Distinguished Speakers at RIT Forecast the Interfaces of New Product Development

Pretend this is a game of Jeopardy and the category is “New Products.” What's the hottest toy on Santa's list? What kind of sports equipment will result in a “field day” for Nike?

Five distinguished speakers will give insights to the latest innovations at the RIT New Product Development Forum at Rochester Institute of Technology on Nov. 9. Presented by the College of Business' Technology Management Center, sessions on “The Interfaces of New Product Development” will run from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences auditorium. John Ettlie, Madelon and Richard Rosett Chair in RIT's College of Business, will serve as moderator.

Speakers include Douglas Boike, PDMA Foundation treasurer and president of Triad Consulting (Trends and Drivers of Success in NPD Practices); Jeff Jones, vice president of product development, RC2 Brands Inc. (A Peek Inside Santa's Workshop, an overview of NPD for the toy industry); Morgan Swink, associate professor of operations management, Michigan State University (Improving the Interface: Moving from Integrated to Collaborative NPD); John Loiars, senior level product development manager, Nike (Developing Sporting Goods Products that Consumers Desire and Regulatory Bodies Approve of); and Jack Azar, vice president, Environment, Health and Safety, Xerox Corporation (Sustainable Development: Xerox's Perspective).

The RIT New-Product Development Forum, a partnership between businesses and RIT faculty, is designed to address applied-research issues related to the successful introduction of new products and services.

Registration is required, and the cost per person is $100; fee is waived for NPD Forum members and RIT students and campus community. A continental breakfast will be served from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m., and lunch is scheduled from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.cob.rit.edu/, or contact Angelo Fuino at 475-7431 or afuino@cob.rit.edu.