Sustainable Minds and MAGNET to bring education, expertise and software to support eco-SMART manufacturing program

02.03.2010 – Cambridge, MA – Sustainable Minds, a greener product design software and information company, today announced a partnership with The Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network (MAGNET), a professional organization that is focused on helping manufacturing and technology-based companies in Ohio adopt innovative methods and technologies. The partnership will bring ecoDesign and sustainability practices, expertise and software to help advance the adoption of greener product design practices for manufacturers. This partnership will also serve to support Magnet’s eco-SMART Manufacturing Program that is aimed at educating and assisting Ohio manufacturers with sustainable manufacturing and eco-Innovation strategies.

Greener product design means designing the whole product system from a life cycle perspective. Understanding what this means and how to design this way is the first step – and Sustainable Minds Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) software helps bridge this information gap. The software enables rapid iteration and comparison of new product concepts, and provides quantified environmental performance information during the design process to help make design and manufacturing trade-off decisions.

“This partnership is key to opening up a dialog with manufacturers about ecoDesign and sustainable manufacturing strategies,” stated Terry Swack, CEO and co-founder of Sustainable Minds. “Our mission is to bring environmental sustainability to mainstream product development and manufacturing in an accessible, empowering, and credible way. Manufacturers have a responsibility to be conscious of the environmental impact of the products they make, what’s causing the impacts and the changes that can be made to improve environmental performance. Our partnership with MAGNET allows us to deliver our ecoDesign and life cycle assessment software directly to this community, enabling them to develop new knowledge, skills, and competencies to integrate environmental sustainability into the way they do business. As part of the partnership, will be offering training and discounted subscriptions to all types of MAGNET clients to help make this happen.”

“Last year we launched the eco-SMART Manufacturing Program that is designed to help manufacturers in our region meet growing consumer and regulatory demand for sustainable products,” stated Mike Kaminski, senior business consultant at MAGNET. “Sustainable Minds fits right into this mission, and will be instrumental in helping bring ecoDesign and sustainable manufacturing education to our community. With Sustainable Minds software, we will be able to offer a more effective tool that will help manufacturers assess the environmental impact of the products they make. Together, with Sustainable Minds, we are advancing the understanding and practice of whole systems and life cycle thinking in product design processes and look forward to delivering product design education to our clients.”

MAGNET will be offering a joint workshop with Sustainable Minds on a quarterly basis. The first workshop is scheduled for March 3, 2010. For more information visit http://www.ecosmartmanufacturing.org/sustainable_minds.aspx

About MAGNET
Since 1984, MAGNET, the Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network, has assisted thousands of manufacturers through its Edison Technology Center programs, Manufacturing Extension Partnership services and business incubation programs. Recently, MAGNET has expanded its mission to assist manufacturers through programs that address manufacturing-related education, competitiveness, innovation, global development and regulatory affairs, and launched the eco-SMART Manufacturing Program in 2009 (http://www.ecosmartmanufacturing.org). MAGNET is a “one-stop shop” for manufacturers seeking resources to become or remain globally competitive. For more information, visit http://www.magnetwork.org.

About Sustainable Minds
Sustainable Minds, LLC is a greener product design software and information company dedicated to bringing environmentally sustainable product design into mainstream design and manufacturing in an understandable, empowering and credible way. The company has deep knowledge of product design, life cycle assessment and environmental systems design, Web-based business, software design and customer experience. Sustainable Minds is the first on-demand, early-stage design decision support software and information service that estimates a product’s potential life cycle environmental and human health impacts in a collaborative, learning work space. Customers include Yakima, Celestica, Whirlpool, Motorola, LUNAR, IDEO, Farm Design, Smart Design, Frog Design, MOTO Development Group, Pratt Institute and UCLA. In a Premium Strategic Relationship, Autodesk and Sustainable Minds are empowering companies to make more sustainable design decisions. With Inventor software for Digital Prototyping, Autodesk is helping take designers and engineers beyond 3D to address the most challenging environmental issues. More information about Sustainable Minds, founded in 2007 and headquartered in Cambridge Massachusetts, can be found at http://www.sustainableminds.com.

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For more information, contact:
Terry Swack
CEO and Founder
Sustainable Minds, LLC
One Broadway
Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA 02140
www.sustainableminds.com
Tel: 617-401-2269
Email Contact


Greg Krizman
Senior Director, Marketing
MAGNET
216.432.5311 – office
330.212.1564 – cell
Email Contact

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Juliann Grant
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