Gray Matter Systems Hires GE Innovation Leader
Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) September 26, 2016 -- When someone new arrives at a company, they often take a few months to settle in, meet the team members and adjust to the new environment. But not in Brian Courtney’s case.
The MIT graduate jumped right in and started building and working with his hands at Gray Matter’s headquarters on Innovation Drive just outside of Pittsburgh. Brian has been sawing, gluing and piecing pipes together for an innovative, exclusive Gray Matter project since Day One.
Brian is the new Vice President of Development and Managed Services at Gray Matter Systems and he’s a true innovator. It shows in every conversation you have with him.
“I believe there are many different styles of innovation. One of them happens to be a tinkerer,” said Brian. “I get excited about learning-- a little here and a little there until it suddenly comes together in your head.”
The new leadership position is a key part of Gray Matter’s recent growth. Brian will focus on building software solutions to reduce cost and increase efficiency in manufacturing, water and energy.
Brian will help companies use analytics to determine early signs of failure before they have major equipment problems.
“Unfortunately, failures happen during the worst possible times. Machine learning helps us identify failure before something majorly goes wrong,” said Brian. “Part of my role at Gray Matter is helping companies get ahead with predictive analytics.”
Developing and building are in his blood. Brian comes from GE where he held many roles including leading a data visualization team. His team won several awards for innovation and filed for 26 patents.
“My job was to drive the team to ideate and think innovatively,” said Brian.
Brian also attributes his deep technology background and business acumen with giving him a good sense of solutions that will work the best for customers. He graduated with a computer science degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and got his MBA from MIT.
Brian said that the Industrial Internet of Things is already flipping the way the business world works. With massive amounts of data to maintain and analyze, customers expect connectivity and information on everything they’re running. This is turning more businesses into customer-facing operations than in the past when information was just an internal focus.
Small and medium-sized companies alike are giving the biggest ones ideas on how to journey through the transition.
A self-professed tinkering jack-of-all-trades, Brian likes to break things. He’d rather learn from failure to figure out what went wrong and how knowing about it sooner would have prevented that failure.
“I think Edison said it best when he said he simply found 10,000 ways to not make a light bulb,” said Brian. “I believe people learn from their mistakes instead of their successes.”
Look for Brian Courtney’s next innovation in the coming months at Gray Matter Systems. For now—here’s a behind-the-scenes look as Brian tests a water system he just built on Innovation Drive:
https://vimeo.com/183850809
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About Gray Matter Systems
Gray Matter Systems is a leading consulting and technology company dedicated to transforming operations and empowering people. We provide critical infrastructure environments with cutting-edge solutions to both optimize operations, and ensure safe, reliable performance. We were recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of America's Fastest Growing Companies. Gray Matter is headquartered in the Pittsburgh, PA area with offices throughout the United States and Canada. For more information about Gray Matter Systems, please visit our website or for any questions, please contact Kerry McQuone at kmcquone(at)graymattersystems(dot)com or at 412-742-2410.
Kerry McQuone, Gray Matter Systems, LLC, +1 412 741 2410 Ext: 11, [email protected]
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