DSM sponsors ACAMP seminar series event

Calgary, Alberta. June 2015 – On June 3, DSM founders attended ACAMP’s “Unmanned vehicles, Robotics, & Intelligent Systems” seminar, an event designed to expose its participants to developments in technology and help establish new partnerships.

Alberta based not-for-profit, ACAMP (Alberta Centre for Advanced MNT products) provides specialized business services to micro nano technology clients. Clients have access to world-class equipment, facilities, expertise and a network of organizations that support and develop micro and nano technology devices, advanced materials, and manufacturing worldwide.

DSM sponsored the all-day event, listening to talks from experts in their field and industry leaders. The seminar, mainly focused on Unmanned vehicles (aircrafts and ground vehicles), and drones for GPS mapping, included participants from a variety of industries including: oil and gas, manufacturing, scientific research, and business development.

Nurturing new talent

“The main reason we support ACAMP is because of their strong ability to engage with start-up companies to bring their products to market. Many of these new ventures have a solid workable prototype; however they require additional resources and experience to take their prototype to the next level. ACAMP provides the expertise to improve on the design to ensure that it is marketable, affordable, and can be produced in a manufacturing environment” said Duane Macauley, President at DSM.

“In the end, these start-up companies are our potential future customers and we are keen to support them from the beginning,” said Macauley.

Beyond support for emerging players, ACAMP is also a place to develop partnerships in the industry and gain knowledge about emerging technology. 150 people attended the seminar and listened to talks from 22 presenters including: Research Analysts, CEOs, Professors, Engineers, Business Development Professionals, Students, and Doctors. The topics ranged from unmanned cars and aircrafts, to software engineering, to GPS and mobile mapping.

Small players, big impact

One of the presenters, Maryanna Saenko, a Research Analyst at LUX research, spoke about how small companies can make a huge impact in terms of innovation in their field. She explained that larger companies are always looking for new ideas and a fresh outlook on operational difficulties. Her main nuggets of advice to smaller players entering the market were: 1) Not to reinvent the wheel and work with existing technology that is already in use, and 2)Solve real world, niche problems.

Her talk, though not immediately applicable to DSM in terms of topic, applied greatly in terms of internal innovation.

“Maryanna’s talk rang true for us in that everyone at DSM has the power to be innovative, find a better way to solve the problem, and make an impact in how we succeed. We want to empower our employees to be those agents for improvement,” said Macauley.

Saenko’s advice to work with what is already in place and just make it better can be real for anyone in the workplace. The key is to develop practical solutions that the company is able to implement right away without major infrastructure changes.”