I have been doing video interviews with a number of CIOs, software executives and practitioners about acrobatics they have been seeing in various vertical sectors during the COVID-19 crisis and the "New normal" they can expect as the economy wakes up. Here is the index to the growing list of interviews.
This time, it is Lou Von Thaer, who is President and CEO of Battelle which is a major force in science and technology discovery. Over 90 years, they have helped in a wide range of strategic national R&D projects and innovation - including around nuclear research, space technology, biotech and cyber defense. Today the company is focused on three major market sectors: National Security, Healthcare and Large Research Infrastructure.
Lou has had an impressive career starting at Bell Labs, then General Dynamics and a number of other defense technology companies. He has been CEO at Battelle for 3 years and as you can see he is comfortable talking across a wide range of STEM disciplines.
You can feel the intensity as he describes starting around 6:15 how quickly their vaporized hydrogen peroxide-based Critical Care Decontamination System scaled when N95 masks were in critically short supply in March. In 4 months, they have already disinfected and extended lives of over 2 million masks. (he mistakenly said 2 thousand in the interview).
In addition, they have been working on new forms of CV19 tests, more affordable ventilators, and even a sensor to detect CV19 in the air. He also describes work around vaccines, environmental models, "forever" chemicals and brain-machine interfaces to help paraplegics. They have also had a role in a number of consumer products like CD-ROMs, candy coatings and golf balls. He says he feels like he is back at Bell Labs in its heyday when they were patenting a new product a day.
I especially liked the section where we talk about his leadership style. He says "CEOs never get to choose between two good options - those decisions are made lower in the organization - you are always being asked to choose between the bad choices." He says he benefits from "standing on the shoulders of 10 previous CEOs " and talks about "prioritizing safety of your employees and society".
In many ways it is a feel-good conversation: Normally vaccines take 6 years or longer to develop and get approved. He was initially skeptical, but now says he is optimistic about CV19 vaccines by end of year. Over and over he talks about how well public/private/academic partnerships have worked during the crisis, including 11 pm calls with the Governor of Ohio and FDA leadership. "Fail faster" comes up early and often. He says as a country "we are not great planners, but we do stand together and react when there is a major threat.". He is proud of how businesses have reacted in the last few months "People did not sit around feeling sorry for themselves." Indeed.
It is a must-watch session. You will feel uplifted by this man fluent in so many STEM disciplines.
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