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Villanova Firm Follows the Action Like No Other
In 1972, Steve Carlton could not be stopped. The Philadelphia Phillies Hall-of-Fame left-hander was 27-10 with 31 complete games, mostly on the back of his legendary slider, a pitch thought to be unhittable. But in 1973, the man they called Lefty began to slump. As his record dropped like a stone to 13-20 and members of the media questioned his training methods, Carlton cried foul, blaming not training but faulty baseballs for his lackluster performance.
Despite scoffs of paranoia, the Philadelphia Inquirer decided to do some serious fact-checking. They called on Franklin Institute researcher Ed Dougherty to test out baseballs from 1972 and 1973. The report found that Major League Baseball had switched distributors from a Massachusetts firm to manufacturers in Haiti. The Franklin researchers found that the Haitian balls were livelier, coming off the bat at a higher rate of speed. But more importantly to Carlton, the casing was looser because the Haitian manufacturer used less glue between the cover and the core. These defects caused Carlton’s trademark slider to slip, effecting the rotation of this previously perfect pitch.
While the study couldn’t save Carlton’s 1973 slump from the record books, Ed Dougherty will never forget it.
“I still blame the ball and I bet Mr. Carlton does too!” Dougherty says. “That really piqued my interest, thinking there may be a career in engineering for sport.”
Dougherty was just an apple-cheeked engineer thrust into a national sports story. But ever since, he has been on a mission to become Pennsylvania’s most dynamic sports inventor. Working as a professor and entrepreneur, Dougherty has studied everything from pitch-speed trackers that predated the radar gun to a more responsive dartboard. He currently holds 10 patents but says he is most proud of his latest; a robotic camera system that goes well beyond sports to improve the way we watch, monitor and record life. Say hello to the WaveCam.
Suspended from nearly-invisible carbon fiber cables and flying at speeds of up to 30 mph, the WaveCam zips, dives and zooms with the greatest of ease. In its two years at The Pavillion at Villanova University, it has been used to capture sporting events, graduation ceremonies, concerts and even church services from every conceivable angle. From the lighting guys walking the trellises, to the season ticket holders in the front row, every view is accounted for.
You may have seen a similar camera—the SkyCam—scrolling across your screen during NFL games. Invented in 1982 by Philadelphia cameraman Garrett Brown, the SkyCam picked up where his Oscar-winning Steadicam had left off, quickly becoming the industry standard for all aerial shots. Ed Dougherty worked on the SkyCam for nearly 20 years, but knew there was something missing. For one thing, the SkyCam was not permanently installed. It required a team of pilots who would arrange a series of shots, stay for an event or production and then leave. This process ate up time and money, preventing many colleges and universities from using the technology.
“I love the SkyCam, it is a terrific system but it has some issues,” Dougherty says. “The WaveCam is a permanently installed, which reduces the cost and since it doesn’t move from venue to venue, we have been able to use our system as a flying billboard. We also control a patent for fan photos. It’s a completely different business model.”
But for top-flight programs like Penn State football, money was not the issue. The WaveCam’s added versatility has made it an invaluable tool, surpassing the SkyCam by allowing coaches to see what the players see on the field in real time. With a more accessible interface, coaches, broadcasters and AV professionals can be trained to use WaveCam to suit their needs. Managing the installation and training is WaveCam Media, a sales and distribution office housing engineers, trainers and sales professionals. Sales teams determine various applications; engineering teams determine the best possible set-up and trainers run WaveCam tutorials. WaveCam Media delivers on Dougherty’s promise that, with 30 minutes of training, anyone can be a professional cameraman.
“Joe Paterno likes to have a camera located right behind the quarterback, almost at the quarterback’s height so he can see what the quarterback sees,” Dougherty says. “If the quarterback looks left, the camera would look left and you can see exactly where the receivers are and the linemen are.”
Taking over the arena world, WaveCam is already capturing images for Penn State University and Villanova and Kansas University basketball. But the WaveCam’s versatility opens up the possibilities for this technology beyond sports to shipping, manufacturing, transportation, and even retail. Dougherty’s Ablaze Development Corp. is working on altering the WaveCam to be a barcode reader, a transport system for small items across warehouses and even a people mover. Dougherty is working with the Delaware County Keystone Innovation Zone to make these ideas come to fruition. Coordinator John Dixon believes the WaveCam’s potential for spinoff companies is nearly infinite.
“Ed Dougherty really gets it. He has created a company where they may not be adding 400 of this and 800 of that, its more about the value that he extracts from his employees,” Dixon says. “And he has been our most profitable. The KIZ program helps companies with tax credits but businesses need to stand on their own so we would scale back the state funding. But with a business like Ed’s where he is at the intersection of 3 companies, we want future developments to stay here. So we help him find new sources of funding and people. These guys are the reason the Zone got started.”
Dougherty has made a career working with the best Pennsylvania has to offer. Now that he is among them, he will be on the lookout for the next great Pennsylvania inventor to construct the next wave for the WaveCam. Dougherty believes it is the least he can do.
“I graduated from Villanova in 1969 and we came from humble beginnings. I was fortunate enough to receive a Penn State scholarship so I swore to myself that I was going to pay the state back as much as I could. I have always thought they deserved to have me stay here,” Dougherty says. “And they are still helping with the KIZ and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. So I continue working on these more interesting projects that will get people to come here and stay here, to see how exciting engineering can be and explore the technology opportunities that are here.”
Photos:
- Ed Dougherty, chief technology officer of WaveCam Media, with the WaveCam he invented at the Villanova University Pavillion
- John H. Dixon, Coordinator Delaware County Keystone Innovation Zone
- George Simmons. chief engineer of WaveCam Media and adjunct Professor of Engineering at Villanova demonstrates the robotic camera using fiber optic cable to capture the feed
- Dougherty demonstrates the WaveCam’s capabilities to visiting students
- Visiting students put the WaveCam through the paces.