PUDDLE HOPS: Waymo in Pittsburgh | IoT for everyday | Securing data with blockchain

Durham to prepare students for agbiotech

DURHAM, NC—A new training program at the Durham Technical Community College will prepare students for good-paying, entry-level jobs in North Carolina’s growing agricultural biotechnology industry. Agriculture is the state’s largest industry, with an annual economic impact of about $96 billion across food, fiber and forestry production.

Waymo opens office in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, PA—Former Google self-driving car project Waymo is opening an office in Pittsburgh that will focus on autonomous technology. The new office will bring talent and expertise in from Pittsburgh’s RobotWits, which provides planning and decision-making technologies for self-driving vehicles.

IoT for everyday use

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN—Purdue University engineer Ramses Martinez has been hard at work, making IoT more practical for everyday use. His inventions include a way to change the volume of your music by touching your clothes and disposable smart bandages that can monitor a wound for you. Martinez is an expert in cyberphysical interaction and an assistant professor of industrial engineering and biomedical engineering.

Moving and securing data with blockchain

OMAHA, NE—Kyle Tut, a software engineer who developed an interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency in 2017, has founded a company called Pinata. Billed as a simple way to upload files onto the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), Pinata is essentially a platform for moving and securing data through blockchains.

Dayton is emerging tech hub

DAYTON, OH—A new report from real estate firm CBRE designates Dayton as a top “emerging” technology hub. According to the report, the Dayton metro area’s tech employment in 2020 was 18,930, with growth in technology jobs in the past five years pegged at 31% and tech wages at just over $90,000.