PENNSYLVANIA Archives - Davison

Davison Featured in Pittsburgh’s Soul Pitt Quarterly

Kristi Russell — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:16:48 +0000

Davison was featured in an article in the summer edition of Soul Pitt Quarterly, Pittsburgh’s Premier Minority A&E Magazine. In the piece, Soul Pitt’s writer (Mimi Gray) spoke with CEO and Founder George Davison, President Frank Vescio, Senior Director of New Products Steve Smith and Director of New Products Hassan Walker to pick their brains about what it takes to be an inventor and to work at Davison.

Mr. Davison, who admits to Soul Pitt that he’s had inventions that were “total flops,” cautions inventors that creating a product won’t happen overnight. “You have to decide how dedicated you’re going to be. And what kind of effort you’re going to put into your project. Nothing ever goes easy, and you better be prepared for some setbacks along the way. The question is: Are you willing to get back up and keep trying?”

And few know the true meaning of falling off the horse and getting back on like Mr. Davison, who shared a personal story of his own inventing failure with Soul Pitt. Davison spent $30,000 producing a toothbrush sanitizer that he would later find was already on the market. Someone had beaten him to the idea. But he turned that anger and frustration into action and created Inventionland, a one-stop-shop for research, product development and licensing.

Soul Pitt was interested in what kind of people work at Inventionland, so Mr. Davison shared his hiring process for the bounty of creative thinkers, tinkerers, designers and engineers. First, is the creation of new ideas your passion? Second, do you have the talent and skill? Finally, do you possess the ability to follow through with a project?

“People that pursue ideas have a certain amount of trust that they are putting forth saying, ‘I’m trusting you with not only my idea, but my feelings, my morals, my spirit and you have the chance to either empower me and inspire me or shoot me down,’” says President Frank Vescio. So Davison procures a supportive staff. “We internally look for those types of individuals that want to help and inspire people,” says Vescio.

Steve Smith emphasized that there are no barriers at Davison. “The diversity here has improved greatly since I started in 2007. If you have the desire, commitment and determination, you can succeed at Davison.”

Mimi Gray, who wrote the article for Soul Pitt (read the entire article), concludes her piece with a call to action. “Dare to Invent, and join the ranks of great African-American inventors like Frederick McKinley Jones, Garret Morgan and Davison’s own Lennell Parks, inventor of the TheraPED.”

The post Davison Featured in Pittsburgh’s Soul Pitt Quarterly appeared first on Davison.

“Dare to Invent” Caps Off Season One with a Twist!

nikki — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 22:59:28 +0000

It’s nearly time to say “so long” to season 1 of our innovative “Dare to Invent” webisode series; but, before we send it swirling into history, we’re capping it off with the twisted tale of toilet bolt success!

Tonight’s webisode, the 13th and final episode in the first season of “Dare to Invent,” features Pennsylvania’s own Gary and Ruth Frazer, inventors of the Twister Bolts and Twister Caps, along with our own captivating cast of Inventionland Creationeers.

While she was cleaning her bathroom one afternoon, Ruth became annoyed with the loosely-fitting toilet bolt caps that were easily broken and could get carried away by her grandchildren or pets (like her son’s dog). After conversing with her husband, Gary, the couple decided to flush away the gross annoyance by taking matters into their own hands.

The Frazer’s designed and patented a new and safer bolt cap that had a little more staying power, but the original designs and patent were simply not going to work.

They had put the cart before the horse and spent money before doing their homework.

After Gary and Ruth learned the hard way, they brought their bathroom-beautifying idea to Davison’s Inventionland, where Mr. Davison and our Creationeers quickly got to work, giving a new twist to the Frazer’s already awesome idea.

Together, the team created a cap that is threaded on the inside and screws directly onto a toilet bolt, to securely fit to a toilet’s base. Designed with an adapter, Twister Caps easily fit most common sizes of toilet bolts. The Davison Team even took Gary and Ruth’s idea one step further, with Twister Bolts, which include both the bolt and matching cap.

Although the idea didn’t immediately swirl into success, Twister Caps and Twister Bolts were licensed by Danco and have sold in national home improvement and hardware stores, like Lowe’s, Home Depot and several other major retailers.

Secure a seat and tune in to the season finale tonight at 7:00 p.m. on Davison.com and YouTube.com and watch Gary and Ruth “Dare to Invent!”

Check out these fun photos from tonight’s twisted tale below!

A typical project does not get a royalty agreement, sell in stores or generate a profit.

The post “Dare to Invent” Caps Off Season One with a Twist! appeared first on Davison.

“Dare to Invent” Pours Over the Creation of the Brownie Bowl

Kristi Russell — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 23:00:56 +0000

Grab a half cup of flour, one cup of water, 2 eggs and lots of creativity! This week’s all-new “Dare to Invent” episode hits the kitchen to whip up some exciting baking innovation.

Tonight’s webisode is the twelfth in our 13-episode series and features Christine Walker, inventor of the Brownie Bowl – a delicious dessert solution that enables bakers and chefs to create fill-able brownie, cookie, cake, and bread bowls.

Christine came up with her Brownie Bowl idea in high school, when she witnessed her boyfriend at the time sloppily soaking the cafeteria cookies in milk.

“I was horrified and thought, ‘I need to put a stop to this,’” Walker says about her boyfriend’s dessert habits. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be better in the shape of a bowl?’ That would solve the mess, but still be delicious.”

Christine shared the idea with her mom, but it wasn’t until she moved to New York City to attend performing arts school that she decided to take action!

Around 2008, Christine, a self-proclaimed obsessive baker, had baked a batch of cookies for her personal trainer. She told him about her “dunked cookie” idea, not realizing that he already had a connection that just might help her out.

“He said, ‘You have to pursue this!’ He had a friend, who had worked with Davison; [so], I was actually referred… and I took his advice,” said Christine.

With the help of the Creationeers at Davison, Walker’s solution for sloppy sweets is now being sold nationally and on QVC.com. Silicone Brownie Bowl Forms were created by Walker to turn already delectable treats into self-contained snack traps.

The bowls’ silicone design means the forms are able to cook at pretty much any temperature with any recipe, are dishwasher safe and can cook cakes, breads, brownies, muffins, and, of course, cookies evenly every time.

Join us tonight (on davison.com and youtube.com) to find out how Christine’s idea morphed from an answer to her ex-boyfriend’s sloppy snacking to a delightful QVC product and baking-blog darling.

Enjoy the photo gallery below from the Brownie Bowl episode!

A typical project does not get a royalty agreement, sell in stores or generate a profit.

The post “Dare to Invent” Pours Over the Creation of the Brownie Bowl appeared first on Davison.

“Dare to Invent” Journeys to the Center of an Idea (and Dessert!)

nikki — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 23:00:12 +0000

Tonight’s “Dare to Invent” webisode takes viewers on a journey from the moist, cakey outside of an invention’s concept all the way to the delicious molten chocolate core of the finished product. Join us tonight (on davison.com and youtube.com) for episode 11(!) of our 13-part series and get inside the minds of the Creationeers behind the Surprise Pan.

Pete is an Inventionland employee who usually focuses on bringing other people’s ideas to life. His curiosity and adventurous nature lead to a lot of tearing things apart and a great amount of blowing stuff up. So when Pete proposed an idea for a cupcake pan, more than a few heads turned at Inventionland.

During a brainstorm session for a product that would use a nail to cook a potato from the inside out, Pete came up with an idea for a better cupcake pan. “Why don’t we just push nails right through a muffin pan? Then we’d be able to put something right on that nail; [a] marshmallow or a Snickers bar,” said Pete, which would create a treat with a surprise at its core.

The pan, which has standard-sized cupcake cavities allows you to bake sweet treats into your desserts’ true center. One of the great benefits of the pan is its ability to keep your surprise ingredient in the center of the cupcake, creating a balanced bite. Now, even heavy add-ins stay in the middle of cupcakes thanks to the pan’s snack-securing center spike.

Sound too complicated? It isn’t. Place your favorite filling on the center spike of each cupcake mold, fill with batter and bake! The center spike will support any treat you dare to bake into your cupcake: cherries, Swedish fish, chocolate, caramels, truffles (chocolate or fungi), pineapple, cookie dough or a piece of strawberry. If you really want to be adventurous, use the center spike as a skewer and shish kabob a variety of the aforementioned add-ins. The possibilities really are endless, but the length of spike isn’t, so choose wisely.

The Surprise Pan, which is sure to satisfy any sweet craving, is just another example of a successful Davison-designed product that is showing the power of teamwork!

Join us to see how this sweet idea came out of Inventionland to end up on the shelves of Bed Bath & Beyond, on QVC, Amazon.com and Sur la Table to the surprise of many baking enthusiasts.

Watch as the Davison Inventing Method is used to invent Pete’s Surprise Pan!

A typical project does not get a royalty agreement, sell in stores or generate a profit.

The post “Dare to Invent” Journeys to the Center of an Idea (and Dessert!) appeared first on Davison.