EMC Unites Thousands for Fourth Annual Innovation Conference

Employees Generate Record Number of Creative Proposals to Advance Cloud Computing and Shape Future Product and Services Offerings

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News Summary:

• The fourth annual EMC Innovation Conference unites the creative spirit, global diversity and technical and business expertise of the company’s 47,000-strong employee base to further advance cloud computing and shape future product and services offerings.
• EMC employees from 26 countries submitted a record-setting 1,500-plus proposals for the company’s Innovation Showcase competition.  Top ideas will be funded and incubated to determine their role in EMC’s future product and services portfolio.
• EMC announces 2010 class of EMC Fellows and Distinguished Engineers, individual technical contributors who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and recognized technical leadership across the company.

Full Story:

HOPKINTON, Mass. – October 20, 2010 –EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, today hosted the fourth annual EMC Innovation Conference, bringing together the creative spirit, global diversity and technical and business expertise of the company’s 47,000-strong employee base to further advance cloud computing and shape future product and services offerings.  Through the use of social and new media technologies, EMC employees from 26 countries submitted a record-setting 1,500-plus proposals for the company’s Innovation Showcase competition, held annually leading up to the conference.  This year’s showcase winners (listed below) will be funded and incubated to determine their role in EMC’s future product and services portfolio.

Executive Quote:

“Innovation takes on a myriad of forms, and finds its source in every employee regardless where they live or what title might be on their business card.  It reaches its full potential by applying the most creative and effective methods to surface, evaluate and put the absolute best innovative ideas into practical motion.”

“Great innovation happens through the power of collective pursuit, the inspirational underpinning of EMC’s Innovation Conference for four years running.  It’s inspiring to witness the creative minds and technical vitality that springs forward to help EMC continue to advance our private cloud vision and lead customers along the journey.  Through the conference, we’re applying a vast knowledge of what’s on the IT horizon— and our close collaborations with customers, partners, and university research communities around the world— to discover, create, and rapidly bring new ideas into practice.”

-- Jeff Nick, EMC Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Key Facts:

• The 2010 EMC Innovation Conference “main stage” event was held today at EMC’s Center of Excellence in Cork, Ireland.  Regional events worldwide* hosting thousands of EMC employees, many including university research and industry speakers, were held at 15 EMC locations around the world.
• More than 1,500 idea submissions from EMC employees based in 26 countries were judged for the company’s Innovation Showcase based on their potential to improve the world of information, breakthrough thinking, potential value created for customers, strategic relevance, and ease of implementation.
• In addition to a traditional peer review selection team comprising EMC Fellows and Distinguished Engineers, EMC engaged the entire EMC community in the voting process for the Innovation Showcase.  Through the use of an online community, employees voted and offered additional comments and recommendations.
• Roughly 26,600 votes were cast by EMC employees. 
• In four years, the EMC Innovation Showcase has introduced more than 4,300 new creative proposals into the company’s innovation pipeline, which matures general concepts into a steady stream of incubations in order to identify those that have the greatest value for the company and its customers.
• Local events tapped into Cork via multi-casting video to view keynote addresses and participate in the final reveal of this year’s “Top 3” winning Innovation Showcase submissions.

2010 EMC Innovation Showcase Winners

The 47 Innovation Showcase finalist submissions for this year’s Innovation Conference covered a broad range of business, process and technology categories. The top three winners are:

• First Place: A new sustainable, low-cost data storage system designed for developing nations.  EMC Innovators: Helen Raizen, Hal Sandstrom and Rehan Tahir.
• Second Place: A new framework for easy software application deployment and integration in storage devices.  EMC Innovators: Paul LeMahieu, Steve Halzel, Jane Lawler and Jake Frazier.
• Third Place: A new home entertainment storage solution.  EMC Innovators: Michael Zimmermann and Bernd Wilkendorf. 

In addition to the three winners, Innovation Showcase submissions were selected for Honorable Mention and People’s Choice awards.  Submissions were also selected for 13 category awards, including the idea that best incorporates environmental sustainability principles, most strongly supports EMC’s Total Customer Experience philosophy, and best embodies and advances EMC’s internal IT operational excellence.

EMC Honors New Fellows and Distinguished Engineers

EMC also recognized its most exemplary technical employees as part of its EMC Fellow and Distinguished Engineer Program.  The program honors those individual technical contributors who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and a broad range of technical leadership across the company.  The following individuals were recognized as members of the 2010 class of EMC Fellows and Distinguished Engineers:

EMC Fellows:
Amnon Naamad and Hugo Patterson
  
EMC Distinguished Engineers:
Jeff Brown, Jim Guyer, Wissam Halabi, Dan Hushon, Ari Juels, Mark Lippitt, Vladimir Mandic, Anne McClure, Assaf Natanzon, Ramesh Razdan, Dave Reiner, Mahesh Seshadri and Eric Young

“It gives us great pleasure to recognize, through the EMC Fellow and Distinguished Engineer Program, EMC’s foundational technical leadership and their vast contributions to our business, to our customers, and to our industry,” Nick added.

 

* Local events were held in Beijing and Shanghai, China; Bangalore, India; Tel Aviv, Israel; St. Petersburg, Russia; Cairo, Egypt; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Cork, Ireland; Franklin, Massachusetts; Research Triangle Park/APEX, North Carolina; Santa Clara/Pleasanton, California; White Plains, NY; Seattle, Washington, Pleasant Grove, Utah; Dallas, Texas. 

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