Archive for February, 2018

COFES 2018: FEBRUARY UPDATE

Posted on February 16th, 2018 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

COFES 2018: FEBRUARY UPDATE
April 12 thru April 15, 2018 Scottsdale, Arizona cofes.com

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Register Soon!

COFES is 8 weeks away!

If you plan on joining us, you’ll want to register soon at: register.cofes.com. We’re likely to fill up our hotel block by the beginning of March, so you might want to register soon to assure a spot at the resort.

If you don’t have your invitation code handy, drop me a note at: becca@cofes.comor call me at +1-802-871-5627. Or you can visit apply.cofes.com to apply for a new invitation.

If you won’t be able to join us, let me know with a quick note so we can invite others on our list.

If you have any other questions about COFES, feel free to reach out to our Chairman and Founder, Vincent Caprio at: vincent@cofes.org or +1-203-733-1949.



Special Incentive: 35 for 35

It’s no secret that the vast majority of our typical COFES attendee pool is aging. Jokes have been made for years about the number of salt’n’pepper and white hair that dot the audience in all the videos.

At COFES 2018, we’re trying to change that.

As a special incentive to our younger folks, we’re offering a deep discount of $1295for anyone who registers that’s under the age of 35. Our goal is to hit 35 people who take us up on the 35 and younger incentive.

If you, or anyone you know, meets this criteria, please put “UNDER35” in the Total field when you fill out the online registration form.

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Keynotes

We’ve got three great keynotes set for COFES 2018.

On Friday, Ping Fu will discuss the changing relationship between us and our tools.

On Saturday, Keith Schubert will discuss his work unlocking the patterns of life, and what AI can teach us about living in scarcity. Following Keith will be George Gilder, who will explore the impact of blockchain and other technologies on the global economy.

You can learn more about our keynoters and their talks at cofes.com/agenda

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Buddy, can you spare a notebook?

Each year at COFES we ask for attendees to bring their old laptops/notebook computers. We plan on continuing this once again for COFES 2018. We hope you’ll participate by bring your unwanted systems with you. We’ll wipe the drives, refresh the system, and donate to kids who need them.

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Last Call for Roundtable Topics Requests

You may have noticed that the COFES Agenda doesn’t have a list of the topics for any of the roundtable discussions. That’s because we wait until we’ve had a chance to talk with all of the COFES participants before the topics get set.

Now’s your chance to put your hot issue on the platform for discussions. What key issues do you want on the table for discussion at COFES? Send a short description to becca@cofes.com so that we may consider your issue for discussion.

For ideas, please take a look at last year’s agenda discussion subjects (scroll down to 11 am on Saturday). The final COFES 2018 discussion topics will be posted by the end of March.

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COFES Library: What have you written lately?

The COFES Library focuses on books written by COFES participants. If you’ve written a book, bring a copy with you to donate to the Library, where attendees can peruse books during COFES.

If won’t be able to join us at COFES, but you’ve written a book and would like to donate a copy to the COFES Library, send a copy of the book(s) to:
Becca Yeh: COFES Library
c/o The Scottsdale Plaza Resort
7200 North Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale AZ 85253

We’ll set aside a safe place for the books to be reviewed during COFES, and we’ll store the books during the year. Be sure to have the book(s) arrive before April 10.

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The DaS Symposium

The DaS Symposium (Design & Sustainability) is an open conversation of the role of design and software for design in the context of sustainability.

When planning your travel to COFES, please remember that the DaS Symposium at COFES will once again be held from 8:30am to 3:00pm on Thursday, the first day of COFES.

 

Save the Date: Water 2.0 Conference – May 17th Pfeiffer University Raleigh-Durham NC

Posted on February 16th, 2018 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Today we are proud to announce our next Water 2.0 Conference located on the campus of Pfeiffer University in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.  Our Conference Chairman is Dr. Kenneth E. Russell, Vice President for Digital Transformation and CIO at Pfeiffer University and Author of Social Knowledge.

The Water 2.0 Conference: Digitally Connecting the Water Industry will focus on the use of data analytics, software, cyber security for water utilities and industrial water users. Participants will include water and energy industry authorities, utilities professionals and representatives from the EPA.

Water Enters the Digital Era. Big Data Solutions, Information Powered Utilities and Smarter Customers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water 2.0 Conference: Digitally Connecting the Water Industry
May 17, 2018 – Raleigh-Durham NC

$250 REGISTER TODAY

CONFERENCE LOCATION

 

 

 

Pfeiffer University Raleigh-Durham Campus
2880 Slater Road Suite 100
Morrisville, NC 27560

 

 

 

 

 

Speakers for the Raleigh-Durham Water 2.0 Conference include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions in regard to the event may be directed to:
Matt Malandro, Conference Manager
matt@water2.org

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WATER NEWS

Malshe Elected to National Academy of Engineering
University of Arkansas

White House to unveil $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan
The Hill

EPA chief’s questions about climate science draw new scrutiny
The Hill

At least 1,000 gallons of oil spill into North Carolina river
New York Post

Unfiltered Fervor: The Rush to Get Off the Water Grid
The New York Times

The Download: SpaceX Disaster, AI With Uncertainty, and Trump Says the “B” Word
MIT Technology Review

EPA removes 7 cleaned-up sites from Superfund list
The Hill

Global Water Technologies releases annual shareholder letter
GWT News

Vincent Caprio to serve as consultant for Pfeiffer University Center for Digital Transformation
Pfeiffer University

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I am really excited to continue our Water 2.0 series with Pfeiffer University in 2018.  Click here to see completed Water 2.0 events.  Looking forward to seeing you in Raleigh-Durham on May 17th!

COFES Institute Announces George Gilder as a Keynote at COFES 2018

Posted on February 16th, 2018 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

COFES Institute Announces George Gilder as a Keynote at COFES 2018

The COFES Institute is pleased to announce venture capitalist and best-selling author, George Gilder, as a keynote speaker at COFES 2018 in Scottsdale, ArizonaApril 12-15, 2018 at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort. Mr. Gilder will be a featured keynote speaker on Saturday.

This year at COFES 2018, the theme will be Human-Aided Design: Changing the Relationship between Our Tools and Us. To request an invitation, visit apply.cofes.com. The annual four-day event for the design and engineering software industry brings together a diverse group of thought leaders in technology and science to engage in wide-ranging and meaningful discussions.

At COFES 2018, Mr. Gilder will be speaking about his forthcoming book, Life After Google, which is due to be published in 2018. The new book examines and discusses the coming profound shift in the global technological and business landscape being ushered in by blockchainand other emerging technologies.

“Mr. Gilder is an accomplished best-selling author and futurist,” said Vincent Caprio, COFES Institute President. “Gilder will challenge COFES attendees with new ideas and their application to the engineering software arena.”

“One of the key roles I have relished over the past 18 years was the opportunity to find and work with great keynoters for COFES,” said Brad Holz, co-founder of COFES, president and CEO of Cyon Research Corporation. “We look for folks who are way ahead of the curve, with ideas of significance, and who really want to engage with us. I’m delighted that the COFES Institute has been able to continue that tradition with George Gilder. While I may take personal issue with some of the positions he has taken on social issues in the past, he is indisputably a leading thinker on technology issues and I look forward to his latest work.”

About George Gilder
Mr. George Gilder is Chairman of Gilder Publishing LLC, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and a founder-fellow of the Discovery Institute in Seattle. He is the author of twenty books on economics and technology including, Wealth and Poverty (1981), The Spirit of Enterprise (1986), Microcosm (1989), Life After Television (1990), Telecosm (2000), The Silicon Eye (2005), and The Israel Test (2009).

In the past decade, Gilder has begun revolutionizing the field of economics. In his book, Knowledge and Power (2013), Gilder presents a new economy based on the information theory that enabled the computer revolution and the rise of the Internet. In a review, Steve Forbes stated that the book “will profoundly and positively reshape economics… (and) will rank as one of the most influential works of our era.” The book won the Leonard E. Read prize at FreedomFest in Las Vegas in 2013.

In his latest book, The Scandal of Money (2016), Gilder extends the economics of information theory into a prescription for overcoming worldwide disorders of money with new crypto-currencies linked to gold. James Grant, publisher of “Grant’s Interest Rate Observer,” stated that the book “will outlast the Federal Reserve.” Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel declared “he is our best guide to our most fundamental economic problem.”

Mr. Gilder is a contributing editor of Forbes magazine and a contributor to such publications as the Forbes, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He lives in Tyringham, Massachusetts, in the Berkshire Mountains, where he is an active churchman, runner/cross country skier, and with his wife Nini, parent of four children.

About COFES and the COFES Institute
Now in its 19th year, COFES is the annual, invitation-only event for the design and engineering software industry. Widely recognized as a think-tank event, COFES (cofes.com) gathers design and engineering software leaders (vendors, users, press, and analysts) together to discuss the role engineering technology will play in the future survival and success of business. COFES is renowned for hosting leading keynote visionaries that provide a new perspective to the future of the industry. Apply for an invitation at apply.cofes.com.

The COFES Institute was created in 2017 to provide sustainable leadership to COFES. The COFES Institute is a non-profit 501c3 governed by a Board of Directors led by Vincent Caprio. Other members of the board are (in order of last name): Jim Brown: President – TechClarity, Jim Doxey: Product Configuration Manager – Oculus, Nathanael Miller: Aerospace Engineer – NASA Langley Research Center, Jason Preston: Co-Founder – Parnassus Group (DENT), and Rebecca Yeh: Event Director & Secretary – COFES. In addition, the COFES Advisory Board was established to provide industry input to the COFES Board, see the COFES website for a listing of the Advisory Board participants.

Vincent Caprio to serve as consultant for Pfeiffer University Center for Digital Transformation

Posted on February 6th, 2018 in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Vincent Caprio to serve as consultant for Pfeiffer University Center for Digital Transformation

Pfeiffer University’s Center for Digital Transformation (CDT) has hired a new consultant to expand the university’s impact in the energy and water industries.

Vincent Caprio, Director and Founder of the Water Innovations Alliance Foundation, will provide Pfeiffer’s CDT with the insight and connections necessary to identify technology-based solution opportunities in these exciting fields.

“Vincent is exceptionally well-versed in a broad spectrum of emerging technologies that impact our country’s energy and water infrastructure,” said Dr. Ken Russell, Pfeiffer Vice President for Digital Transformation and CDT Director. “He understands the dynamic role technology can play in solving current problems as well as how market-driven technology solutions can provide keen insight into future trends.”

Caprio, who Keynoted at the Water 2.0 Conference held at Pfeiffer in September and will be presenting at the upcoming conference in Raleigh on May 17th, has produced 20 Water 2.0 conferences during the last 10 years. Caprio has been a noted speaker at numerous emerging technology conferences throughout America over the past two decades. He has testified before the EPA and OSTP and has contributed to several business publications dedicated to bringing effective solutions to the municipal water industry in order to help utilities work smarter and upgrade systems efficiently.

“I am thrilled to become part Pfeiffer’s CDT team and to collaborate on finding innovative solutions to difficult challenges,” said Caprio.

“Having been an association leader for years in both the water and energy sectors, I know the challenges facing the nation’s water infrastructure are extremely difficult and these sectors will greatly benefit from CDT’s strategy to promote a practical approach to solving such complex technology problems.”

The Center for Digital Transformation promotes a practical approach to solving complex technology problems. CDT is focused on building strong partnerships and providing applied and experiential learning opportunities for students while transforming the way the educational experience is developed, packaged, delivered and supported.

(Pictured from left to right, Dr Ken Russell, Vice President for Digital Transformation, Pfeiffer University; Allison Chinchar, Meteorologist, CNN and Vincent Caprio, Director and Founder of the Water Innovations Alliance Foundation.)