Indianapolis CIOs report on Q4 hiring plans; local projections above national results

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A net 9 percent of chief information officers (CIOs) in the Indianapolis area expect to hire information technology (IT) professionals in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the most recent Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report. Twelve percent of executives surveyed plan to add staff during the quarter and 3 percent anticipate reductions in personnel. The net 9 percent increase is down one point from the area’s third-quarter 2008 forecast but one point above the national average.

The local results reflect a two-quarter rolling average based on interviews with 200 CIOs from a stratified random sample of companies in the Indianapolis area with 100 or more employees; 1,400 executives were queried for the national data. (To view the national results, visit http://www.rht.com/PressRoom.) The studies were conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis. Robert Half Technology has been tracking IT hiring activity in the United States since 1995.

“IT hiring projections for the fourth quarter indicate greater activity in the Indianapolis area compared to the national forecast,” said Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology. “Organizations are directing recruitment efforts toward professionals who can provide essential services — such as help desk and networking — and support the launch of Web 2.0 based functionality.”

About the IT Hiring Index
First published in 1995, the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on more than 1,400 telephone interviews with CIOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 100 or more employees. For the study to be statistically representative and ensure that companies from all segments were represented, the sample was stratified by geographic region, industry and employee size. The results were then weighted to reflect the proper proportions of employee size within each region.

Public, students, invited to Krannert business speakers series

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Financial analysts, company CEOs and marketing executives are among the leaders who will address students and the public at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management during a fall class and speakers’ series.

Started in 1973, the Krannert Executive Forum is an undergraduate class for both management and non-management students, primarily seniors. Richard A. Cosier, Krannert School dean and Leeds Professor of Management, coordinates the class.

“The business leaders we bring in for this series all have diverse real-world experiences and useful insights to share with our students,” Cosier said. “The Krannert Executive Forum helps students visualize and understand the business world waiting for them beyond graduation.”

The forum meets from 11:30 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. each Friday in Jerry S. Rawls Hall, Room 1086, and is free and open to the public as seating permits.

Dates, speakers and titles of talks include:

* Sept. 5 - David Fox, financial analyst, Credit Suisse Alternative Investments, “From West Lafayette to Wall Street.”

* Sept. 12 - William and Kathleen Scheessele, president and CEO and executive vice president, Mastering Business Development Inc., “30 Years, 30 Lessons, 30 Minutes, Q&A.”

* Sept. 19 - Jack Hockema, chairman, president and CEO, Kaiser Aluminum Corp., “Life is What Happens When You Have Other Plans.”

* Sept. 26 - Earl Major, human resources business leader, Humana, “Human Capital at Humana: How a Top Health Solutions Company Defines its Approach to Acquiring and Retaining Talent.”

* Oct. 3 - Jody Conaway, human resources director, Boston Scientic Corp., “Leading through Change.”

* Oct. 10 - Eric Roegner, president, Alcoa, Global Hard Alloy Extrusions, “Alcoa, Exploring New Depths in Oil & Gas Exploration.”

* Oct. 17 - Rollie Helmling, director of motor sports development, Indiana Economic Development Corp., “Revving Up the Indiana Motorsports Industry.”

* Oct. 24 - Sybil Woolfork, director of marketing, Disney Vacation Club, “Here to There.”

* Oct. 31 - Tia Cummings, assistant product director, consumer healthcare division, Johnson & Johnson, “Developing Your Personal Brand: Why it is Important and How to do It.”

* Nov. 7 - Stephen Pruitt, Arvin Gottlieb/Missouri Endowed Chair of Business Economics and Finance, University of Missouri-Kansas City, “When You Wish Upon a Star …”

* Nov. 14 - Linda Mastandrea, attorney, vice president, Sport of Chicago 2016, “Going for the Gold.”

* Nov. 21 - Rick Smith, CEO and chairman, Equifax Inc., topic to be announced.

* Dec. 5 - Scott Sorensen, chief financial officer, Bingham McHale LLP, “Achieving Success in Your Career: It’s up to You!”

Quadraspec officials announce hiring of chief scientific officer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Quadraspec Inc. officials announced Tuesday (Sept. 2) that Stefan Gruenwald, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the company as chief scientific officer.

“Stefan will be an instrumental asset in providing exemplary scientific and strategic leadership and in developing Quadraspec’s technology and scientific work force,” said Jonathon Bradley, director of staffing at Quadraspec, a Purdue Research Park-based company.

Dr. Gruenwald is responsible for Quadraspec’s intellectual property, scientific development strategy, and research and development oversight.

He received graduate and doctorate degrees from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. Since 2004 he has been the adviser to many small startup companies in the biotech and nanotech arena and has mediated talks with angel investors and venture capital groups.

“Stefan’s knowledge as a physician and a researcher also gives us the capability to link our development to customer requirements,” said Richard Adelman, Quadraspec president and COO. “These unique combinations of skills and experience are a tremendous addition to the Quadraspec team. We are pleased he has decided to relocate from San Diego to West Lafayette in order to join us.”

About Quadraspec

Quadraspec Inc. commercializes the Bio-CD System using Spinning Disc Interferometry™ (SDI™), a patented direct detection diagnostics platform for high-throughput, label-free, highly sensitive and multiplexed assays for protein analysis. Quadraspec products include an SDI™ Bio-CD reader capable of reading more than 750 samples per hour; a fully automated sample processor capable of either 100 or 250 samples per hour; a workstation with customized software packages; and Assay Development Bio-CDs for partners and researchers to develop or perform assays and diagnostics.

About Purdue Research Park

The 725-acre Purdue Research Park (http://www.purdueresearchpark.com) has the largest university-affiliated business incubation complex in the country. The park is home to more than 140 companies. About 90 of these firms are technology-related and another 39 are incubator businesses. The park was ranked No. 1 in 2004 for university- affiliated research parks and received the 2005 Outstanding Commercialization Award, both from the Association of University Research Parks. The park’s companies also have received numerous recognitions, including a 2006 MIRA Award: Innovation of the Year for Purdue Research Park/Quadraspec Inc. and a 2005 CoreNet Global Innovators Award finalist. The Purdue Research Park is part of the Purdue Research Foundation, a private, nonprofit foundation created to assist Purdue University in the area of economic development. In addition to the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, the foundation has established or is currently constructing technology parks in other locations around Indiana including Merrillville, New Albany and Indianapolis.

Sweet corn and pumpkin varieties featured at twilight meeting

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Vegetable growers and master gardeners can tour plots by wagon and compare different varieties of pumpkins and sweet corn at the Sept. 9 twilight meeting in Wanatah, Ind., at the Pinney-Purdue Agricultural Center.

The Pumpkin and Sweet Corn Twilight Meeting will begin with registration at 6 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. CDT). Participants will have an opportunity to look at synergistic and supersweet sweet corn varieties, powdery mildew resistant pumpkin varieties and the cucurbit downy mildew sentinel plot.

“We have done some different things with our plots this year,” said Liz Maynard, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service vegetable crops specialist. “This is the first year we have sprayed for powdery mildew in only half the pumpkin plots, so growers can see a difference.”

During the wagon tours, Rick Foster, Purdue Extension vegetable and fruit crops pest management specialist, will discuss insect management in sweet corn and give an update on corn earworm. Dan Egel, Purdue Extension plant pathologist, will point out various diseases in the fields, and participants will have the chance to see symptoms and ask questions. Maynard will highlight the different varieties in plots and discuss production methods and weed management strategies.

Registration is due by Sept. 2 and costs $5, which can be paid at the door and includes dinner. If the weather permits and the sweet corn is ready for harvest, participants will be able to taste some of the different varieties from the plots at dinner. Those interested can register by contacting Maynard at (219) 785-5674, emaynard@purdue.edu. Registration for those wanting to receive private pesticide applicator recertification credit (PARP) is $15.

Pinney-Purdue Agricultural Center is located at 11402 S. County Line Road. More information is available online at http://www.hort.purdue.edu/fruitveg/events/PumpkinTwiliteTour08.pdf. For additional questions, contact Maynard.

The meeting is sponsored by Purdue Extension and the Northwest Indiana Commercial Horticulture Program, a part of Purdue’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.

Healthcare Symposium at Purdue focuses on challenges, solutions

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Sept. 5 conference at Purdue University will focus on challenges and solutions in the health care industry.

The sixth annual History, Ethics, Human Rights and Innovations in Healthcare Symposium, titled Challenges and Solutions: Building a Better Future, will take place from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse.

Purdue’s School of Nursing and the College of Science are sponsoring the conference, which will feature a variety of world-renowned speakers and a poster session.

Registration for the conference is free for Purdue faculty, staff and students and $50 for the general public. Registration includes a boxed lunch. Those interested in attending need to register by Monday (Sept. 1). Registration for the event will begin at 7:30 a.m., and a welcome and introductions will follow at 8 a.m.

Cynthia Connolly, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, will be the first speaker, with a talk titled “TB Or Not TB? Fighting the ‘White Plague’ in America’s Children.” Her book, “Saving Sickly Children: The Tuberculosis Preventorium in American Life, 1909-1970,” was published this spring. Connolly’s current research focuses on the history of nurses and AIDS.

At 10 a.m., Dr. T. Berry Brazelton and Ann Stadtler, both of Harvard Medical School, will speak about “The Touchpoints Approach: Strengthening Families, Building Communities.”

Brazelton, considered to be one of the foremost authorities on pediatrics and child development, founded the Brazelton Touchpoints Center at Children’s Hospital Boston in 1993 to mobilize communities around children and families in order to bring relationships back into health care and to transform child care into family care. He is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and chapters and 40 books.

Stadtler is one of the original faculty members and curriculum developers at Brazelton Touchpoints Center and is the director of site development and training. She was a primary care nurse practitioner in private pediatric practice before joining Brazelton at Children’s Hospital Boston.

Three School of Nursing faculty, Julie Novak and professors Clara Richardson and Jenny Coddington, completed the Touchpoints training at Harvard with Brazelton and Stadtler and have created a training site at Purdue University. Participants who are interested in future local Touchpoints training will have the opportunity to sign up at the conference.

Following lunch, Scott Serota, president and chief executive officer of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, will speak on “Health Policy and the Future of Healthcare.” He earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue and was named a distinguished alumnus of the College of Science in 2006. He holds a master’s degree in health administration and planning from Washington University School of Medicine. He is a founding member of the National Business Group on Health’s Institute on Healthcare Costs and Solutions, and a board member of the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership.

The Purdue School of Nursing and College of Science also are accepting posters that focus on innovative programs in health care. They will be on display throughout the conference. For information about submitting a poster, contact Clara Richardson in the School of Nursing at richarcj@purdue.edu by Monday (Sept. 1).

Nurses who attend the conference will receive 4.5 contact hours from Purdue University Continuing Nursing Education, which has been approved as a provider in continuing education by the Indiana State Nurses Association.

For information or to register for the conference, contact Roxanne Martin in the School of Nursing at (765) 494-4003 or martinrj@purdue.edu

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