Leading Chicago-Headquartered Product Design and Development Firm to Judge LAUNCH Competition at Techweek

CHICAGO, June 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Product Development Technologies (PDT), a product design and development consulting firm, has announced that Tom O'Connor, PDT Industrial Designer, has been chosen to serve as a first round Launch Championship judge at Techweek Chicago.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150623/225055
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150623/225056

Techweek, whose mission is to build a better world through tech entrepreneurship, hosts a seven day event and two day technology conference every year. A technology and innovation community of entrepreneurs, visionaries and thought leaders will come together in the tech hub of Chicago June 22-28, 2015 for this event.

On Thursday and Friday, June 25 and 26 on the 8th Floor of Merchandise Mart, the Techweek LAUNCH competition will take place, where startups will compete to be crowned Techweek's Launch Grand Champion. PDT's Mr. O'Connor will be a judge in this top Techweek attraction where attendees will see which companies are on the cusp of changing the world.

"As members of 1871 (Chicago's entrepreneurial hub for digital startups), and as a well-established Chicago-headquartered business that now has 20 years of technology and product development experience behind us, I know we can contribute some solid insight and guidance to these startups," says Tom O'Connor.

PDT has worked with many startups, including Gramovox, who launched their second Kickstarter project, the Floating Record™ Vertical Turntable just hours ago. Another member of 1871 and the Chicago startup community, Gramovox has already met and are now exceeding their goal with this campaign within three hours of going live. "It's thrilling to see them making a huge splash once again," says O'Connor. Learn more about the project here: http://www.pdt.com/gramovox-floating-record.html

Judges are responsible for impartially evaluating all of the companies that they are assigned, evaluating the companies based on qualities such as target market, problem or need and team.

ABOUT PDT

PDT is a global, full-service product development firm with 120 employees worldwide. Team members have expertise in a wide range of product development disciplines, including strategy, scouting, design research, industrial design, user experience development, mechanical and electrical engineering, software development, and sourcing. PDT's award winning product designs have been recognized with more than 70 awards from authorities such as BusinessWeek, Fast Company, the Industrial Designers Society of America and The Consumer Electronics Association. For more information, please go to www.pdt.com.

ABOUT TECHWEEK
Techweek is a seven-day conference, expo and festival where entrepreneurs, tech visionaries and thought leaders meet to enable the innovation ecosystem in the cities of Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Miami and New York. Techweek curates compelling programming that allows a global spotlight to shine on each ecosystem and its leaders. Past speakers include Rahm Emanuel (Mayor, Chicago), Travis Kalanick (CEO, Uber), Craig Newmark (Founder, Craigslist), Barney Harford (CEO, Orbitz), Dan Gilbert (Founder, Quicken Loans), Peter Diamandis (Founder, X PRIZE) and Pitbull (World renowned musician). The Techweek expo has gathered more than 200 sponsors, including companies such as Google, Groupon, Microsoft, Motorola, Redbox, Uber and Wordpress. The after-parties at Techweek have become famous for events like the Bootlegger's Ball, attracting sports teams such as Stanley Cup Champions the Chicago Blackhawks and for hosting entertainers like Calvin Harris.

Contact:
Tanya Sillitti
Email
Ph: 847.821.3048

SOURCE Product Development Technologies (PDT)

Related Links

http://www.pdt.com