Peggy Smedley Show

This week's show is powered by Hilti. Peggy talks about the state of cyber health, sharing details from a new report. She says these nefarious characters are getting more creative—and they are more innovative than ever before, and these attacks are happening fast and furious. She also discusses: If there has been an increase or decrease in distributed denial of service attacks. How nefarious chara...

This week's show is powered by Hilti. Peggy and Erik Mikysa, senior vice president of marketing, Hilti, talk about the biggest needs in the construction industry today. He says the two things keeping construction executives up at night are material costs/issues with supply chain and labor—and labor supply and labor cost. Power tools and tool management isn't at the top of the list—but the reason t...

Peggy and Mark Chung, executive vice president, roadway practice, National Safety Council, talk about the Road to Zero. He says the Road to Zero Coalition is driven by a vision for the future to have zero roadway fatalities. They also discuss: The U.S. Dept. of Transportation and how it adapted a system approach to safety, which includes safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, and safer speeds....

Peggy explains challenges and solutions to new ways of working in the era of hybrid business. She says changes with the workforce were well underway even before the pandemic made remote work common practice. She also discusses: A new report that identifies how to make hybrid work work. Why employees are now rethinking their "worth it" equation. How companies will need to meet employees where they...

Peggy and Dawn James, director, global IoT industry strategy – energy & environmental science, Microsoft, talk about energy, environmental, digital transformation, and everything in between. She says we are seeing a transition from coal and a race toward net zero. They also discuss: Her background in digital transformation and energy. How data insights can transform industries today. How to reduce...

Peggy and Vinnie Quinn, cofounder and director, Evercam, talk about cameras on the construction jobsite. He says camera hardware and communications were getting much better, but the applications of camera software hadn't really come a long way. They also discuss: What led to the development of the company. Construction case studies in Ireland and the United States. How Evercam is being used in the...

Do consumer intentions for sustainable lifestyles align with the actions they are taking? Peggy answers, citing a new report that measures these metrics. She says 33% have strong intentions to live sustainably and another 63% have moderate intentions. She also discusses: The nine most impactful sustainable behaviors that brands and consumers can take together. The most common approaches taken by c...

Peggy and Thorsten Wuest, associate professor, West Virginia University, talk about smart manufacturing and the supply chain. He says smart manufacturing is at the core of the supply chain and it will help us overcome disruptions in the future. They also discuss: Three key things that smart manufacturing brings to the table that have a supply chain implication. Industry 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0...

Peggy and Patrick Gall, head of channel development, Orro, shares about the company and what it provides. He says it provides a smart living system, comprised of intelligent lighting, which doubles as a way to control other smart home connected devices. He explains how human-centric lighting can take artificial lighting and sync to circadian rhythm. They also discuss: The interoperability of devic...

Peggy talks about a trend near and dear to her heart that is making a comeback: Made in America. She shares that many of the big companies are bringing manufacturing operations back to the states. She also discusses: The history of manufacturing in America—and what caused the decline. What is driving the resurgence of American manufacturing today. How the Internet of Things and artificial intellig...

Peggy and Ramy Harik, associate professor, University of South Carolina and chief manufacturing officer, Nephron Pharmaceuticals, talk about smart manufacturing. He says there are a lot of misconceptions of manufacturing being dirty, manual work—and manufacturing is actually the opposite. They also discuss: How we can entice the younger generations to consider a career in manufacturing. A challeng...

Peggy and Erik Bernal, CEO, Elite Water Systems, talk about water quality in the home. He says Hurricane Katrina spurred his curiosity, but the passion was driven by a water test that the Army Reserve conducted. Since that time, he has been on a mission to provide homeowners with an option and to understand there is an upgraded version of their tap water. They also discuss: How to approach builder...

Peggy talks about women in technology—and how to get women into your inner circle. She asks: Are you working to get women back in the technology industry since the pandemic forced so many women out of the workforce—and what exactly are you doing to bring women in? She also discusses: The history of International Women's Day and the theme for this year. How many computing-related jobs are held by w...

Peggy and Joe Cuiffi, assistant teaching professor, Penn State New Kensington, talk about reskilling and upskilling—and a shift in hiring in manufacturing today. He says manufacturers have shifted a lot of their demand in the last 10 years, with new digital competency skills that have crept in. They also discuss: Scope creep and how it is happening everywhere on the job. How small and medium manuf...

Peggy and Ansul Rajgharia, director, connected products and surge, Schneider Electric, talk about how Wiser works. He says you cannot change things that you cannot track—people can save energy if they know how and where they spend their energy. Wiser is a home energy monitor that goes inside the electrical panel and gives realtime understanding of where exactly energy is being spent. They also dis...

Peggy asks: Has all our progress with women in manufacturing stalled? On the first segment she walks through a timeline of women's role in the manufacturing industry. She shares where we are today—and what needs to happen next to encourage a more diverse workforce. She also discusses: What decades saw the biggest booms for women in manufacturing. Factors in the past several decades that have cause...

Peggy and Binil Starly, professor, North Carolina State University, talk about opportunities in manufacturing for smart technologies. He says during the pandemic he has witnessed a rise in the importance of manufacturing in the United States—and as we are emerging out of it, manufacturing is not going to be the same as what we have seen in the last decade. They also discuss: At what point manufact...

Peggy and Brad Wills, director, strategic customers and programs, Schneider Electric, talks about energy efficiency in the home. Having grown up as an IBM kid, he says he never understood why the electrical distribution system of the home wasn't connected to the internet. They also discuss: Why this market developed opposite of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Why we can't make behavioral changes if w...

Since the start of the pandemic, cyber attacks have been on the rise. Peggy shares where we are today, what we need to do to secure our businesses, and why we need to have a plan for how we will respond to cyber attacks when they do happen. She also discusses: Statistics related to recent data breaches and how much it costs. What can be done to protect against a breach. What needs to be done if a...

Peggy and Nick McQuire, director of enterprise AI and innovation, Microsoft, talk all about advances in AI (artificial intelligence) and what led to the development of the AI Business School. He says Microsoft designed this going back to 2019 and it continues to expand, but it was designed entirely around helping business leaders succeed with AI. They also discuss: The three initial core pillars a...

Peggy and Zhen Bai, assistant professor, University of Rochester, talk about AR (augmented reality) and how it is improving people's lives. She says augmented reality is the technology that can superimpose information right in front of the physical environment surrounding us. They also discuss: The real power of augmented reality. The differences between AR and VR (virtual reality). How AR technol...

Peggy answers if traffic fatalities went up or down from 2020 to 2021. She shares new numbers that paint a picture of how many people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes—and what we need to do to end roadway deaths by 2050, which is the goal of many organizations. She also discusses: What needs to happen next to curb traffic fatalities. Five key areas to build multiple layers of protection. Reco...

Peggy and Jacob Chakareski, associate professor, New Jersey Institute of Technology, talk about the impact of mobile virtual and augmented reality. He says there are a variety of societal applications that these technologies could advance such as remote training, remote sensing, and more. They also discuss: How long before we as a society embrace this technology. Virtual human teleportation and ho...

Peggy and Frederic Desbiens, program manager for IoT and edge computing, Eclipse Foundation, talk about the organization. He says it is an open-source organization, a non-profit, and it is the home to more than 400 open-source projects, delivering services. They also discuss: The importance of open source. The importance of partnerships, relationships, and collaboration. Unique findings as a resul...

Peggy says we are seeing IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology) coming together to improve efficiencies, safety, business acumen, and so much more. She walks through a historical perspective, where we are today, and where we need to go in the future. She also discusses: How outdated systems are ripe for cyberattacks. The top three benefits of IT and OT convergence. A case stud...