Whitson looks back on record-breaking space career and offers lessons for innovators Retired astronaut and native Iowan Peggy Whitson makes sure students and adults know the upside — way up, in her case — of working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM fields. It’s a message she carries now that she spends her […]
If there is any place you might half-expect an alien encounter, camping in the South Dakota Badlands might be on the list. Yet, my skeptical partners and I were floored when we looked up from the campfire over Memorial Day weekend and saw a thin line of interconnected lights too fast to count, trailing tightly […]
Des Moines-based Quester is introducing a new Amazon Alexa skill researching consumer food preferences in partnership with Conagra Brands, Quester announced on Monday. The AI-backed software asks Alexa users open-ended questions, then analyzes the respondent’s language to create follow-up questions. The Quester Alexa skill can be accessed with the command, “Alexa, open Quester Conversation.”
Martina Lauchengco moderates a panel on startup successes featuring Albert Wenger, Dave Tucker and Lindsay Knight. Photo contributed by Dwolla Matthew Prince once wrote a college thesis arguing the internet would be a passing fad. Lucky for him, he was wrong. Prince is the co-founder of Cloudflare, a company that, if all things go as expected, […]
Two Iowa nonprofits accepted $10,000 each raised and donated by the 2019 Monetery Tech Summit, the second annual technology and entrepreneurship conference organized by Dwolla. Iowa Safe Schools and Pursuit of Innovation (Pi515) each received the donation at the end of Tuesday’s summit in the Temple of Performing Arts. Dwolla also announced the Transition Forward […]
Steve Shriver, co-owner at SOKO Outfitters of Cedar Rapids (right), climbs during a startup pitch session with founders during the 2019 EntreFEST. Photo contributed/Andrew Ravera, NewBoCo One of the most original pitching opportunities open to participants at EntreFEST 2019 was born over pre-event beers. Steve Shriver, co-owner at SOKO Outfitters of Cedar Rapids, and David […]
Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s, gives the opening keynote at the 2019 EntreFEST conference/festival in Cedar Rapids. Photo contributed/Andrew Ravera, NewBoCo The perception of competition is a funny thing. It can bring out the great innovations in companies, the leaps in service or quality or product — or, as Jerry […]
City by city, the first few tons of 5G wireless internet equipment is being installed — and protested, as CityLab reports. 5G networks have only just begun to spread — a few providers, including AT&T and Verizon, have started going live in a handful of cities (Verizon announced 5G service will be arriving in Des Moines, although wasn’t clear […]
The Des Moines Oppenheimer Society — “Dedicated to innovation in the face of unintended consequences” — is hosting the Oppenheimer Awards and Advocate Auction to benefit special-needs students on May 21 at Gravitate Valley Junction. The lighthearted awards will recognize the 2019 “Twenty Over 20” class, sponsored by Trokt, and the Advocate Auction features artwork by children […]
Lauren Johnson, a former campaign assistant during her time working in South Carolina, came back home to Iowa knowing she would be witnessing the forefront of the election cycle. Now working in the nonprofit sector, Johnson didn’t realize she would struggle to keep track of all caucus events once they kicked off the 2020 cycle. […]