Exelon’s Innovation Expo taps into ideas from its own
In a nod to the innovative excellence of its employees, Exelon hosts an annual event aimed at giving them the chance to pitch their best ideas to address the energy industry’s biggest challenges.
The Exelon Innovation Expo, now in its sixth year, brings together employees from across its service territories for a day of sharing, networking and brainstorming.
“We were challenged by the concept of how to get a big company like Exelon to gather our employees together to collaborate on ideas,” Brian Hoff, director of Technology Innovation in Exelon’s corporate strategy, innovation and sustainability department, told American Gas. Modeling its first meeting after a similar event by 3M, organizers were surprised by the passion of the first few employees who shared ideas.
Each year since, participation has grown, and the Expo has become the place to go. Some 2,500 Exelon employees joined this year’s event in Washington, D.C., the first time the meeting was open to external stakeholders, for a total attendance topping 2,700.
Prior to the expo, some employees form teams to come up with an innovative idea, system or product. At the event, colleagues vote on the best invention, and the top three get to pitch their ideas to Exelon’s executives, who lend support and resources to help them bring their ideas to fruition. Three other teams whose entries highlight innovations already implemented in their own offices are chosen to get help in transferring their ideas to other Exelon offices.
“We definitely listen closely to our employees,” Hoff said. Some of the ideas from past expos that are being implemented across Exelon include a first-of-its-kind system to remotely collect and analyze energy data from smart meters and a prototype charging station that could be used by electric ride-sharing vehicles.
One of the newest ideas, discussed at the expo in June, is a partnership with Microsoft to use HoloLens technology in training field and industrial workers. This augmented reality experience combines the physical and the digital worlds, allowing employees to encounter situations using augmented reality before meeting them in the real world.
“It provides us with the opportunity to simulate events and presents users with a safe environment for training on how to service equipment or manage an emergency situation,” Scott Cherkofsky, senior technology analyst for Corporate Strategy, Innovation and Sustainability, told American Gas. “You wear a visor that allows you to see the world around you, with a holographic overlay.”
Exelon actively looks to its employees for their best ideas of where the latest technology can be used, Hoff said.