Students Find Science 'the coolest thing ever'

CORNING , N.Y. – Some of the faces in the halls of Sullivan Park one week last month looked a bit younger than those of average college interns. That’s because those faces belonged to 27 local high school students participating in a five-day summer science program. The teens spent their first week of summer vacation getting a glimpse into Corning’s research and development labs, and none of them seemed to miss sleeping in or swimming at the lake.

“This is the coolest thing ever,” said Kimberly Tulanowski, 15, as she opened a Petri dish and showed off a gel-like substance used to coat LCD glass for 3D televisions.  Kimberly, from Elkland High School, and lab partner Jake Weinstein, from Corning East High School, created the sample during Corning’s Summer Science Experience. The program was organized and run for the past 22 years by Dr. Stephen Tong, now retired. Mornings are spent in 30-minute presentations about optics, ceramics, and LCD glass, and then visit up to 11 different labs.

In the afternoon, they students get to enjoy their favorite part of the day – hands-on activities. From 1 until 4:30 p.m. Corning scientists and engineers led experiments and taught students to work with state-of-the-art technology.

In one lab, Sarah Wright, 15, of Bath-Haverling High School, discussed the benefits of the program’s science lessons as she and five other students stirred a series of solutions together to create a gooey, glue-like polymer substance.  The students called it the “slime” experiment, an apt name for the afternoon activity, said John Wight, the Corning scientist leading the lab work. After the six students made their polymers, John led them to the Atrium where they tested the attributes of their fiber goo. They noted each fiber’s strength, texture, draw, and spooling characteristics. “It’s fun,” said Devin Li, 15, from West High School, as he stretched a fiber strand as fine as silk thread from one side of the Atrium to the other. “It’s just cool to do all these experiments that you can’t typically do in school.”

In the X-ray Diffraction Lab, Noah Schultes, 16, and Miranda Winningham, 15, both of Corning East High School, used X-ray diffraction technology and some help from Brett Abel, chemistry technician, to identify elements in a mystery compound challenge. They learned about the technology and put their knowledge of the Periodic Table of Elements to work. “There are a lot of things to be learned up here, and it’s been neat to see the different labs and understand the different research,” Noah said.

For some students, like Jake, the days of lectures, tours, and experiments confirmed his aspirations for a career in science. “The experiments gave us a taste of what (the scientists) do every day,” Jake said. “I am surprised by how much I can understand with basic knowledge of chemistry, but also amazed at how complex it can be.

Harvard Presents Honorary Degree to Jamie Houghton

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Former Corning Chairman and CEO Jamie Houghton received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University at commencement ceremonies last week. Other honorary degree recipients included such notables as operatic tenor Placido Domingo and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Jamie is a former senior fellow with the Harvard Corporation. University President Drew Faust commended Jamie for being "a fellow fiercely committed to his university's care."  
Read more about the honorees here.

Jamie served the Harvard Corporation -- the main governing body for Harvard University - for 15 years, retiring last year. In a story in the Harvard Gazette, Jamie said he admired the "constant reinvention" the university undergoes. "There's always something new, but there's always something reassuringly familiar and there's the same commitment to what really matters: excellent education and research."

Jamie earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1958 and graduated from Harvard Business School in 1962, just before beginning his career at Corning. He retired from the company in 2007 after his second stint as chairman of Corning's Board of Directors.

Weeks: 2011 off to a 'terrific start' for Corning
April 27, 2011

CORNING , N.Y. – Corning continued its strong growth momentum during the first quarter of 2011, with sales of nearly $2 billion – a 24% increase over last year’s first-quarter revenues. “We’re off to a terrific start for the year,” Chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks told employees in his quarterly voicemail message.

Corning® Gorilla® Glass continues to grab investor attention: It’s now designed into more than 370 electronic appliance models, and it drove year-over-year growth of 165% for Specialty Materials. But growth was also part of the first-quarter story for Corning’s entire business portfolio:

• Telecommunications sales grew 30% over last year’s first quarter, led by a demand for fiber-to-the-home solutions.
• Ongoing consumer demand for LCD TVs drove slight increases in sales of display glass; price declines were moderate.
• A recovering diesel market led to record quarterly sales for heavy-duty and light-duty diesel filters – revenues for Environmental Technologies were up 12% from last quarter and more than 80% over last year’s first quarter.
• Life Sciences saw sales growth of 20% over the first quarter of 2011.

“Our first-quarter results demonstrate that Corning’s growth opportunities are real, and we are succeeding at building a bigger, more balanced company,” Wendell said.

Wendell also thanked employees worldwide for their support of earthquake relief efforts in Japan. “An event like this touches all of us,” he said, noting that employees have contributed more than $100,000 through donations and creative fundraisers. “Your generosity demonstrates Corning at its best.”

In a news release, Chief Financial Officer Jim Flaws said the company continues to keep a watchful eye on the display component supply chain in Japan. “It is our opinion that a potential component shortage that could cause a significant disruption [to Corning’s business] is unlikely,” Jim said. He also said that Corning views reduced production by Sharp Electronics “as a temporary situation that will not last beyond the second quarter.”

Corning expects significant growth in demand LCD glass in the third quarter, the release said, as the industry prepares for the traditionally strong fourth-quarter retail season.

Market trends like mobile touch applications and large, interactive displays – similar to those proposed in Corning’s "A Day Made of Glass ” vision – continue to play to the company’s strengths, leaders said. Corning remains encouraged about reaching its $10 billion annual sales goal by 2014.

Investors Get 'Up Close and Personal' with Innovations
February 8, 2010

Ken Sofio, vice president of Investor Relations, said this year's investor meeting was more interactive than ever before.

NEW YORK – Wall Street investors last week got an up-close look at how Corning innovations are making their way into some of the world’s most cutting-edge products and market opportunities. A host of interactive exhibits showcased the strength, reliability, and efficiency of Corning products – from those used in chemical processing and energy generation to remarkable cover glasses, displays, and more.

Nearly 200 analysts attended the annual investor meeting at TheTimesCenter in New York City. In the lively exhibit hall, analysts crowded around sheets of Gorilla® glass, trying their best to scratch it (they couldn't), and fired balls of ice through a high-powered "cannon," trying to get Corning's photovoltaic glass to shatter (it didn't.) They had a chance to see and feel many other innovations, including paper-thin, flexible glass and the Microvision handheld projector, featuring Corning Green Laser G-1000 as an embedded solution.

After the 75-minute-long innovation exhibit, Corning leaders began several hours of presentations and discussions on the company’s 2010 outlook, innovation pipeline, and strategies for creating new revenue opportunities. About 400 additional investors joined the presentation portion of the meeting via webcast and phone.

Ken Sofio, vice president of Investor Relations, said the event met all its objectives of being transparent and candid with investors about all aspects of the company’s operations and expectations for the year ahead. And while no one can predict short-term stock fluctuations in a jittery global market, many analysts expressed their overall confidence in Corning’s performance in their post-meeting reports.

One analyst followed up the meeting in an e-mail to Ken: “Great set of exhibits (I particularly enjoyed the Gorilla glass demo), and comprehensive discussion of major business units and forecasts. Corning sets the bar for degree of transparency and access to management with these events.”

Corning Whistle, A Blast from the Past, Has New Home
February 2, 2010

CORNING , N.Y. – Since 1929, the company’s historic factory whistle has blown eight times a day from atop the old Southside Powerhouse building west of Headquarters. As of this week, the whistle has a new home: the roof of the Northside Powerhouse, where it will take advantage of an energy-efficient steam system.

The Southside Powerhouse generates super-heated and pressurized steam to provide hot water to Corning Headquarters and the Refractories plant – it has also powered the whistle through its steam-generating system. But a newer, high-efficiency hot-water system is replacing the Southside’s aging equipment, with less by-product steam for the whistle. Meanwhile, the combined heat and power systems at the Northside facility already generates enough high-pressure steam to efficiently fuel the short whistle blasts. The move will result in an overall 20 percent reduction in energy consumption.

Most local residents and employees won’t even be aware of the switch of location, said Business Services Vice President Mike Donnelly. “It may sound slightly different to some people, depending on where you are in relation to the new location,” he said. “But basically, there’s no change – other than a lot of energy savings for Corning.”

This actually isn’t the whistle’s first move. It sat atop other Corning buildings as far back as the 1880s before moving to the “new” powerhouse in 1929. Once a means of alerting shift workers that it was time to report to work or take a break, the whistle has long since become simply a part of the fabric of the community. “We wanted to preserve the tradition, and we worked hard to ensure we could replicate the sound and tone at the new location,” Mike added.

The old whistle in its new home will continue blowing eight times a day, every day except Sunday: 6:45 a.m. (two blasts); 7 a.m. (one blast); 7:45 a.m. (two blasts); 8 a.m. (one blast); noon (one blast); 12:45 p.m. (two blasts); 1 p.m. (one blast); and 5 p.m. (one blast).

The crew planning and executing the whistle move gathered to watch its first successful blast on the Northside Powerhouse.	Corning’s whistle blast pure steam. This photo shows one of the whistle’s last blasts from its old Southside Powerhouse location.

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