Daily Archives: May 1, 2022

Robotics, medical research, bridges, Heinz Ketchup, the Pittsburgh Toilet these are the signatures of innovation in the Steel City. But buried underneath the surface of its journey from kitschy and industrial to kitschy and tech-centric is a story about the origins of the global cybersecurity industry.

Pittsburghs tech economy has long been recognized for its prowess in robotics and artificial intelligence, largely stemming from a strong pipeline of expertise out of local schools like Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. While autonomous vehicle companies and autonomous mobile robot providers alike have found ways to profit off of those opportunities, theres a bedrock of a wider range of technical know-how still waiting to be leveraged into commercial possibilities.

Enter cybersecurity: an industry that was (arguably) born in Pittsburgh.

As the story goes, it all started with CERT, formerly an acronym for the computer emergency response team. The division was founded within CMUs Software Engineering Institute in 1988 as a response to the internet vulnerabilities exposed by the Morris worm, the countrys first major internet attack.

In the early hours of response to the Morris worm, you had a number of people working at DARPA at the time the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency who had either ties to the SEI or to Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science, Bill Wilson, current deputy director of the CERT Division, told Technical.ly.

Bill Wilson. (Courtesy photo)

Those DARPA employees reached out to CMU contacts, and they quickly kind of cobbled together a foundation and framework to begin to work with and build a community to as quickly as possible first, mitigate and solve the vulnerability underlying the Morris worm, Wilson said. But really, the purpose was to respond to what had been a sort of technical wakeup call in the realm of internet security. From the outset, it was always clear that CERT would be a new kind of organization in tech, something to work with a network of vendors and researchers to as best as possible, analyze and identify the [new internet] vulnerabilities and then rally the community to get the necessary solutions in place, he said.

A big part of that effort was building the talent base and expertise of people who could keep up with new cyber threats as computers and associated technology rapidly evolved throughout the 90s. Leveraging both talent within the SEI and working to foster the creation of new agencies across the globe, CERT spent the first 10 years helping other see the necessity of its services.

Much of that involved working with the government. By 2003, the Department of Homeland Security formed its own computer security incident response team, US-CERT. (At this point, CMU had trademarked the CERT name, and it still maintains that trademark. But it frequently licenses it out to organizations doing work in the realm of computer security incident response.) The US organization, which is distinct though often collaborative with the CMU one, is now housed in the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

That same year saw the founding of another significant effort from CMU, the CyLab Security & Privacy Institute, which is really an umbrella over all of its cybersecurity researchers, Wilson said. Now, CyLab brings together over 100 faculty and 30 graduate students across 15 departments within the university, and has trained over 75,000 people in security and privacy skills since its formation. Its research encompasses hardware security, IoT security and privacy, biometrics, blockchain, network security and more.

Outside of its research, CyLab has also been the source of some of Pittsburghs more noteworthy commercialization efforts in the world of cybersecurity. David Brumley, CEO and cofounder of application security startup ForAllSecure, was previously the director of CyLab. His company made waves earlier this year by closing a $21 million Series B round and promptly launching a new initiative to pay software engineers to use the startups fuzz testing tech to protect their open source software.

He sees CyLab as the organization that really launched a surge in cybersecurity talent concentrated in Pittsburgh.

At one point CMU had the majority of papers at top-tier conferences, he said of the early days for CyLab. So if you went to [the conferences] we had over 50% [of the work there], and its kind of that culture of having that top cybersecurity research that grew the cybersecurity field here. And Pittsburghs relative proximity to DC certainly helped too, Brumley said, adding that having easy access to the funding and resources provided by DARPA or the National Security Agency created more opportunities for CyLab to evolve its research over time as new threats emerged.

But as far as commercialization resources for CyLabs depth of academic projects and research, Brumley sees some struggles that might help explain why more startups havent come out of the organization so far. One is a need for improved tech transfer processes from local universities, but another is the classic problem of limited local venture capital volume, he told Technical.ly.

There is some access to capital, but its typically not an easy process and its not abundant in the amount, he said, though there are signs that has started to change with the pandemic, as some of the biggest VC firms in the country have begun to look outside of their signature markets.

Theyre starting to look at new places, and were starting to see more than one target outside of the West Coast, Brumley said. Still, its a new trend, and top firms like Sequoia Capital or Andreessen Horowitz, theyre not here, they dont have offices here yet.

But what if the reason Pittsburghs cybersecurity industry hasnt generated as many startups as, say, its robotics industry isnt because of funding challenges, but because the latter is product-oriented while the former is a more nuanced service?

David Hickton, who is the former US attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security (Pitt Cyber), thinks that difference between the two makes sense for why entrepreneurship hasnt taken off for cybersecurity despite a deep well of local expertise. As one of the regions and countrys most prominent cyber attorneys, hes been approached several times by startups looking to take him on as an advisor or leader of some sort. But none have persuaded him.

In order to be a startup that I would be interested in, youd have to have a tangible product to sell as opposed to a labor-intensive service, he said. Im not interested in, for example, being a cybersecurity service tech to teach people how to protect their program. I would be interested in something that would be a more wholesome application.

Outside of the expertise of CERT, CyLab and CMU, Hicktons work as the local US attorney under President Barack Obama and his leadership at Pitt Cyber have anchored the city as more than just a mecca for technical expertise, but for law and policy, too. Recognizing the local talent available in the cyber industry, Hickton focused his team on law enforcement within that industry. He counts six big cases as moments of progress for Pittsburgh in building an understanding of how cybersecurity laws can be formed and enforced, making the city a leader in that space.

From the outset, his team focused on a growing problem at the time, of intellectual property theft through hacking from foreign actors. And in May 2014, the US Justice Department indicted five members of the Chinese military based on findings that Hicktons team had compiled the first time the US would charge another country in connection with cyber-related criminal charges. The other five cases Hickton mentioned as early landmarks in his offices work on cyber law are the June 2014 indictment of Evgeny Bogachev, the July 2015 Darkode case, the Avalanche case in November 2016, Boyusec in November 2017, and the Fancy Bear case in May and October 2018. The latter three concluded after Hickton had left his role as US attorney and helped launch Pitt Cyber in 2016.

When it comes to the local cybersecurity industry, Hickton has one of the more experienced perspectives, which makes his thoughts on the lack of local startups all the more intriguing. Because while cyber-focused entrepreneurship hasnt thrived, local cyber jobs look like they soon might.

According to a CompTIA report published earlier this month, Pittsburghs tech industry currently employs around 5,655 cybersecurity and systems engineers, a number thats expected to grow by at least 0.8% by the end of this year. Nationally, the industrys expected to grow by over 253% by 2030. That makes sense given the rapid increase in the number of cybercrime threats in 2021, which is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025.

So, what role does Pittsburgh have in mitigating these threats?

Some companies have started to take matters into their own hands, hiring in-house cyber professionals to ensure their technical products are built safely and securely. Meanwhile, local academic institutions continue to partner with nearby corporations to continue building expertise and cross-industry initiatives in cybersecurity.

To grow the local cyber economy even more, though, a key step will be figuring out how to stop losing talent to other markets, Hickton said, noting that there arent as many cybersecurity-focused corporations with locations in Pittsburgh. However, he said, Pittsburgh is increasingly on the map as a tech and advanced manufacturing hub, pointing to Commerce Secretary Gina Reimondos recent remarks on the benefits semiconductor chip funding could have for the Steel Citys economy.

But cyber, in the mind of the everyday person, is still different from other spheres of tech that Pittsburgh has found success in.

Cybersecurity, in the minds of most people, its like the hockey goalie you know, protecting against the other team putting the puck in the net, Hickton said. Its not like the scorers and and so it doesnt have some of the same sex appeal that artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles and semiconductor tech have.

And maybe thats part of the issue. Maybe the one factor needed to propel the local cyber industry to the success other sectors of tech have seen is simply a bit more excitement. Who knows maybe todays Pittsburgh cyber pros will squash the 21st-century version of the Morris worm.

More here:

Pittsburgh calls itself the robotics capital of the world. But it's also the birthplace of cybersecurity - Technical.ly

This is a big question for the logistics industry, is it possible to improve efficiency with robotics in the logistics industry?

Well, the answer to this question is not simple because logistics is different from other industries, and unlike other industries, it is not always clear how robots can offer their services in the logistics process.

But we are seeing an increase in the number of robots being used in the logistics industry which means that after all, robots can offer their services in this industry.

If you are someone belonging to the logistics industry then you can benefit from the integration of robots into logistics operations and improve the efficiency of your logistics operations.

Logistics efficiency basically means that your business is able to transport, store, and distribute the material with minimal wastage. An efficient logistics company is able to save money, energy, time, and natural resources.

In other businesses and processes, it is easy to measure efficiency because there are simple and defined formulas that can easily determine efficiency but in logistics, that is not the case.

There are various factors that must be considered to measure the efficiency which makes it difficult to calculate the efficiency in logistics but sometimes it is better to avoid using complex formulas and simply look at the processes for their efficiency.

So how can logistics operations be made more efficient with robots? Well, in logistics there are many tasks that are dull and repetitive.

While performing these tasks, humans often get bored and over the course of long periods, their performance starts to get worse which results in inefficiency.

One such example that we have available is the job of moving boxes onto pallets which is a dull and repetitive task that is very important for any logistics process and cannot be eliminated.

Because this task is a repetitive task, human workers often get bored with moving boxes onto pallets which decreases not only their productivity but also contributes to inefficiency.

With the help of robots, such repetitive tasks can be automated which can help to improve efficiency. This can also free the labor and allow human workers to deal with other tasks that cant be automated.

Not all tasks can be automated and handed over to robots because where human intellect works, robots cannot.

So, lets have a look at some of the common robotic applications that are deployed in the logistics industry.

The first common robotic application that is now widely used all over the industry is palletizing, which is a job that is perfect for robotics because it is a dull and repetitive job, yet an important job that needs to be done.

Human workers who perform the job of palletizing can get injured because this job requires high flexibility and at the same time, get bored too because doing the same dull job over and over again becomes boring unless they keep themselves refreshed by playing Solitaire every once in a while.

Robots are a perfect choice for automating the whole process of palletizing because they are more flexible than other technologies out there and the best thing about robots is that they can be programmed to handle the boxes or items that need to be palletized.

Robotics are now widely deployed all over the logistics industry to help automate the process of palletizing and improve the efficiency of logistics operations.

Pick and Place is a common task for any logistics company because there are different logistics processes that require objects to be picked and placed at several places.

For instance, the packaging of items involved picking and placing items in their respective boxes just like you pick and place cards in the game of Spider Solitaire.

Pick and Place is another task for which robots are perfect. They are much more consistent, efficient, and productive than humans in this regard. Plus, these robots dont tire out and can be programmed easily to handle different items.

Machine Tending is the process of loading/unloading objects for the purpose of labeling, wrapping, and so on. It is a physically demanding and repetitive task during which workers are also prone to be injured.

Instead of a human worker loading and unloading objects or materials into the machines for various tasks, this can be automated with robotics that can be programmed to take over this dull task.

Robotics machine tending is now used all over the industry to help improve the efficiency of logistics operation by taking over the whole task of loading and unloading objects.

This is a highly dull task that makes human workers very inefficient. With a robot taking over, the consistency and efficiency of this task will be improved.

You might also like

Read this article:

How Can Robots Help to Improve Efficiency in Logistics Operations? - Robotics and Automation News

Nearly 300 middle school students competed in the robotics competition at St. Louis University High School on Saturday.

ST. LOUIS Middle Schools from across the region competed in the 8th Annual Clavius Project Jamboree at Saint Louis University High School on Saturday.

About 300 students represented nearly 30 schools at the competition. The Clavius Project is an afterschool program that brings STEM opportunities to students. Students learn coding, robotics, 3D printing and more.

At the competition, students had to guide their robots through a series of tasks and were graded by judges on how well they performed.

The Thomas R. Schilli Foundation donated more than $600,000 to make sure urban and suburban students have the opportunity to participate and learn. Saint Louis University played a big role in organizing the competition.

It really is just getting young people interested in something to where they will do it on their own, Jay Hammond, a SLU organizer chuckled. Our goal is to get kids interested in STEM the same way they like to play video games. They play video games without adults telling them to play.

By the sizeable crowd, that Hammond said is half the size of previous years due to COVID-19, the strategy is working.

I think we have a really good friendship dynamic and it works pretty good when programing the robot because we can bounce ideas off of each other and just get it done, Miles Rodgers, an 8th grader at Loyola Academy said.

Jazmia Brandon is in the same grade, but at Marion Middle School. She was proud to be excelling in a field dominated by males. She hopes to continue down this path while learning, growing and having fun in the process.

It makes me really proud because things like engineering and robotics, it's not really female dominant, Brandon said.

Students arent the only ones who enjoyed the competition. Lucas Navarro is a senior at SLUH. Hes headed to Missouri S&T next year. But several years ago he was in the Clavius Project program. Now, hes a mentor at Bel-Nor School.

It's been a huge joy for me, Navarro said. Especially being able to bring my own experiences and the pitfalls I fell into, the things I did wrong. To be able to help the kids at bel-nor with the things they are working on"

The winning team receives bragging rights for the year and a banner to hang in their school. Organizers hope to expand the program to more schools and different seasons to increase competition and learning.

They said it will take several weeks to calculate scores and determine a winner.

See the rest here:

Students compete in the 8th annual Clavius Project Jamboree - KSDK.com

Nauticus Robotics

20 Hydronaut - Aquanaut pairs to be Delivered Beginning in Q4 of 2022; Strategically Deployed to Bases Around the World to Serve Multiple Offshore Industries

HOUSTON, April 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nauticus Robotics Inc. (Nauticus or Company), a Houston-area developer of subsea and surface robotic services using autonomy software, announced today the initial production run of Nauticus Fleet, a robotic navy of 20 Hydronaut - Aquanaut pairs. These tandem pairs will be deployed in multiple offshore industries serving applications ranging from subsea maintenance and intervention to data collection activities. These first sets of robots will be delivered in Q4 2022, with the remainder being fulfilled by the end of 2024.

Nauticus is currently planning regional operations within the Gulf of Mexico, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. These regional bases will provide local subject matter expertise and logistics to maintain the highest quality of services. Eventually, Nauticus plans to have operational bases around the world, strategically located and equipped with local remote operation centers and service teams.

Hydronaut transporting Aquanaut

Nauticus Fleet represents the most promising operational and technological step changes in this industry, said Nicolaus Radford, CEO of Nauticus. We are on a mission to create a future where more autonomous and intelligent robots are used to significantly reduce environmental impact and human exposure to hazards, while at the same time improving the bottom line for our clients.

The surface aspect of the fleet is Hydronaut, an 18-meter optionally crewed autonomous surface vessel (ASV) that supports the launch, recovery and real-time operations of Aquanaut, its undersea robotic counterpart. Hydronaut ferries Aquanaut to and from the worksite and supports battery recharges and the communications link from the local remote operations center for supervised autonomous operations. Additional technical and operational support can be provided from Nauticus Houston-based global remote operations center.

Story continues

Aquanaut is a fully electric, free-swimming subsea robot, controlled through acoustic communication networking and can perform a wide range of data collection, inspection, and manipulation tasks. Aquanauts defining capability is operating in two separate modes: actively transforming itself between the excursion and intervention configurations. Excursion mode involves the usage of data collection and perception sensors during transit, while intervention mode uses two electric work-class manipulators (Nauticus Olympic Arms) to perform work in the subsea environment.

Nauticus Fleet uses 21st century ocean robotic technologies to combat climate change and the global impact on the worlds marine environment. The cooperative pairing of both surface and subsea robots is enabled by ToolKITT, Nauticus autonomous software platform that affords robust machine intelligence in addition to just automation. We at Nauticus believe that this technology will impact the industry in three distinct ways: a greater than 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over conventional methods; a greater than 50 percent reduction in operational cost; and an up to 90 percent reduction in personnel deployed offshore.

On December 16, 2021, Nauticus and CleanTech Acquisition Cop. (NASDAQ: CLAQ), a special purpose acquisition corporation, entered into a definitive business combination agreement that would result in Nauticus becoming a public company.

About Nauticus

Nauticus Robotics Inc. is a Houston-based developer of cloud-based subsea robots, software, and services delivered in a modern business model to the ocean industry. Nauticus robotic systems will be delivered to commercial and government-facing customers primarily through a Robotics as a Service (RaaS) business model but also through direct product sales. This modernized approach to ocean robotics as a service has resulted in the development of a range of products for retrofit/upgrading legacy systems and other vehicle platforms. Nauticus services provide customers the necessary data collection, analytics, and subsea manipulation capabilities to support and maintain assets while significantly reducing their operational footprint, operating cost, and greenhouse gas emissions, to improve offshore health, safety, and environmental exposure.

About CLAQ

CleanTech Acquisition Corp. is a special purpose acquisition company formed in January 2021 with the purpose of entering into a business combination with one or more businesses. CleanTech Sponsor I LLC and CleanTech Investments LLC, an affiliate of Chardan, are the founders and co-sponsors of CLAQ.

Nauticus Contact:Todd NewellSVP Business DevelopmentPhone: (281) 942-9069E-mail : tnewell@nauticusrobotics.com

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:Gateway Group, Inc.IR: Cody Slach or Jeff Grampp, CFAPR: Zach KadletzPhone: (949) 574-3860E-mail: CLAQ@gatewayir.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) that are based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to CLAQ and Nauticus. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: may, will, could, would, should, expect, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, project, potential, continue, ongoing, target, seek or the negative or plural of these words, or other similar expressions that are predictions or indicate future events or prospects, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including projections of market opportunity and market share, the capability of Nauticus business plans including its plans to expand, the sources and uses of cash from the proposed transaction, the anticipated enterprise value of the combined company following the consummation of the proposed transaction, any benefits of Nauticus partnerships, strategies or plans as they relate to the proposed transaction, anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction and expectations related to the terms and timing of the proposed transaction are also forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although each of CLAQ and Nauticus believes that it has a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this communication, each of CLAQ and Nauticus caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known and projections of the future, which are inherently uncertain. In addition, there will be risks and uncertainties described in the proxy statement/prospectus on Form S-4 relating to the proposed transaction, which is expected to be filed by CLAQ with the SEC and other documents filed by CLAQ or Nauticus from time to time with the SEC. These filings may identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Neither CLAQ nor Nauticus can assure you that the forward-looking statements in this communication will prove to be accurate. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among others, the ability to complete the business combination due to the failure to obtain approval from CLAQs stockholders or satisfy other closing conditions in the business combination agreement, the occurrence of any event that could give rise to the termination of the business combination agreement, the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, the amount of redemption requests made by CLAQs public stockholders, costs related to the transaction, the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the risk that the transaction disrupts current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the transaction, the outcome of any potential litigation, government or regulatory proceedings and other risks and uncertainties, including those to be included under the heading Risk Factors in the final prospectus for CLAQs initial public offering filed with the SEC on July 16, 2021 and in its subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC. There may be additional risks that neither CLAQ or Nauticus presently know or that CLAQ and Nauticus currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by CLAQ, Nauticus, their respective directors, officers or employees or any other person that CLAQ and Nauticus will achieve their objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent the views of CLAQ and Nauticus as of the date of this communication. Subsequent events and developments may cause those views to change. However, while CLAQ and Nauticus may update these forward-looking statements in the future, there is no current intention to do so, except to the extent required by applicable law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing the views of CLAQ or Nauticus as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication.

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the potential transaction and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of CLAQ or Nauticus, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act.

Participants in the Solicitation

CLAQ and Nauticus and their respective directors, executive officers, other members of management, and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies of CLAQs stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of CLAQs stockholders in connection with the proposed business combination will be set forth in CLAQs registration statement on Form S-4, including a proxy statement/prospectus/consent solicitation statement, when it is filed with the SEC. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names and interests in the proposed transaction of CLAQs directors and officers in CLAQs filings with the SEC and such information will also be in the Registration Statement to be filed with the SEC by CLAQ, which will include the proxy statement/prospectus/consent solicitation statement of CLAQ for the proposed transaction.

Important Information Regarding the Transaction and Where to Find ItThis press release references the proposed merger transaction announced previously involving CleanTech Acquisition Corp. and Nauticus. CLAQ has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which includes a proxy statement and prospectus of CLAQ, and CLAQ will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. A definitive proxy statement/prospectus will also be sent to the stockholders of CLAQ, seeking required stockholder approval. Before making any voting or investment decision, investors and security holders of CLAQ are urged to carefully read the entire registration statement and proxy statement/prospectus, when they become available, and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as well as any amendments or supplements to these documents, because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction. The documents filed by CLAQ with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, the documents filed by CLAQ with the SEC may be obtained free of charge upon written request to CleanTech Acquisition Corporation, 207 West 25th Street, 9th Floor, New York, New York 10001, Attention: Eli Spiro, Chief Executive Officer.

View post:

Nauticus Robotics to Launch Nauticus Fleet, Pioneering Untethered Robot Teaming for Offshore Industry - Yahoo Finance