“It’s not science fiction; it’s Pittsburgh innovation.”
Pittsburgh has a rich history of innovation. Once the gateway to the west, our region has become a gateway to the future with new advances in healthcare, robotics, advanced materials, homeland security, information security, financial services, telecommunications and many more fields happening even more frequently than the Steelers make the playoffs.
Our region’s 35 colleges and universities and more than 200 major corporate, government and university-affiliated research and development facilities are ensuring that many of the world’s best and brightest minds are working here constantly to solve existing and emerging challenges.
Read a bit about the Pittsburgh region’s legacy of innovation below, or click here to browse recent headlines that tell the story of what kind of innovation is taking place in Pittsburgh today and where our region is headed in the years to come.
The Pittsburgh Region – A Legacy of Innovation
Some highlights of the Pittsburgh region’s legacy of innovation include:
- Fulton built America’s first steamboat in the Pittsburgh region.
- Pittsburghers refined the first petroleum and founded America’s gas and oil industries.
- Westinghouse patented the air brake, which revolutionized the railroad industry; made electric lighting possible with alternating currents and developed the electric motor in Pittsburgh.
- PPG operated the first commercially successful plate glass factory.
- George Ferris invented the Ferris Wheel in Pittsburgh, and the first World Series was played here, too.
- Pittsburgher Nellie Bly became the first female war correspondent.
- The first commercial radio station, first movie theater and first gas station were all Pittsburgh creations.
- The Big Mac and the banana split were both first enjoyed by Pittsburghers.
- The first commercial nuclear reactor in the United States was built in the Pittsburgh region.
- Carnegie Mellon University launched the world’s first Robotics Institute and gave birth to the emoticon. :-)
- University of Pittsburgh doctors developed CPR, and Pitt Dr. Jonas Salk created the first effective polio vaccine.
- Pittsburgh doctors conducted the first heart-liver-kidney transplant.
And today, that innovation continues …
- Carnegie Mellon University garners more than $73 million from the National Science Foundation each year.
- UPMC is THE leader in use of innovative information technology in health care, according to InformationWeek 500, and ranks among the top 10 recipients for National Institutes of Health funding.
- UPMC Cancer Centers rank among the best in the nation for cancer care, says U.S. News & World Report.
- Pittsburgh has more than 200 companies and 13,000 people working in the region’s chemicals business cluster.
- The University of Pittsburgh is second in the nation for microscale and nanoscale research.
- Southwestern Pennsylvania is emerging as America’s “green” region, and is home to globally leading companies in energy and the environment, as well as one of the largest concentrations of LEED-certified buildings in the country. In fact, our region is behind only Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., in total number of green buildings.
Recent Headlines
February 20, 2008 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Hillman gives $10 million to CMU computer science complex
February 20, 2008 - Pop City
Chrysalis Ventures opens office in Pittsburgh
February 20, 2008 - Pop City
Pittsburgh firm offers entrepreneurs financial and full-service support
February 20, 2008 - Pop City
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh raise unprecedented $161M
February 18, 2008 - Carnegie Mellon University Press Release
Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center Teams with FOX Sports, FOXSports.com on MSN To Answer Fans' Questions About NASCAR
February 15, 2008 - Duquesne University Press Release
Greening an Urban Campus: With Latest Power Purchase, DU Relies Entirely on Clean Energy
February 14, 2008 - Carnegie Science Center Press Release
Carnegie Science Center Introduces the Next Generation of Laser Entertainment
February 13, 2008 - Pop City
MEDRAD purchases Minnesota medical firm for $361M
February 13, 2008 - Pop City
Pittsburgh developing a home for robotic toy makers
February 13, 2008 - Pop City
HydroGen teams with Samsung and plans global expansion, significant hiring
February 11, 2008 - Pitt Chronicle
Pitt Gets $1 Million Grant for Nano Science Research
February 11, 2008 - Duquesne University Press Release
Duquesne, Bayer Foundation Encourage Women, Minorities in Science Fields
February 7, 2008 - Carnegie Mellon University Press Release
Carnegie Mellon Receives $1.85 Million Research Grant To Accelerate Safe Development of Clean Energy Technologies
February 7, 2008 - Carnegie Mellon University Press Release
Carnegie Mellon Design Professor Creates Educational Games To Teach Families How To Live Healthy Lives
February 6, 2008 - Pop City
BIOSAFE technology destroys dangerous microbes that settle on surfaces, hiring
February 6, 2008 - Pop City
NASA Pathfinder leader joins CMU’s lunar race team
February 6, 2008 - Carnegie Mellon University Press Release
Carnegie Mellon Scientists Develop Novel Fluorescent Proteins for Live Cell Imaging, Biosensor Design
February 5, 2008 - Carnegie Mellon University Press Release
Carnegie Mellon Mechanical Engineer Wins National Science Foundation Early Career Award
February 4, 2008 - Robert Morris University Press Release
Robert Morris University’s CARES Program receives grants from Innovation Works
February 4, 2008 - Pitt ChroniclePitt Researchers Test New Vaccine Against Deadliest Strain of Avian Flu
February 4, 2008 - Pitt Chronicle
Pitt Study Links Genetic Mutations to Preterm Birth Risk
February 4, 2008 - Pitt Chronicle
Mellon Foundation Grant to Support “Cyberscholarship” Program
February 4, 2008 - Carnegie Mellon University Press Release
Carnegie Mellon's Edmund M. Clarke Wins A.M. Turing Award, Computing's Highest Honor
February 2008 - PRA Post
Holtec Expands Nuclear Business, Hiring 500
February 2008 - PRA Post
Tech Start-Up Haven: Innovation Works Invests $100M in 2007, Adds 100th Portfolio Company
February 2008 - PRA Post
Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center: Unprecedented Biomedical Research Capacity
February 2008 - PRA Post
$215M Hasbro Deal for Local Innovator
February 2008 - PRA Post
Solar Technology: Centria Develops National Building Model With $300,000 Federal Grant
February 2008 - PRA Post
Greener Biodiesel: $1.9M for Thar Technologies Research
February 2008 - PRA Post
Green Fuel Center: Ethanol Innovator Plans Two New Plants
February 2008 - PRA Post
Seven Green Building Grants Fund Product Innovations
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