Despite the grey skies over Pittsburgh on Wednesday, August 12, the rain held off for the community to enjoy the music, food, and fun at Life Sciences Pennsylvania’s signature summer event, Life Sciences on the Lawn. This marked the first time Life Sciences Pennsylvania brought the “tailgating’ idea to the southwest of the state. Energized by the fresh air, new connections, and new shared memories, the Life Sciences community is ready for all that comes next in their work.

Pitt’s OTD students are seizing extraordinary opportunities and gaining real-world skills that will define the next generation of health care professionals.

From advice to practical takeaways, on July 21, 2026, the Hot Metal Book Club discussed Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It by Scott Kupor. Based on Kupor’s first-hand experience working at a venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, this book highlights how venture capital funding works, who it is right for, and how venture capital firms decide to invest in startups.

Negotiations are something many people find uncomfortable, especially when it comes to landing a job early in your career. On June 24^th, Collaborative Real Estate, in partnership with the Pittsburgh chapter of Women in Bio, held an interactive panel discussion that brought together professionals sharing perspectives from both sides of the negotiation table. Students looking for their first job, those looking to make a career path change, and professionals wanting to brush up on their skills gathered to learn how candidates can evaluate offers, advocate for themselves, and determine what can be negotiated.

Everyone talks about disruptive innovation, but how and why does it happen? On May 19, 2026, Ned Uber, PhD, facilitated a discussion at the Hot Metal Book Club to discuss The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen. Grounded in Christensen’s framework that true innovation isn’t about better technology, Uber shared how it's about reframing problems and building business models that allow new solutions to take root.

This past year marked a defining chapter for Hot Metal Campus. Researchers, entrepreneurs, students, creatives, and innovators across campus came together to strengthen a growing ecosystem rooted in collaboration, discovery, and Pittsburgh’s continued momentum in life sciences, technology, media, and entrepreneurship.

The Book captures that momentum. The inaugural year-in-review publication highlights the people, projects, research, events, and ideas that shaped Hot Metal Campus throughout 2025.

We’re pleased to welcome Panther Life Sciences to Hot Metal Campus. Panther is engineering solutions for skin health by “unlocking the tremendous biological powers of our skin.” The move of Panther to Hot Metal Labs to expand their laboratory operations signals the next step for the team to modernize skin care and bring shelf-stable treatments directly to customers, including their goal of bringing their first clinically proven product to market in 2027.

Based out of Bridgeside Point II in Hot Metal Campus, EvolvingSTEM is a science outreach program that brings evolution and microbiology research directly into classrooms across the Pittsburgh region. Run through Professor Vaughn Cooper’s lab in the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, the program equips students from grades 6 through 12 with the tools and framework to conduct real experiments on bacterial evolution.

It pays off to stay focused. On April 7, 2026, the Hot Metal Book Club met to discuss Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore.

‍ ‍

ENGAGE focuses on the social side of stroke recovery, helping people rebuild confidence and reconnect with their communities. This group intervention, which was co-designed by community members who are stroke survivors, was tested by a multi-university team of researchers led by Dr. Elizabeth Skidmore at the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Occupational Therapy.

Spirited discussion, strong opinions, plenty of coffee. On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, the Hot Metal Book Club attendees discussed The Billion Dollar Molecule: The Quest for the Perfect Drug by Barry Werth and the tensions behind innovation, including work-life balance, clashing egos, and the push-and-pull between business expectations and scientific reality.

Hot Metal Campus wrapped up the semester last week with a holiday gathering that brought together students, faculty, and a handful of industry partners for an evening of informal connection.

This fall, Hot Metal Campus has become a gathering place for professional growth, practical skills, and real-world guidance through a new workshop series.

We are thrilled to announce that Hot Metal Labs at Hot Metal Campus has officially joined Life Sciences Pennsylvania (LSPA), Pennsylvania’s premier trade association for the life sciences sector.

Something as simple as a pair of shoes can be life-changing in underserved communities. The World Shoe Fund has long known this, building its mission around the powerful link between footwear, health, and opportunity. Now, with help from the StepUp Project Team, that mission is entering the digital age through an engaging educational game that blends fun with lasting impact.

Earlier this week, Hot Metal Campus introduced its inaugural Mindfulness Monday event, inviting everyone to unwind and rejuvenate.

Hot Metal Labs recently faced an unexpected water emergency. Still, thanks to the swift and effective response of Building Engineers Ron Thompson and Michael Scholze, the situation was handled with professionalism and dedication.

This year’s Bridgeside holiday party was a festive and meaningful celebration of the hard work, innovation, and collaborative spirit of the Bridgeside Point and Hot Metal Labs communities.

Derek Ham has been the new director of Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) in Hot Metal Labs, formerly 700 Technology Drive, since September of this year. Ham brings a strong background in interdisciplinary research, game-based learning, immersive storytelling, and algorithmic thinking.

Heather Kelley from Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center gave a keynote address at SBGames 2024, Latin America’s premier academic conference on games and digital entertainment. Kelley's talk, titled "The Physical Future of Digital Games," delved into the evolving relationship between the physical and virtual worlds within the gaming industry.