CHATTANOOGA ENGINEERS CLUB
http://www.utc.edu/~engrcs/cec/cec.htm
Volume L October 11, 1999 12:00 NOON
Number 36 The Loft, 328 Cherokee Blvd.

THIS WEEK____________________________________________________________
Mike Moeller, VP of Sales for East Tennessee at US LEC, will be discussing the starting and building of a new telephone company in Chattanooga. US LEC is a CLEC competing with BellSouth and other CLECs for medium to large business customers' local and LD telephone service. US LEC has been serving Chattanooga since March 1999. US LEC will be installing a new Lucent 5ESS 2000 switch during December 1999, and will have 19 switches operations at year-end focusing on the Southeast and Eastern US. US LEC has been a public company since
April of 1998.

LAST WEEK____________________________________________________________
Joe Hunter, Director of Technology, spoke on GPS's wireless network. GPS started out with their laptop project last year by issuing laptops to some 7th grade students. It was observed that there is a fear of technology with girl students, and also that a different teaching method is needed to introduce technologies to girls. After trying instructor led computer classes and instructor assist computer lab classes, the laptop implementation was the most effective. This Fall, all 8th grade students are required to purchase a laptop, a Toshiba sub-compact, Pentium II, 233MHZ, 32 MEG of RAM, and 4G hard drive. GPS supplied the credit-card size network adaptor card, wired the classrooms, provided antennas, with 100 ft communication radius, in all areas of the campus, set up seven servers (3 are accessible by the students), and designed a curriculum to support the technology. All students have to take an introduction to PC class during 6th grade, and productivity tool class (Office applications, currently) during 7th grade. From 8th grade to 12th grade, with all students equipped with a laptop, computing technology is integrated into the curriculum. GPS has plans for their technology curriculum and network solutions, some of the planned items are:
* Adding programming classes such as VB and C++ next year.
* Investigate the use of textbooks on CD and downloaded from Internet.
* Security of their network
* Migration plan as software and hardware continues to improve
* Software to monitor students activity on their PC during class.
It is exciting to see technology used effectively in classrooms. Mr. Hunter is hopeful that by introducing technologies to girls at a younger age, GPS will be guiding more girls toward careers in engineering and information technology.

COMING PROGRAMS___________________________________________________

October 18 - Bill Chapman, Building the foundation for EPB Telecommunications.
October 25 - Joint field trip with AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) Chattanooga
Local Section for a tour of the Center for Laser Applications at the University of
Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) in Tullahoma, TN.
Please email (copeland@cstcc.cc.tn.us), phone (697-3212), or fax (697-3325) in
your reservation by October 18 to Lulu Copeland.
November 1 - TBA
November 8 - Freddie Wilkerson, E Commerce Account Manager, UPS, Nashville.

Digital Quilt___________________________________________________________
Eastman Kodak has set up their web site to accept digital images to form a "PhotoQuilt of the Millennium". Images can be viewed and contributed at www.kodak.com/go//photoquilt. Photos and stories submitted by November 15 will be displayed at the end of the year display in New York Time Square and Millennium Dome in London. Additional images submitted before January 1, 2001, will be added to the quilt. Kodak will preserve the expected 65,000 images, for future generations.

View Laser Sugery on line__________________________________________________
Local ophthalmologist, Deborah DiStefano's laser vision correction surgery can be viewed at www.visx.com. CEC has invited Dr. DiStepano for a future presentation, possibly next March.