Business as Usual: ARM Institute

Transcription: 

Great, so good afternoon. This is Audrey Russo, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council. very thrilled at today's guest, we have a newbie to Pittsburgh and someone who's brings a lot of expertise. So I'm going to introduce IRA Moskowitz in one moment, we'll talk about the work that he's here to do. And some of his experience, I would like to give a shout out, as always to Huntington bank for the work that they do in our community, and for their support of all things business, as well as everything people have been going through through this crazy world of COVID. And they've been tremendous partners, if you don't know them, get to know them. So just to remind everyone that we launched the series at the beginning of the pandemic, to help keep the community tethered together, and informed and to showcase some of the great things that are happening, as well as talking about some of the things that aren't so great, that's happening, just because we're all, you know, tend to be working remotely and maybe feeling isolated. And it's really important for the work that we do for people to stay connected for businesses, to have opportunities to remain vital and viable. So that's why we do this. And that's why today we're in our hundred and 50, whatever sessions, and I'm very, very lucky to be doing this work. So I want you to know that we've muted your microphones. But that doesn't mean you can't have a chat. So the chat will allow us to ask IRA who I will introduce in one second questions. And let's just kick it off. Because, as I mentioned, we're going to have the seat we have the CEO of the arm Institute, which stands for the advanced robotics for manufacturing, based in Pittsburgh has a great story. If you don't know anything about that, we're going to dive a little bit into that story. But I want to welcome IRA Moskowitz who is here, he has relocated to Pittsburgh, from Massachusetts, but he is working remotely as many of us are or he's working at arm. And there's no one there. But I'll let him tell you that story. So IRA, welcome, thank you for taking the time with us today. Really appreciate that. And so who is IRA Moscow, what's what's the journey that you've had, because people are saying you are a perfect fit for this role running the army.

Thank you, Audrey. And thank you, to PTC for the invitation to join you today and talk about what we're doing at arm and you know, my interest in that. But also, just thank the area of Pittsburgh for welcoming me with the Steelers being six and oh, as you know, I'm used to the Super Bowl champion teams. And so I really appreciate the gesture.

I cannot believe you started with that IRA. Okay, we did it all for

you all. For me, thank you just a small thing, but I appreciate on a professional level, what we what we do at the Art Institute, the general topic, it's really been important to me my whole professional career, I've done the manufacturing operations, in advanced manufacturing, you know, for about 30 years. And, you know, the context of what we do at arm and why it's so important is that, you know, we manufacturers know that despite the fact that innovation and invention is very important. In many cases, the knowledge that we gain by doing the manufacturing ourselves leads us to the next generation of innovation. So innovation is essential to our economy. invention is essential to our economy. But without manufacturing operations, we really could threaten our economic success. So it's so critical that this country continues to invest in an advanced its manufacturing prowess and not ship its manufacturing overseas, or eventually we could really lose our innovation edge. And so what the federal government did very, very smartly, a number of years ago is they created what we call manufacturing Institute's it's under an umbrella topic of manufacturing USA, it's called that there are 14 of these Institute's Now, each focused on a different area of manufacturing technology, and each with the mission of securing the future of manufacturing in this country in their particular topic. So there are 14 and they are an institute is one of the newest. And what we do is like the other Institute's, we're a member based organization, a member based community that is funded by the federal government, but we have the mission of accelerating the adoption of robotics technologies, which are really the foundation of every advanced manufacturing activity. So you really our goal is through projects that we fund as well. kind of thought leadership is to make sure that we can provide to us manufacturing companies of all sizes and the opportunity to adopt robotics. But equally importantly, excuse me, is the mission of all the institute's that we have, as well as is to empower the US manufacturing workforce with training and skill development in these key technologies. So that is, that is what we're about, we're about making sure that manufacturers of all sizes have access to advanced technologies. We're about empowering and training the workforce, we're about ensuring the country has competitiveness. And we are ensuring our national security and with the pandemic, the resilience so one of the things that the arm Institute has done, along with many of the other national institutes is that we have been focusing on COVID-19 activity. So this year alone, we've actually initiated over $5 million worth of additional projects in automated disinfecting in PvE production in virus testing, to battle the virus. So very proud of what our folks have taken on, which is additional work on top of their normal level of work to really help out an embattled virus. But that's why this is so important to me. That's why, you know, I was honored to be in this position, because after 30 years in manufacturing, it's an opportunity to really make a national impact on manufacturing. And also, the Pittsburgh area is a very vibrant community in many different areas, but of course, a national leader in robotics and automation in AI. So it's it's an honor to join this very vibrant community in these topics, and work locally with our partners, such as CMU and catalyst connection, and others and really help foster this area's an epicenter for these technologies.

So what kinds of things are you doing that you can talk about in terms of Carnegie Mellon, and catalysts, connection are some examples that people have programs and projects that that you can tell us about want us to?

I'm sure so you know, right now. And just in general, by the way, we're kind of overseeing at any one time, dozens of projects. So we have about 60 different projects that we're currently currently overseeing. And some of those are certainly conducted in conjunction with CMU, some happen in conjunction with catalyst connection. Absolutely. And those projects spanned a wide range from robotics to AI and others. Right now we're doing some strategic planning with CMU on how how best to utilize our new headquarters building mill 19, building, sensing manufacturing there, with catalyst catalyst connection, did a just a superb job in securing a major grant from the Department of Defense declaring this region, you know, focus area of defense, the manufacturing community, and we're honored to be a partner with them in that, in that, in that community that they're kicking off right now, with this particular grant.

We're gonna have Petra Mitchell on the show to actually talk specifically about that particular program. so badly fabulous, so, so are also there are other relationships that you have that are across the United States. And I think, if you can maybe pick out one or two of those. Can you talk about that? Because you mentioned 660 projects, obviously, we can't go to all of them. But yeah, some of those examples of collaboration.

Yeah, so I'll just pick a few. So we have just a way of background, we now have 275 members. And by the way, during this pandemic, while we feared some of our members may be struggling and possibly are terrific arm team has actually increased our total membership by over 2% over the last five or six months. So just fantastic results given the pandemic. But I'll say a few things. One of the things interesting project we did actually Massachusetts, which is which is has the acronym of fish, if I sh which I can't remember what it stands for, but it doesn't matter cuz obviously they tried to create an acronym that spelled fish, but it's actually working with Northeastern University and seafood processors in New England. I'm sure most folks don't know. But most of the seafood that's caught off the shores of our eastern coast is shipped off to Asia in China for the first processing steps. And then it's actually shipped back to the United States for the next of the steps which is in Sydney. But because they are so manual, it's cheaper to do that. So we sponsored a major project, with Northeastern working with seafood manufacturing and processors on these coasts, to automate those steps to bring those that back to the US. Which comes with automation type jobs that people can be trained to do, and bring all that back and expand the the seafood processing revenues and jobs here in the US. And that's a great story because there are people who are places jobs, and they're not about that we're actually creating jobs.

So that's a fabulous story. So do you see the shift in that industry in that fishing fishing industry? As a result of that work? Are we and what kinds of automation jobs are created as a result of that shift?

Yeah, so there's two types of automation jobs is one is, you know, the, the the vision for the future for robotics is people and robots working together, that is actually what creates commerce and creates revenue and creates new products and capabilities. So this is the installation of robotics, for example, and seafood processors, where they do their grading and sorting steps in conjunction with a human being who is working along with those robots, which is a new job that wouldn't have been there. And being trained to work with robots. In addition, you need roboticists that are programming those robots and maintaining those robots that are in that facility. In addition, you need robotics companies that are building and supplying those robots, which in this case, those companies are in Massachusetts. So it is in the US, and it creates jobs. You know, and another aspect is some of the work that we're doing. in the, in the aerospace industry, in terms of inspection of engines with various partners around the country. The aerospace engine industry is expected to grow dramatically by billions of dollars over the next few years. It can't do that with automated without automated inspection, human beings cannot inspect to the level of detail that's required for these engines. And so we have a number of partners around the country that are defense contractors working on engines that will benefit from this type of technology. And then again, this creates jobs because their companies expand.

So let let those are great examples. Thank you for sharing, and I and just also some of our long term insanity, right, in terms of how we have manufacturer and not question that. So that, you know, really appreciate those kinds of ships. What What do you see as some of the opportunities in terms of developing some of these new skills? So are these? Are you seeing trends for people needing to go to college? Are you seeing partnerships with community colleges? Are you seeing that there's a tremendous opportunity for young people that are coming out of high school, and looking for different options here and new programs being developed are any good examples and of that, that you can talk about? And maybe you just doing a little bit of predicting? How about that?

Yeah, so let me let me talk about one of the major initiatives that that the arm Institute is, has underway that is really, I think, will be extremely disruptive, in terms of this field. So to answer your question, in terms of where the needs, the needs are across the entire spectrum, but one of the most important needs as a lifelong manufacturer in the high tech industry, and I think high tech manufacturers would agree. One of the biggest gaps we have in human resources, our technicians, our robotic type technicians. At that time from the semiconductor industry, the biggest gap I ever had in hiring wasn't really smart engineers. It was technicians to maintain and program and operate equipment. And that is a huge gap in the robotics industry. So what that in

Yeah, what does that mean, like technicians? Is that something that would be easily trainable? Or tell me what that that means in terms of skill sets?

Yeah, so the skill sets are about basic fundamental electronics, basic fundamental mechatronics, fundamental programming techniques, and so on. So the things that can be begin to be taught at the vocational high school level. And at the community college level, it tends to be a community college level degree for technicians, or the equivalent type of training that you would find at that kind of level. on third, often, by the way, these are stackable credentials that can go into a bachelor's degree as well should the person be interested in doing that, although being a technician is a fantastic and much needed career. But what we've done in the arm Institute is we've worked with lots of our members since you know, when you think about it, those 275 members really are the brain trust of the robotics, industry, academia and nonprofits across the country. And so we've worked with them and we've defined different categories of robotics technicians, of a robotics technician or robotics specialist robotics integrator. So we've defined these different levels of skill capability. We've actually defined what are the key skills and competencies required for each and then we've got Actually, we're building a database of the of the nation's education facilities and capabilities and providers that can provide these types of capabilities for these different types of robotics technicians and specialists and integrators. And we're we're developing this database that will be accessible and public so that people who want to follow this type of career curriculum at the technician level can find a place where they can be trained, where companies can actually find places where they can train their workers. And in addition, we're developing some prototypes where the Art Institute would actually evaluate and endorse these programs, by matching them to the specific world class best in class skill and competency training capabilities, that we have seen working with our members and with the Department of Defense for these capabilities, and actually provide advice and inputs and credentialing to organizations that can train people in these critical, critical types of jobs. And, again, the lack of robotics technicians is going to be a major problem for this country. And we're hoping to make a major impact on that.

Well, it's great. Where else? Yeah, I mean, I love these examples, as someone who, you know, understands manufacturing a little bit, not like you do, but I've spent enough time in the metals industry to know, you know, where there are gaps and where there's inefficiencies. But, you know, as a country worked really long time to become global. Right. And so now we're at a point where we're questioning ourselves, in terms of, you know, what does that mean? Now, as we look ahead, doesn't mean like it was wrong, it doesn't mean we're not interdependent. We're, what about does the arm work on public policy at all? there? Do you have a role in that?

Well, I think our role is mostly based on what we're seeing in the industry and the industry needs advising our government on where are the key areas for investment. So in that sense, we certainly work on that the institute's also as a group, are particularly with the pandemic has been doing a good amount of work on the whole issue of the supply chain, and the protection of that supply chain and the ability to pivot as a supply chain throughout. And automation. And robotics has a big role in that whole concept of how do we ensure the resilience of our own domestic supply chain in the face of what we like about the limit. And there's a couple of things that I certainly learned in my former position, where we were working in Massachusetts to pivot hundreds and hundreds of manufacturers to make PP disinfectants and so on. One of the things is that automation and robotics is really important to a resilient supply chain, because you have to pivot capacity on a moment's notice. You really can't do that without automation, adjust and pivot, and suddenly surge capacity in a completely different area, without some level of the capability of automation to order to enable those kind of immediate capacity shifts. The second thing is the raw material supply chain, which is an issue outside of really arm, that's another critical issue that we have to pay attention to, you know, for example, a lot of the PP depends on something called meltblown fabrics, that wound up being in very short supply groups are highly specialized. But again, automation and robotics can help be able to have this reserve capacity in key areas that you can just suddenly turn on that you couldn't turn on otherwise. So from a policy point of view, part of it is to advise the federal government on what are the key gaps in autonomy in AI in robotics related to manufacturing that we really need to plug in to really promote and advise funding in those key areas. So in a sense, that's part of our policy mission. And the other I think, is, as we're all learning how to be more resilient as a supply chain in the face of a crisis. And we play a role in that as well.

And so this whole thing about contact lists, right, we used to think you never really thought of that as like a, a market domain, but it really is. I mean, COVID has been pretty profound. And I don't think there's any turning back. Do you see any interesting technology that we might be surprised by in terms of contactless, you know, obviously, there's doors, there's storage, there's things like that. What are you seeing? I know that on the health side, there's lots of conversations and explorations on you know, what does it mean to have contactless ness with patients and you know, with non patients who are escorting patients? Are you seeing anything there?

Well, I'm certainly seeing a role for robotics in a in a virus ridden type of scenario. I mentioned I think that, you know, we've we've initiated over $5 million of new projects related to virus one of those is automatic disinfecting. So for example, these are automated disinfecting machines that are that are that are leveraging all the technology we already have on autonomous mobile robots that can go around the facility and actually disinfect on whatever basis or if there's an outbreak, you can clear the place out, you can send in your relation to do that. So you know, so that's one example of that I was actually talking to some folks at UPMC, a few weeks ago, about this particular thing, where in the space of a virus where people need medical attention, or they need testing at home, rather than sending medical personnel, which puts everybody at risk plus, they're in very short supply, potentially can have an automation solution for that they can actually do testing and other measurements when we either can't or should not be sending human beings into a situation. So there there is a there's a role for this kind of thing, in companies to be able to function during an epidemic situation like this much better than, you know, a year ago when we wouldn't have thought of this of having automated disinfecting machines in an office area or in a factory to help them maintain their operation and keep it going.

So you mentioned earlier about the fish example, which I love, and so appreciate you sharing and about our silliness, and how we, you know, produce things, because it's definitely that way, it was that way for a long time. And still is in terms of the clothing industry in the amount of transference and movement of materials. And there's certainly an endless examples. Any other examples in agriculture and ag tech?

Well, there's certainly examples

of robotics in agriculture. Right? You have that here? But are you seeing any trends? Are you seeing any? Because it meets some of the examples that you've talked about? You know, just and you know, I'm worried about the food supply, and the growth of our planet?

Yeah, so some of the new applications that are pretty interesting that, you know, we've we've seen is, is the virtual monitoring of crops, at a very, very precise level, to be able to actually extract data from the crops that visual machines can do much better than a human being, and to not only to extract that data to to be able to sort in connected with machine learning and AI techniques, to really understand the health of crops, that's done through automated mechanisms that are literally sweeping the fields collecting this enormous, you know, big data kind of scenario, and being able to automatically analyze, and potentially to react to that with respect to watering or other principles. So that's, um, you know, that's one example. There's other soil measurement, automation and things like that, that can be much more rapid and more efficient data collection of what's actually going on with the health of agriculture. So we're seeing a lot of that kind of those big, automated agriculture machines in emerging areas include a great deal of information data, and I expect that to continue.

Right, I want to make a plug Jonathan, just put it out there for Bloomfield AI, that's a local company that's actually doing what you articulated in your first example there. So if anyone wants to know them, that's Mark de Santos, and we've had an opportunity to interview them. So as a national organization, what are your big priorities over this next year? What do you see as you're in the middle of COVID? And the seasons are changing? What are your big priorities as a national organization? Yeah. So do you do any research? Yeah. So

we we, um, we, the mission of the institute's is really on the is really again, around accelerating the adoption of technologies and finding the gaps in the in the commercialization of technologies, both in terms of helping industry and the warfighter. We do Delve back towards research and development, though, partly identifying if we are going to deploy technologies and things do need to be developed where the development and research gaps and of course, that would be in partnership with many universities that are members of the arm Institute. And of course, that includes CMU and dissented in discussions with Pitt and others. So So from a research point of view to answer that part of the question, we do sponsor some work that delves closer to development rd, but that's not our primary mission. But But the purpose of having really the nation's most advanced thinkers on the academic side is to make sure that we cover that section of the entire development chain to make sure we're connected to that. One of our biggest priority is to answer that part of the questions I mentioned it before, is what we call the asset management system with the endorsement program for education, lack of trained technicians, and robotics is a potential crisis, and that there's going to be a huge focus of the medication side. And on the technology side, we're actually doing some road mapping exercises right now. And I think, you know, some major areas of focus are certainly How does artificial intelligence interact with robotics manufacturing? And how do we advance that part of it? How does autonomy get advanced by the arm Institute autonomous systems, particularly warehousing logistics, and particularly advanced by the pandemic situation is a huge, huge opportunity. But it's also a huge technology area, we have to advance. And so these are some of the areas that we're focusing on and a difference in, in addition to things like even textile manufacturing, we have the opportunity as a country through automation, to bring back the textile industry to this country, particularly highly specialized textiles.

That,

so it's a pretty wide portfolio, and it's a diverse portfolio, and that's part of our mission,

it's a lot of fun, you're gonna have your hands filled with lots of fun things, and we want to stay connected to you. Because we look at you as a tremendous asset in this region. And we're going to be selfish, and say, We want you to spend as much of your focus on Pittsburgh as possible, but I know that you have other relationships that are around the United States that are members and are active. So what about the building? Any any work in terms of, you know, modular housing, building materials, etc? Is there? Is that a focus?

Yeah, so there's certainly applications for automation in areas, particularly related to smart buildings and new materials and things like that. You know, we've had some conversations about that, again, we have conversations about every application, and then what we have to do is we actually have to focus. And so you know, the whole topic of how does how does automation in building automation affect, not just the construction of building but the operation of buildings is something that is certainly of interest, all of this technology, in the end, it intersects. So you know, the real mission that we have to accomplish, it's we have to look at all these different application spaces, including construction and these types of things, we have to move back to what are the most common technology needs for those, what were the most important, and then bring that back to the technology area, and then put our initiatives and our funding into those key technologies. And they and they overlap. So it's sort of like that water raises all boats, in a sense, we develop key technologies by focusing on certain applications and technologies. That's by the way How Technology Works anyway.

Well, you know, listen, I'm I'm thrilled, first of all, thrilled to hear, you know, the kind of coverage that we're able to pack in 30 minutes really appreciate that love hearing your partnership with, with some of our local champions, which include Carnegie Mellon, of course, and catalyst connection. The last thing is, is that, should I actually try to become a robotics technician at this stage of my life?

Should you win? I'd be delighted. I don't know if you want to do that instead of what you're doing. But

I'm thinking like, you know, maybe I should have a backup plan.

Yeah, I think God sent in,

let me know,

you would have a very fine career and you would be in demand. That's for sure.

So you hear that? I mean, how long do you think it would take the training would take?

Well, it depends which of these levels you want to achieve.

So the highest bias level?

Yeah, so I think you could be a very competent technician with a two year degree coming from a fine Community College. And that would be a great career. And again, the great thing about that is those are often stackable into a bachelor's degree, if you want to move on,

there you go, I could go back to school, get another bachelor's degree and get another master's degree. But I've seen it go on IRA.

It's a good backup plan, highly medical

backup plan. And the thing that I love about it is that it's feeding our capacity into becoming highly efficient, highly effective, and the new world of work. That's really what what appeals to me about all of this. And the fact that we're doing things that are much more efficient and helping our local communities. I mean, we didn't even get into the economic development piece of arm, but that's a critical piece of, you know, your work is a critical piece in terms of prosperity and Access for All

right, absolutely.

So I want to thank you, Ira moscowitz. Thanks for being in Pittsburgh, and we welcome you, I hope to meet you soon in real time. And we can stir up some good trouble because it seems like you've got a lot of experience bringing to Pittsburgh and to the arm Institute, even Though your national organization, so we've put the links in there. If you want more information, it's easy to find. And if you want to welcome yourself or introduce yourself to IRA, he's pretty easy to find as well. And I'd like everyone to stay safe. And stay healthy and join us tomorrow because who do we have on tomorrow?

Anyone jumping in Brian?

Jonathan, tomorrow's tomorrow's ba you. Oh my goodness, I gotta pull up our calendar here. We've got even you don't even know.

Okay. It's gonna be something great today. It's Michael Christmas special aide in charge of the FBI regional office in Pittsburgh. Talking about Cyber Security Awareness Month, which is ending in a couple days. background. He was the former head of all cyber security operations for the FBI in Washington DC. So he's a big deal. It's gonna be fun.

See, Ira we have you are a big deal today. And tomorrow. We have another big deal

tomorrow. gluto from AI and robotics, Greg.

So there you go. Ira. Honestly, thank you so much for the time with us really appreciate it. There are a bunch of people from your team that have been on the call so we know where to find you. Stay safe. Thanks, everyone. See you tomorrow. Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai