``Workforce Transformation'' Announces New Name.Business Editors SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004 Workforce Transformation Research and Innovation (WTRI), formerly known as Workplace Technologies Research, Inc., today announced its name change to reflect its status as a viable commercial entity as well as its broadened range of services. A company established in 1996 to test the success of its theoretical applications to effect change in workforce methodologies, WTRI has successfully applied its technology and resources to help companies achieve their goals. WTRI's client list includes the New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Transit Authority, a uranium plant in Kentucky, a Midwestern iron foundry, Yale University, and a medical device company in Irvine, Calif. Identifying the bottlenecks or counter-productive work habits of a company, or in some cases, the failure of leadership, is only the first step of WTRI's efforts. How does a company change its deeply embedded bad habits? "You must un-learn a bad habit before you can successfully change it," said Lia DiBello, Ph.D., the astute and well published cognitive psychologist who serves as WTRI's President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "As a part of our implementation, WTRI develops a meticulous re-creation of a company's workplace in a miniature form, where the workforce must accomplish specific outcomes in a highly abbreviated time-frame; this can get very stressful, but it gets results," she added. "Our program is based on an understanding of how people learn and un-learn," she added. Specifically, WTRI's work involves 18 years of intensive study on how people think and make critical decisions, and how they use technologies to extend their capabilities. This research has also focused on how expertise can be a barrier to an individual's ability to change the way they work. Now President and CEO of WTRI, Dr. DiBello has been active in workplace research for over 21 years, formerly as a research associate at IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) Cognitive Science Labs, as a Senior Research Associate at Laboratory for Cognitive Studies of Work, and she continues as Principal Investigator for The Workplace Technology Research Group at the Graduate School of the City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: [kjuni]), is the public university system of New York City. . Her basic research has been funded with grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Academies of Science, and NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. , among others. For three years, 1994-1997, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, San Diego UCSD is consistently ranked among the top ten public universities for undergraduate education in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.[3] It is a Public Ivy. [1] For graduate studies, most of UCSD's Ph.D. . WTRI has developed technology interventions for several large companies and in addition to leading a project for the largest North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. public transit agency, New York City Transit, WTRI also worked with the largest manufacturer of mid-size gas turbines, Solar Turbines, Inc. Currently, she is applying her methods to undergraduate education undergraduate education Medtalk In the US, a 4+ yr college or university education leading to a baccalaureate degree, the minimum education level required for medical school admission; undergraduate medical education refers to the 4 yrs of medical school. Cf CME. in engineering and the biotech industry and advanced manufacturing. In April 2003, Dr. DiBello received The Small Business National Leadership Award from The National Congressional Committee and was asked to serve as an honorary co-chair on the U.S. Congressional Business Advisory Committee Council. The "learning interventions" incorporated in WTRI's program are designed to save companies considerable capital outlay capital outlay See capital expenditure. by (1) significantly decreasing the risk associated with a business process change initiative; (2) significantly increasing the success rate of technology implementations; and (3) contributing to considerable and measurable cost savings or increases in profits. "As far as we know, we are the only company employing these techniques successfully in the workplace," said Sterling Chamberlain, WTRI's Vice President and Senior Technologist. In January of this year at the annual conference in Dallas, WTRI was recognized by the National Science Foundation's (NSF NSF - National Science Foundation ) DMII DMII Design, Manufacture, and Industrial Innovation Division as a member of a select circle of 32 Small Business Innovation Research awardees who received Phase IIB IIB Institute for Independent Business IIB Institute of International Business IIB Institute of International Bankers IIB International Investment Bank IIB Indian Institute of Banking & Finance IIB Included in Bankruptcy IIB Ice, Ice, Baby funding. The initial number of applicants was 4500. Dr. DiBello said that the NSF funding has greatly contributed to strengthening the impact and broadening the applicability of WTRI's FutureView(TM) product line. WTRI has been granted about $800,000 by NSF to assist in the development of their proprietary technology platform, FutureView(TM), and to do the basic research necessary to strengthen the impact of their products. The latest supplemental funding has accelerated WTRI into recognized commercial status. For more information, see www.wtri.com. |
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