Virginia Department of Forestry and Virginia Cooperative Extension will have a exhibit on Feb. 28th!

Title of Exhibit- Looking Down is Looking Up: Why do we work with aerial photography?

Abstract- Geospatial tools, which include geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS) and remote sensing, provide us an understanding of the earth. In this activity, participants will be able to use GIS to identify changes on the the earth's surface. We will examine aerial photography from two different time periods, and students will explore, estimate, and measure general changes in land use during these two periods.

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Dr. John McGee represents the Virginia Department of Forestry and Virginia Cooperative Extension.

The Geospatial Extension Program provides GPS, GIS, and remote sensing training to pre-college teachers and higher ed. Faculty. We also support the needs of local governments, state agencies, and federal partners working in Virginia through geospatial workshops, supporting community economic development initiatives, providing data to support community planning efforts, etc. One program that is specific to Virginia 4-H is the Virginia 4-H Geocoin Adventure. The Virginia 4-H Geocoin Adventure will be statewide starting in the Spring '09.

Virginia Tech Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Student Chapter- exhibitor for Feb. 28th (and April 18th)

Exhibit Title: Does technology work for everyone?

Users will compare between two computer paint applications (MS Paint and Adobe) and by drawing manually. After drawing, they have to “email” their images to us. The fastest user to do this wins!! At the end, pros and cons of each of these applications will be discussed to understand using the right technology for the right usage.

Virginia Tech Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Student Chapter
The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s (HFES) mission is to promote the discovery and exchange of knowledge concerning the characteristics of human beings that are applicable to the design of systems and devices of all kinds.

The Virginia Tech HFES student chapter has historically been one of the largest and most active student chapters of national HFES. The chapter has a diverse group of undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral researchers from the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE). As such, they make efforts to tailor our programs and events to represent a variety of research interests within the broad scope of human factors and ergonomics.

Virginia 4-H - Exhibits and helping to make KTU a reality

Virginia 4-H is a partner of Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and together they are working to make Kids' Tech University a reality. Virginia 4-H is the youth development education program of Virginia Cooperative Extension which is associated to Virginia Tech. The 4-H mission is, "4-H is committed to assisting youth, and those adults working with them, in acquiring the knowledge, life skills, and attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, contributing, and productive members of society." The central theme of 4-H education is "learn by doing". Multiple hands-on activities in the technology, science and engineering hands-on day events for Kids' Tech University are lead and developed by Virginia 4-H extension agents from all around the state.

Virginia 4-H also has a very informative website that explains their mission, goals, history and program. Follow this link to visit the site- http://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/4h/

Also, I am volunteering to help anyone interested in Virginia 4-H get the information they need. Please email me (Kristy DiVittorio; kdivitto@vbi.vt.edu) if you would like my help...

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute's (VTTI) exhibit at Feb. 28th hands-on event

Title: Demonstration of a Vehicle-Based Data Acquisition System.

Virginia Tech Transportation Institute's (VTTI) data acquisition system, or DAS, will be demonstrated through interactive activities with users during the Technology Showcase for the Kids' Tech University on February 28, 2009.

A game console like those typically used with racing video games is employed to interactively demonstrate the type of data that is collected in transportation safety research activities. Users will see, first hand, the video and driving performance data that is collected as they operate the game console.

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VTTI, a top-three transportation research center in the United States, employing over 200 faculty, staff and students, focuses on solving major transportation problems through the use of technology to improve transportation safety, reduce traffic congestion, and reduce infrastructure costs. VTTI is dedicated to saving lives, saving time and saving money in the transportation field by developing and using state-of-the-art tools, techniques, and technologies to solve transportation challenges on the nation’s roadways.

The Institute has unique and extensive research facilities that are being actively used to address these problems. One such facility is the Virginia Smart Road, which has been open for testing since the spring of 2000. The Smart Road’s unique features include the largest weather generation facility in North America and a “live” roadway lighting laboratory used to study traction and visibility improvements on our roads.

VTTI conducts test track and on-road studies to develop countermeasure applications that address safety such as driver monitoring, feedback, and training, as well as the development of state-of-the art crash warning systems. VTTI has become a leader in naturalistic, real-world driving research. The Institute has conducted the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, the largest naturalistic driving study of its kind to date; is now poised to garner the largest naturalistic transportation study ever attempted; has conducted naturalistic long-haul truck driving studies, the results of which were used by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to change the long-haul drivers’ hours of service regulations; and is conducting various teen driving studies to close the gap in our knowledge of why teens pose a much higher crash risk when compared to other drivers.

VTTI is uniquely qualified and positioned to answer the Commonwealth of Virginia’s call, as well as the nation’s call for safer and more efficient transportation. We have 9 leading research centers within VTTI; 181 years of combined VTTI center directors’ experience in transportation research; a 2.2-mile Smart Road for safe, closed-track test-bed research; over 10,119 hours of logged Smart Road research with over $60 million in awarded research since opening in 2000; over 51,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and garage facilities; and our research has been chronicled in most major national and many international outlets as being the leader in conducting transportation research to save lives.

Dr. Lou Guillette's abstract posted on the KTU homesite!

Dr. Lou Guillette will be giving a talk to the kids on March 28th about, "Why are plastics bottles bad for alligators?" We just posted his updated abstract on the website and thought we would highlight it- 

"Why are plastic bottles bad for alligators?" by Dr. Lou Guillette

We live in a modern world of plastics. These plastics are used for everything from bike safety helmets to baby bottles. We see how these items help us in our everyday life and we believe they are safe and even make us safer. For example, we believe a plastic bottle is safer than a glass one, as we can get cut on a broken glass bottle. But…..are all these plastics really good for us and the environment? Do we need to learn about the potential dangers of some plastics that are used to store our food? And, why in the world would we think about baby alligators and plastics at the same time? Our program will explore the world of pollution and the many ways plastics can help us, but also potentially hurt the environment, including the health of alligators and us. We will learn which plastics might create problems and what people from around the world are doing to make a safer and cleaner environment for themselves and the animals that live around them.

KTU in the Collegiate Times!

Hi all,

Yesterday the Collegiate Times article by Justin Graves about Kids' Tech University. Check it out!

There was 2 things I wanted to comment on though-

1. Virginia Bioinformatics Institute has formed a partnership with both Virginia 4H and New City Media to bring about Kids' Tech University.

2. Maria Laubenbacher is the volunteer organizer for the program.

Jan. 31, 2009 event was a huge hit!

Well, the Jan. 31, 2009 event was a huge hit! We were well organized and got started only about 10 min. late...which is pretty good considering the event included 400 children! Dr. Keith Devlin gave a great talk to the kids (and parents) answering the question, "Why are there animals with spotted bodies and striped tails, but no animal with a striped body and a spotted tail?" The kids loved the Hokiebird...who called during the opening of the lecture and showed up at the back of the lecture hall to say, "Hi!" to the kids. I think the Hokiebird had a great time and just may come back to another KTU event! We also wanted to give a big thanks to all the volunteer EMT's and VT police department members who came out to our event to make sure we were all safe. 

The Kids' Tech University program was featured in the Sunday Roanoke Times article by Greg Esposito- check it out!

The extra lunches left over from the event were given to a local food bank, with the extra water and chips being saved for the next event. 

We will be publishing a schedule for the next event within the next week or so. The lecture will start about 30 min to an hour later and will be at the Hay Market Theatre in Squires on the VT campus. The hands-on activities will include exhibits from departments, centers and student groups around VT campus and the community. Parents will be escorting their children through the exhibits whih will be housed in the Skelton Conference Center on the VT campus. Stay tuned for more information on the Feb. 28th Kids' Tech University event and for information about the many exhibits that well be available to the kids and the parents!