Different Flavors

We’re excited to announce the newest “flavors” of n^th Solutions!

The President’s Blog, written by Eric Canfield, will feature his thoughts from everything from business and innovation to Twinkies.  Read all about it here.

The Engineers’ Whiteboard is a collaboration of several of n^th’s engineers.  The blog will feature their different takes on inventing and life.  Check out Scott, A.J. and Jim’s wisdom here.

The Third Patent In Six Years For nth Solutions

The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued n^th Solutions' third patent - US 8166996 B2 - on Tuesday.  The patent (one of two for a new product) was the result of several years of hard work by the engineering team. The talented team collectively holds more than 50 commercialized United States and international patents.
We're very excited for our intellectual property to be recognized. Please join us in celebrating this innovation milestone!

Behind The Scenes at nth Solutions: The Sales Extraordinaire

(Blogger’s note: n^th Solutions boasts a crop of resourceful, skilled personnel.  Here’s a glimpse of one of our many talented staffers.)

His job might be a lot easier if n^th Solutions sold products to the big box stores.  But with his jovial demeanor, distinctive Philly accent and offbeat humor, he provides tailor-made solutions for the independent retailers he serves.

His name is Bob Klein, and he’s n^th’s national sales manager.  He’s been in sales pretty much since birth, at least that’s how he tells it.

“Remember insurance debits?” he says, referring to insurance where a premium may be collected on a weekly basis. “My father was in sales and he’d drive around each week collecting insurance debits.When I was a little kid I would ride with him and keep his books. My mother worked in sales at Penn Fruit.”


The Penn Fruit Company, a regional Philadelphia and Baltimore grocery chain, gave Bob his start.He worked as a grocery clerk starting at age 15.But he didn’t even attend his high school graduation – he was already on his way to Coast Guard basic training.


“I joined the Coast Guard because they weren’t going to Vietnam,” he says, wryly. “Guess where I ended up?”


Sure enough, the USCGC Morgenthau sailed to Vietnam in 1968, and Bob, a newly-minted cook, went with it.


“I cooked for the LORAN stations (navigation systems for ships and aircraft) and watched the C-130s do touch-and-gos as they dropped us supplies,” he says, excitedly fidgeting in his chair.“They’d shove out the skids of supplies out the back of the plane and by the time we were getting the stuff they’d be gone.”


After stints on the USCGC Eagle and USCGC Tamaroa, Bob got out of the Coast Guard in 1972 and went on to college, earning his degree in food marketing from St. Joseph’s University.


“My goal was to stay in (grocery) stores, but Penn Fruit went out of business,” he muses.


His first sales job out of school was selling kosher meats.But it’s his 15 years with Johnson Wax that cemented his sales skills: he won top salesperson of the year for the United States twice and once was a runner-up for top sales manager worldwide.Beside Johnson Wax, he’s worked for 7 Up Corporate, Wells Lamont, Hercon Laboratories and Aptiv.But at n^th he’s called the Bug Man for his years selling Raid pesticides.


“I never missed a Raid objective in 15 years,” he says proudly.


And he loves to tell wacky stories from his many sales calls.
“One time I walked into a store and the employees made me put on a pair of rubber boots before I could see the store buyer.I ended up pitching him while he was slaughtering cows!” he says, chortling. “The buyer told me that he bought from me because I stood there and didn’t throw up!”

With that kind of persistence, it’s easy to see why Bob is an important part of the n^th Solutions team.

Bob climbs the rigging on the USCGC Eagle.

Bob's Big Jump - "swim call" in Bermuda off of the Eagle.

USCGC Morgenthau in New York. Note the construction of the Twin Towers in the background.

Allentown and The Great Hitchhiker

When we talk about stink bugs, we often speak of them as an invasive species.  Outside, they decimate whatever agriculture they can nibble on, causing millions in crop damage and drawing the ire of farmers.  Inside, they make themselves a nuisance to homeowners with their haphazard, clumsy flight and noxious odor.  Yes, it’s easy to feel invaded.  But stink bugs may view themselves more like biological tourists – they must have really liked the song “Allentown” by Billy Joel, because they felt they needed to stow away aboard a cargo container from Asia in the late 1990’s and see this mystical Pennsylvania town for themselves.  Watch the stink bugs’ American adventure unfold in our newest video: The Great Hitchhiker.

All joking aside, stink bugs have spread quickly to 36 states in the last few years. They’ve taken a shine to the warmer climates, and are rapidly expanding throughout the southeastern United States.  It’s there that farmers grow tons of tasty snacks that are perfect for stink bugs – soybeans, for one.  Stink bugs will also be happy to take up residence in the Midwest’s Corn Belt, since corn is a choice morsel for stink bugs.

Our main concern is homeowners: people driven absolutely batty by the smelly, shield-shaped invaders.  Whether they’re flying into your hair, crawling on your toddler or dive-bombing you while you sleep, we want to help.  Feel free to email us or interact with us on Twitter.

Tesla vs. Edison: An nth Solutions Cage Match

n^th Solutions combines a whole lot of research and innovation, a dash of logistics and a smidgen mad scientist. But with eyes firmly fixed on the future, we tip our hat to the past. And two names provide constant fuel for debate: Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. 

For a quick introduction to the two pioneers, please see these articles. But who would win in a cage match? We polled some of the staff, and here are their responses:

Scott: What? It’s a toss-up.

Bob A.: You’ve got two opposite geniuses. On a physical level, Edison was kind of a wiry guy, and Tesla… well, a lot of people don’t know about him as much. I’d be glad to meet either one of them.
 

Ernie: Tesla, because Edison had to hire him.
 

Laura: Tesla. In a heartbeat. Because he’s better looking, and looks like a boxer. (She had to take a minute to look at the two pictures and decide.) 

Eric: For business, Edison. Technology? Tesla. Tesla was a flat-out genius. And when it comes to integrity, Tesla. In terms of business and self-promotion? Edison. 

A.J.: My uneducated decision would be that the fight would be unbelievably pathetic because neither of them are actually trained fighters – unless weapons are permitted in the fight, in which case I think Tesla would win with some sort of weapon that emitted a deadly amount of voltage.

Which inventor do you think would win in a cage match? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter.

Behind The Scenes at nth Solutions: The Secret Weapon

(Blogger’s note: n^th Solutions boasts a crop of resourceful, skilled personnel.  Here’s a glimpse of one of our many talented staffers.)

He sits with magnifiers perched on his head, tweezers clutched in his hand, working on minuscule electronics.  He’s quiet except for the occasional journey to the kitchen for military-grade coffee – that is, coffee that could stand without a cup.

His name is Jim, and he’s n^th’s secret weapon.

Jim grew up in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, near Stroudsburg.  A family friend who taught at MIT suggested Jim study engineering.  Off he went to Drexel University, and worked for Westinghouse in South Philadelphia as part of his co-op program.

His first brush with the military came when he was drafted in 1952, the year before he graduated.  So he signed up for the Air Force.

“I spent three whole days in the military,” he says, smiling.  He failed the physical exam due to football injuries and was discharged.  But there would be time enough for Jim’s work with the U.S. military.

After college Westinghouse offered him a job and transferred him to Kansas City, KS, where he met his wife, Julie.  Little did she know that she was in for a life of intrigue.

What was he working on? The afterburner section of the jet engine was his specialty when he was at Westinghouse.  Around the time Westinghouse was getting out of the jet engine industry, they sent him to North American Aviation in Columbus, Ohio. His project?  The F-4 Phantom.  The engineers were having problems with thermal aspects of the engine, so Jim served in an advisory role and taught the machinists.  “Have you ever gotten to ride in a Phantom?” he asks, interrupting his own story. “I have – I knew the test pilots really well, and I got to ride in the Phantom.”

Jim soon left Westinghouse for General Electric, where he became a third-level manager, and worked on more hush-hush projects.

“I used to get calls in the middle of the night,” he said. “Julie got used to it – I’d be on the phone and she’d make me coffee.  But it really bothered me that I’d have to go somewhere and I couldn’t tell her where I was…” Jim pauses, takes a breath. “I’ve worked in the missile fields in North Dakota…Montana…at Cape Canaveral…”

He worked on Minuteman 3 missiles, bio-satellites and what he blithely describes as “military stuff,” with a small chuckle.  “Remember when we were sending monkeys and men into space?  A lot of that was moving missiles around.  We were fooling people.”

But he did work on the space program, though he remains coy about his role.  “I was involved in solving problems, especially as it pertained to materials. We were behind other countries – especially the Soviet Union – in procuring and using materials in space.”

But over the years, he’s changed his mind about countries using missiles. “It didn’t bother me at first – but it bothered me toward the end,” he says.  “It scares me that we have the power to annihilate – really.  Back during the Cold War, we didn’t have much of a choice.  You had to have the power so that people wouldn’t mess with us.  Now, it’s different.  With this Iran thing, we could make it so there wouldn’t be an Iran. Do we want to do that? Do they know that we could? I hope they do.”