october wired networking newsletter

As we head into the final

year of the WIRED program

it looks to be an exciting

time. The three Cyber Cen-

ters are up and running

with their original contract

for $400,000 each and are

now dealing with the pleas-

ant problem of defining the

work to be done for the ex-

tension from December to

June in order to spend an

additional $150,000. Out of

the 13 Generation Two

Grantees we believe that we

are one of about three that

were granted six-month

extensions so the others will

begin the process of winding

down in the coming months.

A big Atta Boy to Bruce for

making that happen.

By the way, Bruce has

moved upstairs to the State

where he is in charge of

overseeing all of the State of

Ohio’s Department of Labor

grants and activities. Talk

about having a friend in

high places. Bruce will con-

tinue to be involved with

WIRED activities but now

as a representative of the

Governor. We will miss not

having his full time atten-

tion but with the contracts

and programs pretty much

in place our course for the

next year is clear.

The Kent State Tuscarawas

Center had an even stronger

summer than last year with

not only excellent sessions

for students and train the

trainers but also taking over

50 club members and advi-

sors to Siggraph in New

Orleans. For those that

have never been to a Sig-

graph it is a mind-boggling

experience of all of the un-

believable technology that is

in development all over the

world.

Next up will be the

Shawnee State University

Center with Shawnee 7.0 on

October 30. This year

should be the best ever with

Sidley Verbeck, CEO of The

Electric Sheep Company as

the keynoter. For those CSI

New York fans if you re-

member the series last year

where they tracked a killer

through Second Life and

even had a virtual world

crime scene where you could

collect clues and process

them in a virtual forensic

laboratory, it was Sidley’s

group that put that to-

gether. Electric Sheep is one

of if not the top interactive

digital media development

companies in the world.

Also Jason Conaway from

Electronic Arts, our key-

noter from last year will be

returning to do a concurrent

session. Additionally,

Shawnee State will cut the

ribbon on a state of the art

motion capture studio that

will provide a facility for the

region for both education

and commercial uses. So do

what you need to in order to

be at Shawnee 7.0 in Ports-

mouth on Friday, October

30 from 9 to 3.

Moving into spring look for

exciting activities at Ohio

University with an Interac-

tive Digital Media awards

event. This will be the third

year of their game develop-

ment efforts with games

developed by the GRID Lab

over the last two years un-

der active consideration by

major game development

companies. Also the VITAL

Lab had a major opening

this year with the launch of

the Smithsonian’s Latino

museum in Second Life.

Additionally, Credit Union

Island that was developed

by the VITAL Lab is in the

process of being commercial-

ized as a Financial Literacy

Simulation for youth and is

being marketed to banks

and credit unions.

So this year has the poten-

tial to be a real breakout

year. After years of laying

the foundation we are get-

ting dangerously close to

being in the right place at

the right time with the right

abilities. Remember, a defi-

nition of luck is when oppor-

tunity meets preparation.

We are well into the prepa-

ration part now it is time to

get ready for the knocking

sound.

From,

Bill Sams

THE MAKING OF A GREAT YEAR

Wired N

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2009

Volume 3, Issue 1

OCTOBER

Notes from the Collaboratory 2-3

Cyber Clubs visit to the SIGGRAPH conference 4

Trip to Valve Software in Washington 5

KST Cyber Club Summer Institute 6

Kamal’s Visions for Cyber Clubs 2009-2010 7

The WIRED Islands 8

Inside this issue:

The WIRED Collabora-

tory is a support service

to the Cyber Centers and

Clubs. The group exists

virtually and consists of

Roger Cable

rcable@workforceconnect

ions.biz who takes care

of the OVITA Web site

and BaseCamp, Seth

Knore

sknore@workforceconnec

tions.biz who provides

general technology sup-

port, Tom Stead

[email protected]

Second Life Developer

extraordinaire, Michelle

Gatchell

[email protected]

who handles PR, and Bill

Sams [email protected]

for ideas and contacts.

A visit to the WIRED1

Island in Second Life is

not to be missed. Tom

has created an un-

equaled array of items to

demonstrate proofs of

concept ranging from a

walk through universe

based on photos from the

Hubbell Telescope to an

Egyptian Tomb to a

complete coal fired elec-

trical power plant . The

training and educational

potential of the items

demonstrated on

WIRED1 are only limited

by your imagination.

Contact Tom for a guided

tour and feel free to use

our conference room in (Continued on page 3)

Notes from the Collaboratory

V o l u m e 3 , I s s u e 1

the sky for virtual meet-

ings. You can change the

background from a sea-

shore to a ski lodge in a

click and without a travel

approval.

The collaboration tool

BaseCamp provides a con-

venient place to store in-

formation and collaborate

on documents. Rodger can

get you set up in minutes

and the site is very intui-

tive as well as supported

by excellent short tutori-

als on the use of each fea-

ture. Uploads are limited

to 100 Megs for each file

which should be more

than enough unless you

are doing large video files.

Seth is the newest mem-

ber of the group and will

be coming around to visit

the Centers and Clubs. He

is way up there on the

digital literacy curve and

will be a major resource

for technology issues.

Michelle will be putting

out a monthly email and

online newsletter so

please send her any items

of interest. We need to

move from being a well-

kept secret to a prime ex-

ample of the world-class

talent that is being devel-

oped in Appalachian Ohio.

Bill is turning his focus to

how social networks fit

into interactive digital

technology and program

sustainability. On the

sustainability end Bill is

working on a concept

called Youth Works that

involves the creation of

certifications for Cyber

Club members who would

then be qualified to work

as consultants for small

local businesses to assist

them with various tech-

nology issues. The funda-

mental concept is to find

a way to connect the

evolving technology

needs of small local busi-

nesses with the inherent

technology skills of our

youth in a manner that

is a win-win for every-

one. If you have an inter-

est in such a program

please contact Bill.

On the social network

end, while Facebook is

the popular area

LinkedIn has a stronger

tool set for professional

collaboration. Bill is

seeking inputs on the

interest in establishing a

WIRED LinkedIn Profes-

sional group to share

ideas and best practices.

Since Bill is still strug-

gling with texting and

twitter the soon to be

outdated email system is

still his preferred

method of contact. In a

survey of OU Freshmen

texting and twitter were

their top two methods of

communication, email

was at 1% (too slow) and

don’t even think about

paper.

Tom and Bill are also

available for community

and industry presenta-

tions. So if you have a

group that would like to

know more about

WIRED and Interactive

Digital Technology and

its potential for work-

force training and eco-

nomic development send

us an email.

The bottom line of the

WIRED Collaboratory is

to do what we can to help

you be successful.


Fifty five members of the Kent State Uni-

versity Tuscarawas Cyber Club network

which was initiated in September 2008

including the five Tuscarawas county high

schools: New Philadelphia, Dover, Clay-

mont, Tusky Valley and Indian Valley

traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana to

attend the 36th international SIGGRAPH

conference. The Conference on Interactive

technologies and Digital Techniques fea-

tured the highest quality, most timely

educational experiences the community

has to offer, presented by world renowned

and most engaging leaders in computer

graphics and interactive techniques. Con-

ference Keynote speakers included Will

Wright Video game designer, creator of

Spore™ and The Sims series, Randy Thom

Pioneer in sound and two-time Academy

Award® winner, Steve Duenes Graphics

Director, New York Times, Chris Landreth

Academy Award-winning director of

"Ryan", Peter Ludé Senior Vice President,

Engineering, Sony Electronics

Executive Vice President, SMPTE Board of

Directors ITVS and Bob Whitehill

Stereoscopic Supervisor, Pixar

Animation Studios.

While in New Orleans, the Cyber

Club students and advisors at-

tended the Computer Animation

Festival and the Real time Render-

ing demonstrations.

In addition to the educational ex-

perience, the students had an op-

portunity to enjoy the cultural and

historic sites they visited during

the August 4 – 8 trip.

Cyber Clubs visit to the SIGGRAPH conference

“While in New Orleans, the Cyber Club students and

advisors attended the Computer Animation Festival

and the Real time Rendering demonstrations.”

W i r e d N e t w o r k i n g N e w s l e t t e r

Kent State University Cyber Center Checks-In


These courses were

identified by the Cyber

Club advisory council

and the Cyber Club

steering committee

during the 2008 -09

academic year. It is

anticipated that addi-

tional courses will be

targeted for offering

during the 2010 –

20111 AY covering an

array of engineering

technology disciplines.

Starting late in August, 2009, KST Engineer-

ing Technology department is offering two

courses to area high schools. During the Fall

semester, Electric Circuits I ( 4 credit hours ),

and Technical Computing (3 credit hours) are

offered to students who are attending the

course at Claymont high school using the

newest technologies in web assisted as well as

videoconferencing instruction. During Spring

2010, Electric Circuits II ( 3 credit hours ) and

Applications in Computer Aided Design (2

credit hours) will be offered.

The Imagineers trip to Seattle involved 24

students from the KST Imagineers and the

KST Cyber Club to visit Valve software, a

world leader in game development. The

students toured Valve’s facility in Bellevue

and Seattle. After the tour the students had

an opportunity to meet with Matt Russell,

supervising animator of the movie Jimmy

Neutron, as well as Karen Prell, a character

animator whose credits include the Red

Fraggle from Fraggle Rock and character

animation with Pixar Studios before moving

onto Valve. During this meeting, the stu-

dents had a unique opportunity to ask ques-

tions related to their career goals on a one-

on-one basis with some of the best in the

animation and game design industries.

After their animation presentation Robin

Walker, the creator of Team Fortress 2,

discussed Valve's design and manage-

ment philosophy. Further sites in

Seattle included the Seattle Art Mu-

seum, Olympic National Park,

the Space Needle, the Seattle

Aquarium and the Experience

Music Project where they re-

corded a song. There were also

a number of cultural dining

experiences including local and

Thai cuisine.

Dual Enrollment Initiative

KST Imagineers and Cyber Club students trip to Valve Software in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington


“Valve created games such

as:

Half Life, Counter Strike, Day of

Defeat, and Team Fortress 2.”

The KST Cyber Club Summer Institute

offered 3 – 4 day training courses which

served all high school students in the

Campus service area. These courses were

designed to be Application Based-Project

Based (ABPB). The courses were:

Computer-Aided Design

3D-Character Sculpting

Digital Visualization and Multimedia

Interactive digital Control Applications

Robotics design & Applications

Video Game Design

Game Design for the I-touch & the I

phone platforms

In addition, Train-The-Trainer classes

were offered to area teachers on TRIZ

and on the Adobe CS4 Software suite.

KST Cyber Club Summer Institute

The rest of the meetings for the 2009 –

2010 AY are scheduled as follows, all in

Business Conf. Room A in Founders

Hall:

Wednesday, September 16

Wednesday, October 14

Wednesday, November 18

Wednesday, December 16

Wednesday, January 13

Wednesday, February 10

Wednesday, March 10

Wednesday, April 7

Wednesday, May 12

W i r e d N e t w o r k i n g N e w s l e t t e r



I am excited about so many things, but here are just a

few that I hope to see in the next year:

• Addition of 2 Cyber Clubs to the current six (5

high schools and KST) in Fall 2009, with 2 addi-

tional to join Spring 2010. The two for the Fall

have already been selected and have joined the

CC group during our September 16 meeting. They

are Carrollton High School and Strasburg High

School.

• The total Cyber Club student membership for all

(8) clubs has increased from the current 180 to

240 student members.

• Additional focus on entrepreneurship in planned

activities for Fall and Spring.

• Expansion of the pilot implementation of the Dual

Enrollment initiative in service area high schools.

Currently there are four courses offered during Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. Starting August 31st, 2009 two courses are currently

taught under this initiative: Electric Circuits I ( 4 credits ) and Technical Computing ( 3 credits ). During Spring 2010, Electric Cir-

cuits II ( 3 credits ) and Applications in CAD ( 2 credits ) will be offered. These courses are taught at 2 high schools; Indian Valley and

Claymont. It is our hope to increase the offering to 3 courses each semester for next year, offered at 5 different high school.

• Exposure to exciting career opportunities in IDT and Engineering related disciplines through selected trips to visit companies,

shadow professionals, summer internships and attendance of conferences.

• Offering of a variety of mini courses and workshops for teachers and cyber club members.

• Actively continuing the engagement of a high school student development team on Second Life. This initiative was started June 2009.

It is planned to be continued for AY 09’ – 10.

• Expanding the use of the Remote Login and

Render farm pool capability by teachers and

students at the cyber clubs

• Developing course material for the courses tar-

geted for dual enrollment to be delivered on the

iTouch and iPhones.

• Completing the development

of the social and professional net-

working Web site started Summer

09 to include e-portfolios, job opps,

blogs for Cyber Club members and

networking with employers, cur-

rent students and KST alumni.

• Increasing planned Competi-

tions for Cyber Clubs in various

related disciplines of interest.

• Planning and hosting an IDT art gallery Spring 2010 to display and celebrate CC achievements in IDT.

Dr. Kamal Bichara, Director Engineering Technology

Kent State University

Kamal’s Visions for Cyber Clubs 2009-2010


The WIRED Islands are located in Second Life (www.secondlife.com) and sponsored by a WIRED

Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Training Administration to the State of

Ohio for developing workforce in Interactive Digital Technology (IDT).

WIRED Island One is the possibility island. The immersion factor in virtual worlds can be util-

ized to develop powerful packaged experiences for your web visitors that go far beyond ordinary

two dimensional sites. Experiences such as this "map" in many parts of the brain simultaneously

to enable powerful memories. This island's many platforms house environments, concepts and

projects that were built as small examples of the endless possibilities.

We know that you'll likely think of many ways that you might use parallel ideas to further your

own needs and goals. When you combine the ability to develop these created experiences with the

included free world-wide voice you will see the possibilities for a green method of opening all

kinds of discussions and training. You'll see in our IDT Plaza how many Fortune 500 Corpora-

tions have made major commitments to developing these spaces for their own uses.

WIRED Islands Two, Three and Four are

operated by our University Cyber Center

partners and used as teaching spaces for the

students involved in the sponsored Cyber

Clubs at many high schools, community col-

leges and colleges. WIRED Island Two is

Kent State University's space, WIRED Island

Three is Ohio University's space and WIRED

Island Four belongs to Shawnee State Uni-

versity.

If you would like a tour contact Tom Stead [email protected] Second Life Developer

extraordinaire, Michelle Gatchell [email protected], or Bill Sams [email protected].

The WIRED Islands

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october wired networking newsletter

Education