USPTC’s bigger events and successes of 2016
Let’s recall USPTC’s bigger events and successes of 2016:
March: Under USPTC guidance, six Polish companies—APS Energia, Automater, Booke, Circus Digitalis, PolTREG and RTB Tracker—participated in intensive workshop sessions led by U.S. and Polish industry experts as they prepared to join the Silicon Valley–based US-Poland Innovation Hub in Palo Alto. (To read more and view a photo gallery from the fifth edition of the US-Poland Innovation HUB program, please click here.) |
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Weeks of planning by USPTC supporters on both sides of the Atlantic contributed to the success of the Poland Day symposium on March 17—a full-day event bringing together U.S. and Polish leaders from academia, the clean energy and clean water industries, and other businesses to explore opportunities for collaboration in the pursuit of sustainable solutions to the global energy challenges. (To read more and view a photo gallery from Poland Day 2016, please visit here.) USPTC facilitated the official visit of Poland’s undersecretary of state from the Ministry of Energy, Dr. Michał Kurtyka, organizing meetings with US-Poland Innovation HUB program companies, energy experts at Stanford University, and the corporate leadership of Tesla Motors, among others. (For a photo gallery from Dr. Kurtyka’s meeting with Polish companies in Silicon Valley, please visit here.) May: The Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) delegation of the European Parliament (EP) represented by Eva A. Kaili, Danuta Jazlowiecka, Paul Rübig, and Claudia Schmidt visited the headquarters of USPTC in Palo Alto. The discussion centered on ways of developing commercial relations between European companies and Silicon Valley. USPTC President Jerzy Orkiszewski outlined the organization’s work in support of Polish companies starting out in Silicon Valley, and educational programs. The Members of the European Parliament compared and contrasted multiple methods of supporting startup companies in Europe and the United States.
June: Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy (EFL), a leasing leader in Poland and a major player in the provision of specialized financing to companies in Europe, participated in the Silicon Valley Exponential Company Executive Workshop in San Francisco and at Stanford University. USPTC, in partnership with Stanford University, prepared an intensive workshop where EFL executives were engaged in numerous discussions and team projects focused on disruptive innovation, leadership and execution, intellectual property (IP), emerging technologies, new business creation, design thinking, and strategic foresight. Through their participation, Stanford faculty and distinguished Silicon Valley executives lent nontraditional perspectives and a special set of voices to the traditional businesses of EFL. (To read more and view a photo gallery, please visit here.) |
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August and September: In collaboration with Stanford University, USPTC facilitated an interactive Poland Energy Sector Executive Workshop for Polish energy companies, including Tauron, Lotos, Enea, PGNiG SA, Energa SA, with the participation of Dr. Michał Kurtyka, the Undersecretary of State from the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Poland, and Mr. Mateusz Kędzierski, the director of the energy ministry’s Innovation and Technology Development Department. Polish executives were actively engaged in the presentations and hands-on projects at Stanford University as well as discussions with Silicon Valley energy experts while visiting The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Exponent, and Alphabet Inc. |
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November: USPTC Chairman Piotr Moncarz and Director Lukas Grabiec represented USPTC at the Richardson, Texas edition of Poland Day. During the event, Dr. Moncarz and Mr. Grabiec inaugurated a new USPTC office in Dallas, TX, under the leadership of Hubert Zydorek, director of the Center for Global Business and of the BS Global Business Program at UT Dallas’s Naveen Jindal School of Management. (To read more and view a photo gallery, please visit here.) The Warsaw University of Technology, Poland’s first technical university, awarded USPTC family member Dr. Janusz Bryzek a Golden Diploma for his achievements and inducted him into its prestigious Alumni Hall of Fame. Dr. Bryzek is considered one of the world’s pioneers in the field of MEMS (Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems), often called the Father of sensors. Dr. Bryzek successfully founded 11 companies and was issued 25 patents in the field of MEMS. USPTC President USPTC Jerzy Orkiszewski received this prestigious award for his achievements in 2015. (To read more and view a photo gallery, please visit here.)
USPTC continues to work with government, educational, and commercial entities in Poland and in the U.S. to further the exchange between the high technology, science, and innovative companies in both countries. Our program of Silicon Valley office time sharing created for Polish companies in a Palo Alto Innovation HUB is attracting significant attention. The first stage of the sixth edition of the US-Poland Innovation HUB program took place in November in Katowice. The companies involved will soon travel to Silicon Valley to explore and expand their opportunities and growth potential during the second stage of the program. Since early 2016, the Polish government—most notably the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Energy—has worked with USPTC to implement a nationwide electromobility program in Poland. USPTC Chairman and Stanford University Adjunct Professor Piotr Moncarz was asked to help define the program and set it into motion and worked towards this goal for over six months with senior USPTC team members, including Mr. Mariusz Tomaka from Katowice, Dr. Magdalena Diering from Poznań, Dr. Robert Barski from Zielona Góra, Dr. Tomasz Goliński from Poznań and Dr. Rafał Stroński, Esq. from Warsaw. The result of this year’s work is ElectroMobility Poland S.A., a company which role is to coordinate the strategic activities aimed at integration of Polish science, R&D, and corporate resources towards a robust climate of electromobility as a major element of Polish economy. Dr. Moncarz currently serves as a chairman of the board of ElectroMobility Poland S.A.
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