar-A head can establish eye contact, recognize faces, and carries out natural spoken conversation. In the case of Dmitry Itskov, the robot will be controlled by Dmitry, enabling the Avatar-A head to speak both Russian and English.

Facial expressions were created with 36 degrees of freedom (servomotors) with high-resolution sensors in the eyes. The Dmitry Avatar-A head also benefits from a new hyper-expressive formulation of Hanson’s proprietary nanotech material called ‘Frubber,’ a spongy, structured elastic polymer that expertly mimics the movement of real human musculature and skin using 1/20th the power of other materials, as well as new mechanisms for improved facial expressions, explained Hanson. The Dmitry Avatar-A head is built for real use and is designed as a whole system for practical deployment as a telepresence representative. According to Hanson, the Dmitry Avatar-A head represents “a leap into a bold new future. The age of avatars has arrived!(1)”

OK. But, we want our robots to clean the house as well as make eye contact. How about robots that keep tabs on your personal hygiene?

“Robot maker CrazyLabo and the Kitakyushu National College of Technology, both in Fukuoka Prefecture, have developed a female humanoid and a dog robot that sniff a person’s breath and feet and use snarky remarks and exaggerated reactions to encourage offenders to do something about their breath and body odor.(2)”

But a robot shooting you snide remarks about your teeth is far more expensive than simply inviting your mother-in-law over for dinner — a job she can accomplish in spades. We want a bit more bang for our buck.

The Wall Street Journal has reported on a $5,000 bot that can teach America’s children:

“This year, robots will be teaching everything from math to vocabulary to nutrition inside classrooms in California and New York, a move the researchers call a first in American education.

The Los Angeles experiment, scheduled to start later this spring, will use a robotic ‘dragon’ to teach first-graders about healthy lifestyle habits. Students will help show the robot how to prepare for a race; the hope is that by sharing tips with the dragon, they take their own lessons to heart.

At a Harlem elementary school, a robot named ’Projo’ works with students on math puzzles and more as part of an effort to connect with students.”

The robot in the Los Angeles trial costs about $5,500 when stylish touches such as fur, feet and wings are added. The effort is the first of several robot experiments planned and is backed by a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation. It will be conducted by a coalition of researchers from Yale University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California and Stanford University.(3)”

There is hope that robot friends are in our near future. But, since most robots with artificial intelligence being created today are built to serve a specific niche (playing chess, winning at “Jeopardy!” and teaching our children), we might have to wait a bit longer for this (4.)

Sources:

1. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/worlds-most-human-like-android-to-be-unveiled-at-global-future-2045-congress-lincoln-center-nyc-june-15-16-2013-04-25

2. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201305070076

3.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323820304578410730962208740.html

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5YMEwX2-88

Arizona is home to the Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. But this dry, sometimes desolate terrain is the birthplace of one of the most jubilant inventions to ever grace a body of water – the personal watercraft.

Remember the days of having to share a boating experience with an annoying relative or work colleague? No. You probably don’t. Because in 1965, a banker by the name of Clayton Jacobsen II bestowed us with the ultimate in water recreational freedom, eliminating the need to ever again have to force small talk while boating.

According to MIT.com: “The invention of both major types of PWC [personal watercraft] is usually credited to Clayton Jacobsen II of Arizona, originally a motocross enthusiast. The general public was introduced to such vehicles with the mass-marketing of Kawasaki’s Jet Ski® in 1973. The original stand-up model, with a powerful 400cc engine and handlebar steering, allowed a person to virtually water-ski without the need of a boat. However, staying aboard the device was a challenge, especially in choppy water; so for some years, despite improvements in control and stability, PWCs acquired a very loyal but also fairly limited following.”

There are a lot of beautiful cities to visit in Arizona, but we think the biggest bang for your buck is Lake Havasu City. Where else can you celebrate Jacobsen’s invention on over 30 square miles of pristine water surface while taking in some flavor from across the pond?

Your fist stop in Lake Havasu should be the London Bridge. We know it sounds weird, but the London Bridge was relocated from the River Thames in London in 1967. After two years and $7 million dollars, the London Bridge was reassembled in Lake Havasu over a man-made canal. After admiring some British engineering with your mates, it’s time hit the water Jacobsen style. Located at 507 English Village under the London Bridge, Adventure Center rentals is your source for fun on Lake Havasu.

After enjoying an activity so distinctly American, as selfish boating tends to be, why not grab some of the best American fare Lake Havasu has to offer? Place to Be at 171 Swanson Ave. has a splendid mix of American comfort food as well as re-imagined classics.

For a brief time in American history, let’s call it 1995, Lake Havasu was home to MTV’s annual spring break festivities. So while you don’t have to guzzle light beers,  dance around with Eric Nies or do a back-flip off a pontoon boat, it would behoove you to sample some of Lake Havasu’s engaging nightlife. Try Kokomo Havasu for a raucous good time or for a more relaxing time try Sandbar & Grill, 1340 McCulloch Blvd N Lake Havasu City.

Any way you cut it, you’re going to have a good time slicing through the wake of everything Lake Havasu has to offer. Just remember to tip your glass in memory of Clayton Jacobsen.

Sources:
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/watercraft.html
http://www.londonbridgeresort.com/Marina/WaterSportRentals.aspx
http://www.placetobelhc.com/

Milwaukee is the Creole word for the satisfaction induced by consuming massive quantities of domestic beer and cheddar cheese. OK. We made that up. Milwaukee offers much more than beer and cheese, including top-notch arts, food and sporting venues.

Since this blog celebrates inventions and the inventing community, we recommend that your first stop be a testament to American ingenuity and grit. And, what better place to be shrouded in grit — as well as motor oil and leather — than the Harley-Davidson Museum? Located at the crossroads of 6th and Canal Streets, the museum features more than 450 motorcycles and artifacts, dating back to Serial Number One, the oldest known Harley-Davidson® motorcycle, stories of extraordinary products, people, history, and Harley-Davidson culture, never-before-seen archives you can tour, a 20-acre museum campus on the Milwaukee riverfront, with views of the city skyline and Motor Bar & Restaurant.

In keeping with American classics, why not take in some of America’s pastime at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers? Miller Park, which was completed in 2001, features North America’s only fan-shaped convertible roof, which can open and close in less than 10 minutes. The Brewers have only been to the World Series once (1982) when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. But much like the grittiness held dear by citizens of Brew City, the Brewers are frequently in the hunt for the National League Central Division title.

Less than two miles from the park, you can find its namesake — the Miller Brewery, which offers free tours of its facilities. According to the Miller website the tour “begins with a video depicting Frederick Miller’s historic arrival in Milwaukee to the company’s transition to modern day brewing. Get up-close views of our packaging center, shipping and distribution warehouse, brewhouse and one-of-a-kind historic Miller Caves where you will have the opportunity to meet Fredrick Miller himself! Soft drinks are available for guests under 21 or upon request.”

If you’re looking for activities that are a bit more sober, check out some German Expressionism at the Milwaukee Art Museum, take in a show at The Milwaukee Repertory Theater or enjoy some haute cuisine while enjoying views of Lake Michigan at Pier Wisconsin.

For the outdoors enthusiast, Milwaukee invites you to stroll the grounds of the Basilica of Saint Josaphat, a Franciscan parish located in the Historic South Side of Milwaukee, or lush foliage of Kettle Moraine State Forest, which offers more than 22,000 acres of glacial hills, kettles, lakes, prairie restoration sites, pine woods and hardwood forests.

No matter what you do in Milwaukee, the great people of the Midwest always guarantee a pleasant time. Just remember to pack your chaps, helmet and riding gloves.

Today, we take a minute to spark our minds and feast our eyes on some of the invention industry’s most wild and wonderful creations!  Sure to inspire any idea person, our very own “inventor’s inventor,” Mr. Davison, passed along these must-see photos of some of the finest!  Enjoy!

1.  First up, with corner drawers like these, who needs a Lazy Susan?  From the looks of these deep, far-reaching drawers, they’ll hold everything but the kitchen sink!

2.  Stash your cash in a wall outlet?  Who wouldn’t be fooled by this secret hiding place?  Although, finding cash in an old pair of jeans is nice, finding it a wall outlet would be electrifying!

3.  This tub is the perfect place to store soap, shampoo, razors and more.  It’s also perfect for quickly cleaning up any items you wouldn’t want guests to see in your bathroom!

4.  Another unique space-saver, there really would be some things “hiding” under these stairs!  And, if you’ve ever lived in an apartment or home with too little closet space, these would be a life-saver!

5.  While it may not look so conventional, this is one ladder that looks out for you!  It’s ergonomically correct, so your body won’t mind the climb!

6.  Very in-tune with today’s needs, this little tool is great for the ultra-resourceful musician!  Make your guitar picks out of used gift cards or credit cards!

7.  A certain improvement to the day-bed, this sofa allows you to easily transform your living space into a bunk for two!  Who’s calling top bunk?

8.  Mother always told us not to drink out of the sink, but what if it was easily converted into a fountain?  With this simple tool, it is!

9.  Finally, another awesome invention Mr. Davison sent over, you’ve got to see this one in action!  Imagine these “Air Swimmers” chasing around your family and friends around at your next party or gathering.  Definitely crowd-pleasers, these fish are remote controlled!  (Jaws theme song not included!)

We hope you enjoyed today’s wild and wonderful creations!  Be inspired!

In their 110th anniversary special, Popular Mechanics (PM) magazine editors have featured none other than our very own CEO and founder, Mr. Davison!  The article, titled “The World of Tomorrow,” relies on Davison, among several other scientists, engineers and consultants to boldly make 110 predictions for the next 110 years.
“It’s never easy to predict the future, but… we’ve decided to give it a try (with a little help from some very smart friends),” said PM editors.

Who are those smart friends?  PM fondly refers to the over 20-person panel as their “Brain Trust.”
“… we tried to balance our deep-rooted techno-optimism with some hardheaded skepticism,” said PM editors.
Here is just a glimpse of what the PM Brain Trust predicted:

WITHIN 20 YEARS…Self-driving cars will hit the mainstream market.Battles will be waged without direct human participation (think robots or unmanned aerial vehicles).The first fully functional brain-controlled bionic limb will arrive.
WITHIN 30 YEARS…All-purpose robots will help us with household chores.Space travel will become as affordable as a round-the-world plane ticket.Soldiers will use exoskeletons to enhance battlefield performance.

WITHIN 40 YEARS…Nanobots will perform medical procedures inside our bodies.

WITHIN 50 YEARS…We will have a colony on Mars.Doctors will successfully transplant a lab-grown human heart.We will fly the friendly skies without pilots onboard.And renewable energy sources will surpass fossil fuels in electricity generation.

WITHIN 60 YEARS…Digital data (texts, songs, etc.) will be zapped directly into our brains.We will activate the first fusion power plant.And we will wage the first battle in space.

WITHIN 100 YEARS…The last gasoline-powered car will come off the assembly line.

See more of the PM Brain Trust’s predictions and read the entire article here.

Often times, we share community events, fundraisers and benefits that we think you may be interested in helping with. And, just as often, the Davison Team comes together and makes incredible contributions to support the various causes.

Most recently, our team pulled together in less than two weeks to donate toys for the 2012 Marines’ Toys for Tots drive. Thanks to our efforts, nearly 224 children were able to receive holiday gifts this season.

We’ve also just received two awesome “thank you’s” from a couple other causes we contributed to last year. And, we were so moved by the thanks, we just had to share.

Last September, Mr. Davison supported the Walk to Defeat ALS®. Walk organizers were more than grateful for the donation:

“Mr. Davison & Inventionland Crew,

Thank you very much for your generous support of the Pittsburgh Walk to Defeat ALS! Enclosed is a thank you video with scenes of Walk Day, thank you cards from some family members and walk t-shirts for the staff. This is just a small token of our great appreciation of your support! We also enclosed information about the 2013 Walk. We hope to work with you again on this great event.

With heartfelt thanks,
Jenni Franz
Another community project, the Aspinwall Riverfront Park Project, sought our help so that they could even keep their mission alive. Their “thank you” gesture was absolutely moving!

Mr Davison,

Thank you for your support and [for bringing] such creativity into the world.

“In 2011, when we decided to purchase the Aspinwall Marina to turn it into a park, many thought it impossible. Simply put, the odds were not in our favor. The facts were: the sale was complex, large and sophisticated companies had tried to buy the property and failed, and last, but not least, $2.3 million would need to be raised in a matter of months. Chances were that a small, grassroots effort, backed by the Fox Chapel District Association and Friends of the Riverfront, would be able to pull it off “when pigs fly.”

As I write to you, it’s been a little over a year since our community proved that we have what it takes to make pigs fly. Once again, what we’re trying to achieve seems entirely unrealistic to some. The odds are challenging. It takes most communities ten years to build a park – and we don’t intend to build the average park. The deadlines we have now are ones we put on ourselves. Our model isn’t typical. Instead of relying on taxpayers, we’re building an endowment and healthy business that will pay for the park’s upkeep (and we’re doing this at the same time we’re trying to build the park no less). The economy is sluggish. We all have many important things competing for our time, money and attention.

But, like you, we believe in possibility. And, big audacious goals. And, the potential to create something wonderful and lasting. When I look in the eyes of the kids who mowed lawns and sold lemonade, the hundreds of volunteers this year who planned parties, planted flowers, and removed thousands of pounds of concrete, weeds and garbage from the property – it’s crystal clear that our work is even more important this time around. We need to build Aspinwall Riverfront Park, so that kids who worked so hard can enjoy it while they are still kids. Our goal is to have some portion of the park open to the public by the end of 2013. We’re looking forward to working with you to reach it.

It’s the greatest privilege to be part of something that will be a permanent gift to this generation and the ones to come. Thank you for your on-going support that makes what seems impossible possible.

With gratitude and our best wishes for the happiest of holidays,
Susan Crookston and the Board of Aspinwall Riverfront Park (Davitt, Chip, Kevin, Tim, Trish, Tim, Scott)

Thank you to all members of the Davison Team who so willingly contribute to these great community causes! Keep up the great work!

What better way to end 2012 than by, yet again, being referred to as “the Henry Ford of inventing?”  That’s precisely what Keystone Edge, an online publication that covers the entrepreneurial ecosystem that drives Pennsylvania forward, has called our CEO and founder, Mr. Davison!

Recently, George Davison was featured on the site’s “Founders” section.  Among comparing him to Henry Ford, deeming the title “a praise that should not be viewed lightly,” Keystone Edge also called Mr. Davison “one heckuva entrepreneur.”

Further, the site goes on to highlight Inventionland and acknowledges that it “has been cited by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as one of the city’s best [companies] for which to work.”

Also included is an interview with Mr. Davison, where he covers his inspiration, biggest challenge and what’s next for Davison!

Read the entire Keystone Edge article here!