GSA Technology Council

The SouthEast Linuxfest is occurring on June 13th at Clemson University. It begins at 9am, and runs till around 6pm, followed by an after party. The list of speakers includes:

• Chris Dibona - Slashdot co-founder, Current Open Source Czar at Google
• Mark Spencer - Original Developer of Gaim (pidgin) and Asterisk, currently CTO of Digium
• Russell Bryant - Asterisk stable package maintainer.
• Wendy Seltzer - Former EFF staff attorney, Board member, the Tor
• project, Founder, chillingeffects.org
• Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier - Novell - openSUSE community manager.
• Greg DeKoenigsberg - RedHat - community architect, OLPC evangelist, board member, SugarLabs.org, former Fedora project leader.
• Ian Geiser - KDE project
• Pete Graner - Canonical - Ubuntu kernel team
• Ryan ‘Icculus’ Gordon - The ENTIRE Linux gaming industry
• Brian Leonard - Sun Microsystems - OpenSolaris
• Robby Workman - Slackware
• Alan Hicks - Slackware
• Richard Weait - OpenStreetMap
• Michelle & Michael Hall - Qimo
• Paul Frields - Fedora Project Leader
• Clint Savage - Fedora Project Contributor
• Keith Bergelt - CEO - Open Invention Network
• Semmy Purewal - Founder Free IT Athens - Assoc. Prof - College of Charleston
• D. Richard Hipp - SQLite
• Chad Wollenburg - Linux Basement

Yes, you no longer need to travel to Ohio for OLF, or LA for SCaLE to get good quality Free/Libre Open Source Software education and entertainment, as it’s now being brought back to the southeast. Moreover unlike some other conferences, you can get into this one for free. We also have a great exhibit hall with a nice mix of community projects and open source companies. So, you ask, how can I find out more, and register for SELF? Easy, just go to: http://southeastlinuxfest.org If you are on the east coast, particularly southern or central, or if you just want to witness the return of Linux in the GNU/South, don’t miss the SouthEast LinuxFest, it is truly going to be a blast. The SouthEast LinuxFest is a community event for anyone who wants to learn more about Linux and Free & Open Source software. It is part educational conference, and part social gathering. Like Linux itself, it is shared with attendees of all skill levels to communicate tips, ideas, and to benefit all who use Linux/Free and Open Source Software. LinuxFest is the place to learn, to make new friends, to network with new business partners, and most importantly, to have fun! Register at http://southeastlinuxfest.org/register

PTG, a Microsoft Certified Partner and VMware Enterprise Partner was recently tapped by Think Up Consulting to provide IT support services and solutions. Experiencing a rapid burst of company growth, Think Up Consulting turned to PTG to address their IT infrastructure and overall service challenge needs.

By first performing a needs assessment, PTG was able to determine where the greatest needs existed in order to formulate a structured support plan that included a financial return model for their IT services. Immediately, PTG developed a seamless connection through Think Up’s VPN server to SharePoint and Microsoft Exchange server to give Think Up’s employees reliable and efficient data sharing capabilities. PTG currently delivers proactive IT services, desktop support and IT purchasing duties for more than 25 in-house and remote home office employees. As a result, Think Up is able to focus on their business rather than spending time reacting to unwanted IT technical problems. The full story is available on the PTG website.

“We knew we needed better IT infrastructure support, but we were not exactly sure what we needed,” says Jamie Pagel, Chief of Ideation for Think Up Consulting. “PTG came in, assessed our situation and made recommendations that hit the mark perfectly. It’s obvious from working with them that they are very customer focused and experts at problem solving. Their service level is first rate with professional response to everything we need. With PTG, we feel like we have a real partnership.”

via: PTG

AT&T has announced plans for continued expansion of the companies 3G Network throughout South Carolina.  The plans include include expansion in of existing 3G network in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, and Spartenburg and the launch of 3G in Florence and Anderson.  All together, the cmpletion of the plan should end up with 195 active cell sites across the state.

A list of counties that will benefit from the 2009 activation include:

– Greenville County
– Spartanburg County
– Anderson County
– York County
– Pickens County
– Lancaster County
– Laurens County
– Richland County
– Lexington County
– Sumter County
– Florence County
– Horry County
– Charleston County
– Berkeley County
– Dorchester County

Via AT&T

Acumen I.T., a Greenville-based technology firm, announced today they will be presenting “The Next Generation of Server Virtualization and Storage”, along with Dell, in Anderson, South Carolina at the Hilton Garden Inn on September 30, 2008 from 3pm -6:30pm.

The event, targeting top executives will focus on solutions from two key technology leaders; Dell EqualLogic, the leader in storage utilization and VMware, the leader in server virtualization. Server virtualization consolidates IT operations on fewer resources, increasing the utilization of your server and storage infrastructure. Virtualized storage gives time back to administrators to design, develop and implement robust disaster recovery solutions for the enterprise. By consolidating servers and storage, customers are dramatically reducing purchasing, management and maintenance costs, often getting a ROI in a few months from deployment.

Using these technologies, businesses can reduce the number of physical servers in their environment from 30 to 40 servers down to as few as 3-5. They also consolidate islands of storage that increases storage utilization by 100 to 200%.

Acumen I.T. Vice President of Sales, Bradley Wright stated, “This presentation will show you how to eliminate server downtime, how to manage disaster recovery and how to use existing resources to your fullest advantage.”

via: Acumen IT

Clemson University is the 22nd best national public university in the country, according to the annual ranking by U.S.News & World Report. In a new category Clemson also received recognition as a school to watch.

Clemson is No. 2 among national public universities in the “up and coming” category as “a college that has recently made striking improvements or innovations — a school everyone should be watching,” according to the magazine.

The No. 22 ranking is the university’s highest ranking to date. Last year, Clemson was No. 27 among the 164 public, doctoral-granting institutions in the country. The climb in the rank is attributed to improvement in a number of areas at Clemson: the graduation rate has gone up from 75 percent to 78 percent; the freshman retention rate is up from 88 percent to 90 percent; and alumni giving increased from 27 percent to 28 percent. The university has more classes with fewer than 20 students and more freshmen — 52 percent — in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes.

A message from Clemson University President James Barker:

Complete rankings are published in U.S.News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2009.

PinPoint GeoTech has announced that SCLaunch! will be making an investment in their company. Pinpoint has developed a mobile system for coordinating the work efforts of combined municipal agencies. Since sanitation workers are driving through neighborhoods already, why not have them tag other problems, automatically creating a work order so that the appropriate organization can address the problem? This means that as a truck drives through a neighborhood, a driver can see that a traffic light is out, press a few buttons on his GPS enabled gadget and let the city services dispatch send a crew to repair it. While that crew is out, the could spot debris while traveling on their route, press a few buttons, and sanitation can integrate that pickup into their work flow. It’s a bit like integrating Getting Things Done in city services. Every group has the opportunity to know what needs to be done when they are ready to work on it.

Pinpoint GeoTech was a 2007 Innovision Award Winner, and the company presented as an entrepreneur at Innoventure in 2008. In his Innoventure presentation, President Jim Oswald said that cities are reporting a 45% fuel savings in curbside debris pickup operations when the system is deployed. With diesel fuel prices well over $4 a gallon, there is a lot of natural interest in Pinpint GeoTech’s system.

via: Pinpoint Public Works

Clemson University — Clemson University Thursday broke ground for a center that will anchor a research and innovation complex at the Clemson University Advanced Materials Center technology park in Anderson County. The complex will enhance opportunities for Anderson County to take a leading role in the state’s advanced-materials industry.

Located on S.C. 187, a stone’s throw from Interstate 85, the innovation center will serve as a high-tech business incubator, providing space for advanced materials-related start-up companies and so-called “landing parties,” companies exploring the viability of locating new businesses or relocating existing businesses in the area.

Clemson University President James F. Barker said the Clemson University Advanced Materials Center already offers tremendous value to advanced-materials businesses.

“The state-of-the-art Advanced Materials Research Laboratory features exceptional research laboratories and equipment and one of the finest electron microscope facilities in the nation,” Barker said. “Even more important, however, is the intellectual power housed here. An interdisciplinary group of scholars in such fields as chemistry, physics, photonics and other materials science and engineering disciplines is increasing the body of knowledge and educating the graduate students who will become the next generation of leaders in their fields.”

Completion of the new facility, he noted, will complete the “innovation chain” from basic research to the startup companies that take a discovery to the marketplace.

“The location so near Interstate 85, in the heart of the eighth-largest regional economy in the world, offers the advanced-materials industry many advantages, and we look forward to significant growth and collaboration.” he added.

Barker praised the commitment of Duke Energy and AdvanceSC to the project. Each contributed $1 million toward the innovation center.

“Today we celebrate the dedication of these two organizations to the economic health of South Carolina and to the Anderson community,” he said. “Their support is essential to the success of the innovation center and to the growth of the advanced materials industry in this area.”

Barker said the Clemson University Advanced Materials Center follows the same economic development model that created the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) in Greenville.

“It takes the focus and commitment of everyone in the state — business, academic and government entities — to move South Carolina ahead economically,” Barker said. “The economic-development model we have followed matches academic strength with the needs and goals of private industry in the state with support from public and private sources.”

The state of South Carolina provided $5 million toward construction of the building through the South Carolina Research University Infrastructure Act. Innovate Anderson, a public-private partnership focused on stimulating economic growth in Anderson County, purchased the remaining property in the Advanced Materials Center for $1.3 million for recruitment and development of advanced materials-related business.

Ellen Ruff, president of Duke Energy Carolinas, noted that company’s interest in the economic health of the region and the importance of maintaining a manufacturing base.

“When I visit with customers, they make it very clear that for manufacturing to thrive in the region, they must have a strong academic knowledge base, a well-trained workforce and reliable, cost-effective energy. This initiative brings those three priorities together into a partnership where everyone benefits,” Ruff said.

Carol Burdette, president of the AdvanceSC board of directors, said the board voted unanimously to support the innovation center project. 

“AdvanceSC remains very excited and honored to assist in the creation of this new innovation center,” Burdette said. “This facility well represents three of the main focus areas of our organization: education, economic development and manufacturing competitiveness, and we look forward to seeing the impact it will have across the entire region.” 

Mike Panasko, president of Innovate Anderson, said Anderson County leaders are poised to make the most of the opportunity the innovation center provides. 

“The Innovation Center is a great example of what it takes to build your community’s future in a progressive and positive manner. The impact this facility will have on raising not just Anderson County’s value, but the region and state as well, is tremendous,” he said

Chris Przirembel, Clemson’s vice president for research and economic development, added that the South Carolina Research Authority will build a $4-million companion facility adjacent to the innovation center to house SCRA contract and classified research.

“The financial commitment by SCRA was a very important element in matching the research infrastructure funds and making this entire project possible,” Przirembel said.

“We are pleased to join with Clemson University and our private partners to fulfill the vision of our legislators in delivering this Innovation Center,” said SCRA CEO Bill Mahoney. “Our partnership will provide two side-by-side facilities that will accelerate discovery and commercialization of advanced materials for both military and corporate applications, and help generate higher-paying, knowledge-based jobs in South Carolina.”

Construction of the complex is expected to be complete by August 2009.

via Clemson

The New Ideas for a New Carolina statewide business idea contest announced the winners of the 2008 competition yesterday at ThinkTEC.

The event’s Grand Prize of $5,000 seed money, a scholarship to FastTrac entrepreneurial training programs and access to a Dream Team of Mentors went to Dr. Ron Fulbright from Spartanburg. His idea is Scentinel, a rapid-deploy, all-weather, nanosensor system used to detect the presence of thousands of elements and chemical compounds in the environment such as levels of greenhouse gasses, atmospheric conditions, water conditions or toxic agents.

In addition to the Grand Prize Winner, four other award winners plus honorable mentions were named. Big news for us is that two of this year’s winners were FastTrac TechVenture graduates from the upstate! We’re especially proud of Ron Fulbright and Joe Milam! Go team!

Engineering

• Winner: Mount1 – Shaun Abraham and Anand Deekaram (Richland County); a robotic arm mount for flat screen televisions that can automatically adjust the position of the television using any universal remote control.


• Honorable Mention: Electromagnetic Enhancement of Crude Oil Recovery - Charles Stowers (Beaufort County); a method of electromagnetic stimulation used in heavy oil reservoirs, tar sand reservoirs, shale oil and secondary oil recovery to increase production rates.

Software/Information Technology

• Winner: BigLeapGPS – Joe Milam (Anderson County); a family protection company that utilizes the world’s smallest GPS device coupled with a 24/7 support network dedicated to locating and recovering lost, kidnapped, or injured family members, pets or assets anywhere in the world.


• Honorable Mention: oneZone Solutions – Jeff Beck (Charleston County); a home/business automation system that can control the temperature, lighting, security, irrigation and other home systems from any web-enabled device in the world.

Bio-Science

• Winner: Z Box - Jay Hughes (Charleston County); a compact CPAP medical device that creates a positive air pressure in the esophagus and sinus cavities for those suffering from mild to severe sleep apnea.


• Honorable Mention: Sleeve-On - Ron Norris (Richland County); a device for individuals with breast cancer who suffer from lymph edema and/or circulatory disorders to help them pull on their compression sleeve(s) using one hand.

Environmental Sustainability

• Honorable Mention: Palmetto Solar – Andrew Epting (Richland County); implementation of the creation, installation and maintenance of solar photovoltaic systems for manufacturing, warehousing and retail industries, government and institutions of higher education and the small business and residential sectors.

Wild Card category

• Winner: Azula – Julie McWherter (Spartanburg County); a pliable and fashionably-designed mat for women to sit on at the edge of the pool to protect their bathing suits from snagging.


• Honorable Mention: Charleston Fish and Chip – Andrew Smith (Charleston County); a facility where customers can either work on their golf game on a driving range and nine hole course or practice their cast in a stocked fishing hole.

Congratulations to all, and let this be a reminder to other budding entrepreneurs that 40% of this year’s winners graduated from the FastTrac entrepreneurial training BEFORE they entered!

PinPoint GeoTech has announced that SCLaunch! will be making an investment in their company. Pinpoint has developed a mobile system for coordinating the work efforts of combined municipal agencies. Since sanitation workers are driving through neighborhoods already, why not have them tag other problems, automatically creating a work order so that the appropriate organization can address the problem? This means that as a truck drives through a neighborhood, a driver can see that a traffic light is out, press a few buttons on his GPS enabled gadget and let the city services dispatch send a crew to repair it. While that crew is out, the could spot debris while traveling on their route, press a few buttons, and sanitation can integrate that pickup into their work flow. It’s a bit like integrating Getting Things Done in city services. Every group has the opportunity to know what needs to be done when they are ready to work on it.

Pinpoint GeoTech was a 2007 Innovision Award Winner, and the company presented as an entrepreneur at Innoventure in 2008. In his Innoventure presentation, President Jim Oswald said that cities are reporting a 45% fuel savings in curbside debris pickup operations when the system is deployed. With diesel fuel prices well over $4 a gallon, there is a lot of natural interest in Pinpint GeoTech’s system.

In his note to us, Jim Oswald says that SC Launch! voted unanimously to extend an additional $175,000, which combined with previous investments will represent the SC Launch maximum of $200,000.

via: Pinpoint Public Works

“Sixty Upstate plants were among the 134 plant sites recognized statewide by the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance for outstanding workplace safety in 2007.

Facilities with a low rate of accidents resulting in lost workdays, job transfers or restrictions were nominated for the safety recognition. Plants submitting an incident rate below the statewide average for their NAICS code received the award.

The awards were presented recently during the SCMA’s Plant Safety Conference in Columbia. Jim Knight, director of community and governmental affairs for the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, presented the awards.”

read more at Greenvilleonline.com