Affinnova, Inc. Appoints MIT's Michael Hawley to Executive Advisory Board; MIT Visionary Brings Decades of Research and Engineering Expertise to Affinnova.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2003 Affinnova, Inc., a leading provider of product design and development solutions, today announced it appointed Michael Hawley Previously at MIT’s Media Laboratory, Michael Hawley is an artist and researcher working in the field of digital media. He is the founder of several research programs and projects including MIT's GO Expeditions program, the cofounder of the Things That Think research to its Executive Advisory Board (EAB EAB Emerald Ash Borer (insect) EAB Environmental Appeals Board (EPA) EAB Educational Activities Board (IEEE) EAB Environmental Advisory Board EAB Egyptian American Bank ), which meets quarterly to provide independent counsel that guides the strategic development and evolution of the Company. Mr. Hawley, a recognized leader in the field of research and engineering, currently serves as Director of Special Projects and Founder of MIT's GO Expeditions Program. He has spent decades working on groundbreaking research projects involving psychology, human computer interfaces and the limitless ways digital media impacts everyday objects. "Mr. Hawley joins an expert team of advisors chosen to guide the evolution of our company from a start-up operation with a unique approach to product development to a world-class provider of design and development solutions," said David Andonian, Executive Chairman of Affinnova, Inc. "He brings to the Board a passion for groundbreaking research and exploration -- of the world, the mind and the impact of digital media, adding a new level of critical thinking and problem-solving rooted in his eclectic research and engineering projects, for which he has achieved national acclaim." Mr. Hawley has served on the faculty of MIT MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology for nearly a decade. He held the Alex W. Dreyfoos professorship at the Media Lab and for the past two years has served as MIT's Director of Special Projects. Mr. Hawley is co-founder of the groundbreaking research program, "Things that Think." Additionally, he founded Toys for Tomorrow -- which aims to inspire the world's leading toy companies to invent new playthings, as well as Counter Intelligence -- whose mission is to explore the limits of "kitchen-top" technologies. His non-profit company, Friendly Planet, is dedicated to children's education in developing countries. Previous work includes research positions at Bell Telephone Laboratories and IRCAM IRCAM Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique , as well as digital cinema work with Lucasfilm, Ltd. He also served as a principal engineer at NeXT, where he developed the world's first library of digital books. Mr. Hawley is a fellow and Trustee of Jonathan Edwards College Jonathan Edwards College is a residential college at Yale University. Established in 1932, it is the oldest of Yale's residential colleges and is generally called "J.E." J.E. is Yale's only residential college with an independent endowment, the Jonathan Edwards Trust. at Yale University Yale University, at New Haven, Conn.; coeducational. Chartered as a collegiate school for men in 1701 largely as a result of the efforts of James Pierpont, it opened at Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1702, moved (1707) to Saybrook (now Old Saybrook), and in 1716 was and serves on the boards of directors of the Rutgers Jazz Institute, the Vanguard Group and several technology companies. An accomplished concert pianist, he won the Van Cliburn international piano competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas. This was created by Fort Worth area teachers in honor of Van Cliburn, who had won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition four years prior with Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. in 2002 and recently debuted as soloist with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall There are a number of concert halls known as Symphony Hall. Among the best known are:
TI Biography. prize. He holds undergraduate degrees in music and computer science from Yale University, and a doctorate from MIT. "Affinnova is one of those rare companies that has successfully used technology to address a critical business pain point," said Michael Hawley. "For Affinnova, it's not about technology for technology's sake, it's about using technology to tackle an age-old problem in a new way -- one that provides true value to companies looking to accelerate and optimize their product development cycle. I'm excited to be a part of 'designing' Affinnova's future and in working with the Company to spotlight new ways of thinking -- for machines and people." In related news, Affinnova recently announced the appointment of Michael (Mike) A. Ahearn, Managing Director at Conley and Company, a leading executive recruitment firm in Boston, Mass., to its Executive Advisory Board (Businesswire, November 11, 2003, or http://www.affinnova.com/news/111103.shtml). About Affinnova's Executive Advisory Board Affinnova's Executive Advisory Board was created in 2001 to augment the Company's strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. and development objectives with outside, independent viewpoints. The Board includes industry veterans whose diverse experience across various industry disciplines complements the Company's business approach -- with expertise ranging from market research and software development to product design, development and marketing. Existing Affinnova EAB members include: -- Michael A. Ahearn, Managing Director, Conley and Company -- Rodney Brooks Rodney Allen Brooks (b. December 30, 1954 in Adelaide, Australia) is Panasonic Professor of Robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is Chief Technical Officer and sits on the Board of iRobot Corp. , Ph.D., Director, Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT -- John Quelch This article is about the Senior Associate Dean at Harvard Business School. For the pirate, see John Quelch (pirate). John Anthony Quelch is a business school academic, administrator, public servant, corporate director and consultant. , Ph.D., Senior Associate Dean & Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School Harvard Business School, officially named the Harvard Business School: George F. Baker Foundation, and also known as HBS, is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. -- Harry West, Vice President, Strategy and Innovation, Design Continuum -- Peter J. Bentley, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University College London About Affinnova, Inc. Affinnova harnesses the science of evolution to develop optimal concepts, products and brands. The company's solutions allow consumer-focused companies to successfully compete in an environment where continuous introductions of ever better-designed products are critical to success. Affinnova is privately held and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information about Affinnova, visit www.affinnova.com. About IDEA(TM) Affinnova's patent pending IDEA(TM) (Interactive Design by Evolutionary Algorithms) technology evolves virtual products, concepts, packages and brands based on consumer preferences. IDEA(TM) technology allows for exploration of wider design and creative spaces, holistic optimization, the identification of interaction effects (feature synergies), and preference-based market segmentation Market Segmentation A marketing term referring to the aggregating of prospective buyers into groups (segments) that have common needs and will respond similarly to a marketing action. . (C)2003 Affinnova Inc. Affinnova and IDEA(TM) are trademarks of Affinnova, Inc. |
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