Math, Science and Leadership at the Institute of Technology

On the week of Monday, July 25^th 2011, the Institute of Technology held its Math, Science and Leadership program on the University of Washington Tacoma campus.

We welcomed nearly 50 students from 7^th through 12^th grade for a week of robotics, environmental science and architecture. Highlights included field trips to visit the Center for Urban Waters on the Thea Foss Waterway and visits to the History and Art Museums that stretch along Pacific Avenue in Tacoma.

Each summer, the program provides a different experiential learning process which focuses on leadership skills and preparation for excellence and success in mathematics, science, technology, engineering, and leadership. The students formed cohort groups averaging 16 students on each team and followed through the week focused on three different themes. The themes this year included Environmental Science, Robotics and Architecture, with morning themes of Leadership, Computer Science and Math.

It was in 2003 that the Institute of Technology implemented the Math Science Leadership (MSL) program. MSL targets populations that are underrepresented in these respective fields, by focusing on three specific disempowered groups: minorities (which can take on varying connotations), low-income students (determined based on whether or not they qualify for free or reduced lunch) and first-generation college-bound students. The program seeks to enrich the lives of youth in three areas:

· High level of secondary academic achievement in high-potential youth, specifically in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

· Leadership and social skill development for students as they transition from middle school to high school, and high school to college.

· Encourage students to develop the necessary skill-sets to become successful in pursuing postsecondary degrees in these respective fields.

The event could not have succeeded without a wonderful team of instructors, parents, volunteers and generous sponsors. In particular a big thanks to Intel Corporation who have been long time supporters of the program.

Logistically, programmatically and thematically everything went well. We some advance planning and work over the academic year we hope to continue the program next Summer and the Summers to follow.

Local Projects Completed at End of the Quarter

I teach Managing Technical Teams this quarter, and it is one of my favorite courses to teach. Probably the most compelling reason for me is the guiding project of the classroom experience. After almost immediately forming in the first week of the quarter, four to six person teams need to choose a project that they will be working on over the next eight to nine weeks. The requirement of the project is that it must provide a "contribution to the community utilizing technology".

This means that outreach is done through from the Institute of Technology students to organizations and non-profits throughout the Puget Sound area.

The teams finished launching their projects via class presentations on Tuesday. Six total teams giving one hour presentations each.



Just some of the projects included:

• Database design and development for the Breast Cancer Research Center.
• Development work on training web forms for the Law Enforcement Support Agency.
• Automated installation and set up programming for the Domestic Abuse Women's Network.
• Online training programs for Goodwill of Silverdale.
• Web development work for some very small local companies without the resources to do so otherwise.

I wish this class were taught twice a year, Fall and Spring, just to see the contributions continue to make their impact.

Additional student work in directed reading, research and internship will be on display this Friday starting at 9:30am in the Cherry Parkes building as part of the end of the quarter colloquium.

Cong. Adam Smith to Open SST Conference

Congressman Adam Smith will open the 2011 South Sound Technology Conference as the morning keynote speaker, and Egils Milbergs, executive director of the Washington Economic Development Commission, will provide the lunch keynote address.

The annual South Sound Technology Conference, which is hosted by the Institute of Technology at the University of Washington Tacoma and slated for Friday, March 11, is the technology showcase for Tacoma and the South Puget Sound. Since 2000 it has brought together leaders from industry, education and government from around the state to discuss and demonstrate technological innovations and their ongoing applications.

This year the conference will highlight the Institute of Technology's 10th year of service and education. Launched in 2001 through a combination of state and non-state investment, Gov. Gary Locke proposed the institute, which was championed by industry and approved by the Legislature, to address the growing demand for educated professionals for Washington's high-tech economy.

Congressman Smith is a strong supporter of innovated technology advancement and education, especially as it relates to investments in alternative fuel sources and biofuel technology.

On his website, Smith notes, "Locally, the South Puget Sound region has attracted many new high-wage, high-tech jobs. . To this end, I've joined and initiated conferences in our area that bring together leaders in technology, education and community development to share ideas and craft strategies for educating our workforce, attracting new businesses and making the South Sound a center of technology."

Egils Milbergs, a noted thought leader in competitiveness policy, champions the vital importance of U.S. technological, manufacturing and innovation leadership to long-term prosperity. He is advancing the concept and practice of regional innovation ecosystems in Washington.

Panel and keynote presentations - including networking opportunities - provide a venue to discuss, explore, understand and deploy technology as a solution, an opportunity and an advantage. Sessions planned for the South Sound Technology Conference include discussions on mobile application development, energy and sustainability, information technology as a driver of infrastructure in the South Sound and an open breakout forum designed to create a common calendar for technology related events and activities for the year ahead.

Panelists and speakers for the all-day conference include:

• Matthew Tolentino, researcher, Intel Corp.
• Beth Whitzel, lead developer at LESA (Law Enforcement Support Agency)
• Brian Forth, CEO, Sitecrafting
• Kevin Freitas, mobile applications developer, Sitecrafting
• Angela Gow, senior webmaster, Multicare
• Mark Brown, CEO, IdentityMine
• Egils Milbergs, executive director, Washington Economic Development Commission
• Andy Wappler, vice president for corporate affairs, Puget Sound Energy
• Graham Evans, senior vice president, EQ2
• Erik Hanberg, executive director of City Club of Tacoma; and chair, Tacoma Reads
• Darrel Bowman, CEO, mynetworkcompany
• Gary Bracket, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber
• Rick Shanaman, CEO, Optic Fusion
• Jon Owen, director of information technology, DaVita
• Linda Gerull, director of information technology, Pierce County
• Andrew Fry, UWT, Institute of Technology
• Orlando Baiocchi, director, Institute of Technology, UW Tacoma
• Bruce Kendall, CEO, Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County
  

Throughout the day, graduate and undergraduate students from the Institute of Technology will showcase their work through poster sessions and demonstrations in the Gallery area.

The conference concludes at 2:15 p.m., followed by a mixer with conference participants and Institute of Technology alumni and faculty.

reposted from http://www.tacoma.uw.edu/news/congressman-smith-open-tech-conference

Egils Milbergs - Building the World’s Largest Science and Innovation Ecosystem

SST Conference Update:

Keynote lunch speaker bio for March 11th Conference:

Egils Milbergs is the executive director of the Economic Development Commission of Washington State. (www.wedc.wa.gov ).

The Commission is charged with developing a long term economic development strategy and making the state the most innovative region in the world. He was appointed by Governor Chris Gregoire on January 23, 2008 after a nation-wide search. He is a noted thought leader in competitiveness policy and champions the vital importance of US technological, manufacturing and innovation leadership to long-term prosperity.

In Washington State he is advancing the concept and practice of regional innovation ecosystems. He held previous positions as president and founder of the Center for Accelerating Innovation, president of the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing, president of the Institute for Illinois, Deputy Assistant Secretary for productivity, technology and innovation for the U.S. Commerce Department, and executive director the President’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness.

Here is an abstract describing his presentation:

Egils Milbergs, after 25 years in Washington DC, accepted a new challenge in the “other Washington” to prepare the state’s long range economic development plan. Washington State is home to many innovative companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, Starbucks, Costco and Real Networks. But what is next? The Pacific Northwest region is a case study on creating the world’s largest science and innovation ecosystem. This presentation will highlight the work of an 18 member public–private commission focused on transforming the economy to be more creative, open and collaborative.

Find out about the dynamics of government, business, academia and philanthropy in bringing about this change. A new public-private model for driving Washington’s economic future and the requirements for economic recovery and job creation will be discussed. These topics will be integrated into the foundation for the next update of the State’s long term economic development strategy and action recommendations to be presented to the Governor, legislature, congressional delegation and public later this spring.

After his presentation, Bruce Kendall, CEO of the Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County, will conduct a fireside chat with the speaker to cover more specific South Sound objectives.

Looking for a Technology Date? Me too

Calling all technology companies and organizations:

Wouldn't it be great if we had a collective calendar of technology events in the South Puget Sound? We have had Barcamps, Startup Weekends, Dorkbot events (awhile ago), International eCrime Conferences, the PNW Security Symposium, Tacoma Angel Network events, end of quarter colloquiums, Tech Meetups, the SHIFT awards and more.

Not to mention the South Sound Technology Conference on March 11th.

I would like to see if we could gather up all these great meeting times and events and put them in one place? I am not sure how that would work but I would like to give it some effort to try and figure out a way.

In the afternoon breakout session of the SST Conference, time has been set aside to start collecting times, days and information on upcoming technology related events and organizational meetings.

Do some advance scouting for your company, use this as an opportunity to promote your group, bring ideas for how we might share this information and share it.

Let's see if we can bring the WTIA or The TA down for a meeting or an event.

The meeting room will be next to William Philip Hall and the effort will take place after a lunchtime keynote focusing on innovation and economic development.

Gary Bracket from the Tacoma Chamber and I will help to coordinate the conversation and the collection of information.

Erik Hanberg Joins Energy Panel SST

Erik Hanberg is Executive Director of City Club of Tacoma, a Web Developer with Mary Holste Design, an author (The Saints Go Dying, Little Book of Gold) and occasional guest speaker in my class. But why is he on the Energy Panel at the South Sound Technology Conference?

Because last year Erik Hanberg was picked by Mayor Marilyn Strickland to chair Tacoma Reads Together, a community reading initiative. Additionally, last Tuesday the 22nd at the City Council meeting it was announced that “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope” would be this years selection.

Now we are all supposed to read and discuss this book together. I am going to.

As reported in the Tacoma News Tribune,

The 2009 book was written by William Kamkwamba and journalist Bryan Meale. In it, Kamkwamba tells how he went to his village library and checked out a book on energy that included pictures of windmills. Using scrap parts, he built a crude windmill to power several appliances in his family’s home in Malawi. He later created a solar-powered water pump to provide the first drinking water in his village.

Why did Mayor Strickland pick Erik?

“I selected Hanberg because he is a voracious reader, a champion of social media, and very active in the civic, arts and business arenas,” said Strickland. “As our city moves forward, I want to ensure that new voices are brought to the table to serve on boards, commissions and in other positions of leadership.”

Why is Erik on the panel? Given the panels energy focus and the conferences South Sound focus, this gives us a representative voice in the conversation.

KOMO has more on the Tacoma Reads Together initiative.

See you there on March 11th in the William Philip Hall on the UWT campus.

Register Here:

Registration It is only 15 dollars and it comes with lunch. Such a deal.

An Energy Teaser for the SST Conference

As more elements of the March 11th South Sound Technology Conference fall in to place I thought I might mention the morning energy breakout session presentation by Dr. George Mobus.

His current working title is:

The Critical Energy Challenges: Time and Scale

Dr George Mobus will be presenting on how effective alternative renewable energy sources may be as opposed to fossil fuels. He will discuss peak oil and peak net energy with attention to the potential decline rates from these sources. The biggest challenge according to professor Mobus is the time frame for replacing our current level of net energy with renewable/alternative sources, and the various conservation approaches to reduce the scale problem.

His passion for the topic is obvious, as is his straight forward approach. As he has said of his presentation, “ this represents an honest assessment of the challenges ahead as a prod to why we need massive investment in those technologies that stand a chance of meeting the challenges.”

To get a feel for his ideas and passion about energy and systems science, check out his blog "Question Everything".

Following his presentation will be a panel discussion from industry and energy experts, including Graham Evans, former Executive Director at Washington Clean Technology Alliance and current Senior Vice President with EQ².

Also on the panel will be Andy Wappler,vice president, Corporate Affairs for Washington-based Puget Sound Energy, utility subsidiary of Puget Energy.

As head of Corporate Affairs, Wappler is responsible for the company’s ongoing efforts to enhance relationships with communities, government agencies and major customers, as well as the company’s communications. He also is the chairman and president of the Puget Sound Energy Foundation.

According to their website, "Puget Sound Energy is the Pacific Northwest’s largest utility producer of renewable energy and, among investor-owned utilities, is America’s second-largest generator of wind power."

I have a third panel guest on tap, though they may be given a breakout segment of their own depending on how their presentation comes together.

So join us on March 11th for the day. Registration is only 15 dollars and it comes with lunch. Such a deal.