The Engineering Valley Tour is a free event with seminars being held in Oak Ridge , Chattanooga , Tullahoma and Huntsville . The event is the only one of its kind in the country, designed by the New Economy Institute (NEI) in Chattanooga for the technical community in the Tennessee Valley Corridor.
�Acrobat 7 and its new capabilities will revolutionize engineering, architecture and construction,� said Tom Carson, NEI Director of Curriculum Development. �For example, one of the new features will allow a 3-D rendering of engineering models to be placed in Portable Document Format (PDF) and the files can be viewed, rotated and animated with the free Adobe reader.�
During each seminar, Carson will demonstrate the tool using a 3-D PDF of a jet engine that he will start, rotate and disassemble.
Engineering Valley Tour participants will see another new tool that allows a variety of programs (AutoCAD, MicroStation, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Excel, etc.) to be combined into one common format (PDF)� all with a few clicks of the mouse button. Within seconds, an Acrobat user could have a presentation with an Excel chart, a Microsoft Word document and a PowerPoint slide.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville is using Acrobat for knowledge management and electronic archival. The program allows fuzzy searches of thousands of pages in seconds.
Kathy Rollow works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After taking an Acrobat 7 class, she says she immediately saw potential applications for ORNL.
�Due to retirement rates and a decrease in advanced degree production, the science and engineering workforce is facing an impending loss of educated, skilled and experienced workers over the next two decades,� said Rollow, program manager for the Center for Engineering Science Advanced Research.
�These trends have placed attention on the need to preserve our nation's R&D knowledge-base,� she said. �Using Acrobat will allow ORNL the capabilities to maintain our legacy expertise across the disciplines, regardless of the originating software. The possibilities for the application of Acrobat to address this and many other issues throughout our laboratory continue to astonish me.�
Carson agrees and says configuration management is another area where users will see tremendous efficiencies with the new Acrobat.
�Everything in most configuration management systems is in its native format,� said Carson . �That is a problem if the user does not have the native format. It can become expensive to put programs on people's computers just to review files. With Acrobat, thousands of documents can be searched quickly, and if engineering drawings are electronically converted from CAD to PDF, they are also searchable.�
A new ISO standard is being developed called PDF-E (Engineering). Two of the ISO committee members will be instructors for the Engineering Valley Tour. Boeing, Corps of Engineers, Caterpillar and other industry heavy-hitters are developing the standard.
PDF-A (Archival) is scheduled for release in March.
NEI is partnering with the Tri-Lateral Alliance ( Arnold Engineering Development Center , Marshall Space Flight Center, Oak Ridge National Lab, Y12), Adobe, Bentley and Layton Graphics to provide the Engineering Valley Tour.
Each seminar participant will be given a DVD with detailed information on the topics covered during the seminar, including many 3-D application examples.
The seminars are free, but to be eligible for Adobe software giveaways and other door prizes, participants must register at www.neiweb.org or call NEI toll-free at 1-866-221-5872. Professional Development Hours are available upon request.
The schedule for the Engineering Valley Tour is � Feb. 22 Pollard Auditorium in Oak Ridge (two sessions: 8-12:00 and 1:00-5); Feb. 23 Chattanooga State Technical Community College (two sessions: 8-12:00; 1:30-5:30); Feb. 24 University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma (10-2:30); Feb. 25 Morris Auditorium (8-12:00 � this session for badged Marshall and Redstone employees only) and Feb. 25 Marshall Institute (1-4:30 open to the general public).
The New Economy Institute and the Workforce Aging Management Program (WAMP) Initiative, one of several Tennessee Valley Corridor Ventures; links key government, business and industry leaders with 37 higher education institutions across the Tennessee Valley.
�Our mission is to ensure that there is a readily available technical and entrepreneurially inclined workforce for the Federal Labs and the private sector,� said NEI Executive Director, Dr. Greg Sedrick. �We're always searching for ways to advance the region's continued economic development through workforce training and development. The Engineering Valley Tour is another way to accomplish that.�
The Tennessee Valley Corridor is a multi-state regional economic development organization dedicated to promoting the Tennessee Valley Corridor as one of the nation's premier science and technology centers, and to leveraging the Valley's abundant research and technology assets and institutions for maximum regional economic development and new job creation.
The Tennessee Valley Corridor and the Research Triangle in Raleigh , N.C. , were honored last year by the U.S. Department of Commerce as the top two regional economic development organizations in the country for enhancing regional competitiveness. For more information on the Corridor or for the latest on the upcoming Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit in Washington D.C. , please visit www.tennvalleycorridor.org.
He may be the 15th president of the university, with the prestige of a campus leader, but he has called Virginia Tech home since the beginning of his undergraduate career in architecture. From student to professor to dean, Charles Steger has dedicated much of his life to being a Hokie. As a man with many hats, Steger plays roles in academics, fundraising and athletics, and also participates in many projects that affect the university campus-wide.
Q: There is talk of a new campus in Egypt . What is Virginia Tech doing for this project?
A: We are working with the Egyptian government to help put on the ground some programs in information technology to strengthen that type of education in their system. The most recent name is �University of the Nile.� Dr. Sedki Riad, who is a faculty member in engineering (and) is an Egyptian and speaks the language fluently, has been on the ground over there.
Q: As president of the university, one of your tasks is fundraising. How does the raising of funds play into your role?
A: The first thing is that over 80 percent of all money that comes in comes from individuals, not from foundations or corporations. We have a staff of researchers (who) look at identifying prospects. If a person looks like potential for a major gift, then I will go visit (that person). Our new campaign is only 16 months old and we've already gotten $178 million. Fundraising is a team effort, so it's not just me. The researchers and the directors all help make this happen. It takes time to build up their confidence and trust so that when you go and ask for very significant amounts of money, they feel good about it. Most of the donors are enthusiastic.
Q: What do you see personally as some of the negatives in the Chartered University Initiative?
A: I really don't see any negatives. That's from my perspective because I know this institution and I know the quality of our management staff. If I put myself in the position of a member of the General Assembly then, having been elected by the citizens, I have to raise the question, �If we grant this additional degree of autonomy then I want to make sure that things are going to be done right, and the answer is that under the charter, there will probably be greater accountability, because we are going to move from the pre-approval process to the post-audit process. Personally, I'm perfectly willing to be held accountable. I have great confidence based on what I've seen that we'll do well. If you go to the key issue that's on the minds of students and their parents, tuition is going to go up, regardless. What we would like to be able to do is to see that those increases be part of a long-range financial plan that is predictable.
Q: How does Virginia Tech being in the Atlantic Coast Conference not only affect our athletics, but the academics and the campus overall?
A: There was a period in time for probably a couple of months where all we did was work on getting into the ACC. It was an incredibly intensive operation. I think that the ACC is a wonderful conference. Our reception into the ACC went well. I was invited to all of the president meetings. The nice thing about it is it's a quality conference, as is the Big East. But I think the ACC makes some geographic sense, and beyond athletic competition the ACC has a number of academic programs. It really is a tool that helps enrich the quality of education for faculty and students.
Q: How long do you plan on staying at Virginia Tech?
A: I believe, in collaboration with my colleagues, that Virginia Tech is at an interesting point and we're making significant growth. Virginia Tech is a place that's on the map. As long as I feel like I can make a contribution in assisting my alma mater, I'll do that.
Q: How would you say your family affects your role as president of this university?
A: They're very understanding. My minimum week is 60 hours and sometimes it goes much beyond that. A couple of years ago, my oldest son was graduating, and of course (his) commencement fell on the exact same day as Virginia Tech's. Finally Larry (Hincker) suggested a video to give a speech to the students over the scoreboard on the football field. So I got the rector of the board of visitors to take my role at commencement.
Q: As designer of your own home in Blacksburg , where did ideas for the house come from?
A: Part of the ideas came from the years of being an architect. I would say the principal inspiration came from the work of a Swiss architect named Mario Botto. I have visited every one of the houses he's ever built and been in most of them and I was very impressed with his abilities. That was a major source, and after 18 years, as a house, I still think it works great. The lot was considered unbuildable, that's why it was available, and to any architect it was a challenge.
The war on terror hits our highways as truckers are being asked to join the battle. A federally funded program will help train big rig drivers to spot a terrorist.
Sullivan County Truck Driver Dennis Ayers says, "We're out there 24-7, 365 days a year on the road, all over the United States."
Ayers goes over his truck with a fine tooth comb after every stop. He explains, "You have to walk around the truck and check everything. Make sure your seal is still in tack and make sure it's not been tampered with."
That's because these days he's worried about more than break downs since our government has warned terrorists could hit the trucking company next. Ayers adds, "You're talking about 80,000 pounds and one of these vehicles can do a lot of damage to buildings to cars, just whatever."
We quickly learned towering over other vehicles gives truck drivers a different view. Ayers recalls, "I've seen people going along with guns right in the seat beside them."
Jonesborough trucker David Brown adds, "It's nothing to see cars going by you drinking and smoking pot and stuff like that. We see it, but the every day officer, there is no way he could look over and see what we see."
Now a federally funded program is training truckers to look for and report terrorist activities. Johnson City motorist Samantha Moyers says, "I feel safe, knowing the fact that they're involved with the police instead of being against the police."
David Brown says he'd welcome training to help him spot more and demonstrates with his radio how he'd get the word out to other drivers if he saw something dangerous.
The American Trucking Association runs the program called Highway Watch. Log onto their website to find out how you can be part of the program: www.highwaywatch.com.
The University of Tennessee has come up with its third plan in four years for revitalizing its graduate-level Space Institute campus in Tullahoma.
The latest proposal, recently delivered to the state General Assembly, would concentrate UTSI's academics and research in two areas - materials science engineering, including lasers; and aerospace engineering, including propulsion.
These are critical to UTSI's main sources of post-graduate students, research partnerships and nonstate funding - the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
''We need to build that back up. And you can't build yourself up by spreading yourself so thinly across the landscape that instead of being all things to all people, you are nothing to anybody,'' UT President John Petersen said.
''We feel it is important to take those two things that really represent the strengths there - that represent the needs of the major partners - and really focus on those,'' he said.
Noting the Arnold center's increased involvement in hypersonic flight research, Petersen said UTSI could provide ''a valuable opportunity'' for the university to be a national player in aeronautics.
''This is a place worth refocusing rather than disbanding,'' he said.
Brig. Gen. David Stringer, Arnold Center 's commander, said the base and the university ''have sustained a special relationship for over 40 years, and ... working together, efforts like Dr. Petersen's make a broader and more prosperous future possible.''
Petersen has been delivering a similar message to each of UT's five campuses since becoming president in July. But it's doubtful any campus in the 42,000-student system is in greater need of guidance and support after a succession of UT presidents has each ordered up studies to save the Middle Tennessee institute near the Alabama border.
''It has been doubly difficult for us,'' said John Caruthers, UTSI's chief operating officer. ''Having three plans in four years and multiple (UT) presidents who have had to learn who we are ... has delayed some critical actions we needed to take.
''Our talent base dwindled. We lost some good people who got tired of that. It had an impact on the faculty and the employees' and the students' morale,'' he said. ''We've been through a grueling four-year experience, but we are coming out of that now and it is time to look up.''
Established in 1964, UTSI has seen its enrollment and federal research funding slipping for years, in part because of reduced activity at Arnold , a major aircraft wind tunnel facility.
Enrollment is about 177 students, although only 37 are full-time - compared with about 350 a decade ago. Faculty is down to 27 professors, with 22 tenured - compared with 33 in 2000. And federal research funding has dropped from nearly $12 million in 1990 to less than $3 million.
State funding, meanwhile, has stayed fairly constant at about $8 million annually.
''If UTSI did not exist, there would not be sufficient basis or support to establish UTSI,'' one consultant's study said in 2001.
The new plan, crafted with help from consultant Dr. L. S. ''Skip'' Fletcher of the NASA-Ames Research Center in California , is more optimistic, touting UTSI's opportunities to concentrate its programs and expand its reach through established distance learning with other universities.
The previous plan under the Shumaker administration ''was deemed unrealistic because projections of federal support were overestimated,'' according to the report. ''Recommendations in this revised plan focus on creating realistic expectations that can be achieved through rigorous efforts by the UTSI faculty and leadership.''
''I think it is a good concept and it was something we needed to do,'' Caruthers said.
''We may have to drop some areas that we might have continued a little longer, but I think it is a reasonable approach.''
Huntsville 's position looks strong for a proposed NASA financial center, but Marshall Space Flight Center may lose a few jobs in the next federal budget, Marshall Director Dave King said Tuesday.
The Rocket City bid on a NASA Shared Services Center , which would combine space agency financial work, and is still in the running. The center could bring more than 500 jobs to Huntsville .
Earlier this month, NASA headquarters narrowed the field from six locations to three - Huntsville; Brook Park, Ohio, near Glenn Research Center; and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
King said the details were being worked out in Washington and Huntsville "has an outstanding proposal on the table there."
He also said the center was not related to Marshall and its work would be managed out of NASA headquarters in Washington. "It's not a Marshall function," he said.
The Marshall director made his remarks during an editorial board meeting with The Times.
Marshall may lose jobs because not enough employees accepted a buyout package offered in December. Of the 100 to 120 buyouts offered, about 75 people accepted the package, King said. The center has about 2,700 civil servant jobs.
King said the buyouts were "narrow in scope, and only some 1,200 or 1,300 people were qualified to participate," King said. "As such, we didn't have quite as many as we thought who would participate."
The lower number could mean job cuts or other retirement options.
"We are looking at that now, and seeing what can be done," King said.
King said the decision would be made sometime after the fiscal year 2006 budget was released Feb. 7. Other centers have had to make job cuts and offer retirement packages recently. However, Johnson Space Center , near Houston , might need to hire people. Johnson and Marshall have long competed for the same type of work.
"Numbers change," King said. "Based on the work we perform and the need. Right now, our (employment) numbers look like they need to go down a little bit and Johnson's numbers may need to go up."
King also outlined the progress for the space shuttle's return to flight. The next shuttle launch is on track for a mid-May liftoff from Kennedy Space Center , near Cape Canaveral , Fla. , he said.
"I worked 19 years at the Cape , and I can tell you from the last time I was there three weeks ago that it certainly looks like we are going to launch soon," King said. "The way things are coming together and the excitement people have it looks good to me."
King said about 5,000 contractors and more than 600 civil servants at Marshall were "working overtime, weekends and on holidays to make sure return to flight is a success."
"I've given 20 years of my life to this program, and there are others who have given much more," King said. "We want it to be successful."
Six Alabama lawmakers are trying to save a Huntsville-managed missile program that could face the knife next week when President Bush's fiscal 2006 spending plan is released.
Pentagon planners want to eliminate the $5.5 billion Joint Common Missile program developed at Redstone Arsenal. The missile would be used by all the services and would replace several missile programs.
A military budget planning memo drafted in late December by staff in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's office calls for more than $30 billion in defense spending cuts over the next six years, including the Joint Common Missile.
The six lawmakers Wednesday signed a letter expressing "grave concern" over the recommendation to kill the program and sent it to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
The letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, and Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, and U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville; Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville; Terry Everett, R-Enterprise; and Mike Rogers, R-Anniston.
The missile would be manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp. at its plant in Troy , which is in Everett 's district. The company announced plans to hire more than 500 people to work on the missile, which also would be used by Great Britain .
The Army wants to use the missile as a successor to its aging Hellfire and TOW antiarmor missiles. Military planners believe a single missile would cut supply costs for training, testing and the battlefield.
The letter outlines success Lockheed Martin had with the missile in attacking a test target in December, and goes on to point out the missile fills critical gaps in detecting and destroying targets at night and in foul weather.
"What troubles me the most," Sessions said Thursday, "is that this is the type of weapons system Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld have pushed for.
"In other words, it's joint, meaning all the services would use it, and it advances our battlefield technology. I don't understand at all why this is slated for termination."
Cramer said the Alabama lawmakers are "a significant delegation to weigh in on this issue, and we think we will get (Pentagon) attention over this."
But the budget fight will be hard, with war costs and domestic spending issues to deal with, Cramer said.
To Cramer, the Defense Department is caught between buying new weapons and paying for the costly war in Iraq and Afghanistan .
The Pentagon "has tough choices to make," he said. "They are forced with choosing future investments and paying for high war costs. It's going to be a tough decision-making time."
Also listed in the budget memo are $6 billion in missile defense cuts and the cancellation of several Navy ship and submarine programs.
Chattanooga beat out cities in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Kansas to land a new manufacturer that will build towers for wind turbines, officials said Thursday.
Aerisyn LLC plans to invest more than $7 million and employ up to 150 people in three years as it ramps up what company officials said is the first automated wind-tower production site in North America.
Marlin Laidlaw, the company's president, said Aerisyn will lease 155,000 square feet in the Alstom Corp. facility at West 19th Street near the Tennessee River. The company, which plans to start operations in June, has an option to expand to 250,000 square feet. Mr. Laidlaw said the business will create 75 jobs and build up to 200 towers during its first year. Wages will run from $12 to $25 per hour, he said.
Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey said all the pieces fell together to land the company. "These are the kinds of jobs we're talking about when we talk about the future of manufacturing," he said.
Wind turbines offer a clean and renewable source of electric power, and the demand is growing, according to the company. Officials said wind generation capacity was installed to power over 600,000 homes in the United States from 2002 to 2004.
Mr. Laidlaw said Aerisyn will make ancillary products in addition to the towers. He said the firm may move into the production of components in the future. Matt Kisber, Tennessee's commissioner for economic and community development, said the state will offer job training help and tax credits.
"We'll sit down with their management team and help defray costs," he said.
Trevor Hamilton, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's vice president of economic development, said a local incentive package will feature a five-year tax break on equipment. The tax savings will start at 100 percent the first year and decrease to 50 percent the last two years, he said.
The Chattanooga plant will be the company's first production facility, Mr. Laidlaw said. Its access to the river, rail and the interstate was key, said the head of the company whose investors are from Wisconsin.
Tom Kale Jr. of NAI Charter Real Estate Corp., which helped locate the Alstom building, said finding a facility that can house a 300-foot tower is rare. He said the Alstom site has 1,000-foot-long bays and an 800-ton crane.
Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker said the city is focusing on its location within the Tennessee Valley Technology Corridor, and the recruitment of Aerisyn is "an indicator our efforts are paying off."
Joe Ferguson, who directs the city's Enterprise Center, said Aerisyn will work with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's SimCenter, which does research in computational engineering.
The Advanced Transportation Technology Institute (ATTI), a non-profit organization dedicated to driving the United States towards energy security, has secured its first domestically produced hybrid-electric vehicle for its �Ride & Drive� program: the Ford Hybrid Escape.
Over the last four years ATTI has leased several Toyota Prius Hybrid and Honda Civic Hybrid. As part of an aggressive �Ride & Drive� program, ATTI has provided thousands of individuals and organizations the opportunity to drive either vehicle.
�We have seen two impressive results from our �Ride & Drive� program�, said John Powell, Executive Director of ATTI. �The first is the pure enjoyment of driving a hybrid vehicle and the second is a large number of individuals and organizations that have followed our program by purchasing a hybrid vehicle for their own use.�
Now, for the first time, the Institute can use an American manufactured automobile in the program. The Ford Escape is a full hybrid SUV that can operate up to 25 mph on pure batteries and achieve 36 miles per gallon in city driving conditions.
Jim Frierson, Vice-Chairman of ATTI and one of the five ATTI board members who own hybrid-electric cars, praised the Ford Escape and the effort by Ford to be the first American manufacturer to produce a commercially available hybrid vehicle. �Ford has shown, through the Ford Escape Hybrid and other activities, that it is committed to producing vehicles that help reduce harmful emissions, improve mileage efficiency and improve energy security. There will inevitably be a waiting line for this breakthrough vehicle.�
�We are proud to be partner in ATTI's �Ride & Drive� program�, said Todd Dyer, General Manager of Marshal Mize Ford in Chattanooga. �It is gratifying that the first hybrid that came through our dealership will be used to educate consumers and fleet purchasers on the benefits of hybrid-electric vehicles.�
The Ford Escape will be operated for several weeks by ATTI personnel. After that time, the hybrid will be loaned to targeted individuals and organizations in the Tennessee Valley Corridor. �This is a rollout, not a test. We are hoping to build on the success of our earlier �Ride & Drive� program�, Frierson concluded. �By partnering with other local organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, we are adding to the appeal of Chattanooga's clean transportation story.�
When the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport conducts a full-scale aviation emergency exercise next month, Safe Skies' Special Projects team will be standing by. In cooperation with airport management and the TSA, the team will conduct a baseline evaluation of the airport's command, control, communication, coordination and information capabilities � �C4I.� The goal of an effective C4I program is to quickly and efficiently unite normal operations with emergency plans when a crisis occurs. Components of the Chattanooga evaluation are: the capabilities baseline, installation of technology-based improvements by the airport, and a follow-up evaluation after the enhanced system has been installed.
Technology-based enhancements to be deployed after the baseline evaluation is complete were originally created by the U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command for military applications. The �Total Municipal Awareness System� is a situational awareness system providing real-time data as well as planning and modeling tools. The $3 million software is available to Safe Skies at no cost and can be used to for safety- or security-related incidents. If the results of the system evaluation show improvements over the baseline, Safe Skies hopes to conduct additional C4I projects at other airports in the future. �What were striving to do here is to give decision-makers an information advantage, both in crisis and normal operations mode,� said Ken Martin, Special Projects Senior Test Engineer. �We'll assess the system's ability to prevent a crisis, and in the event of an emergency, recover quickly.�
For soldiers in combat, the unknown can be deadly. What's in the next room or around a corner can kill.
Redstone Arsenal's Robotics Systems Joint Project Office is developing a small wheeled robot that may be able to reduce that danger.
Slightly smaller than a soda can, the robot has a transmitter and a camera on board, weighs less than 2 pounds and has a range of about 100 feet. It's intended to gather information quickly.
"It weighs very little, but probably the most important aspect of this small (robot) is speed," said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Terry Griffin, program manager at the robotics office. "Other robots we have in the field now take a long time to set up and put into an area, and all the time our troops are exposed to enemy attack.
"With the 'throwbot,' a soldier takes it out and throws it in somewhere to check out an area. They don't have to sit around for long."
The idea came from a University of Minnesota program, said Mark Robinson, an engineer with Science Applications International Corp. in Hunts-ville.
The version being tested at Redstone is made from commercial parts, Robinson said. "It's a prototype, and everything we have in terms of electronics and hardware is off-the-shelf stuff anybody could purchase," he said.
The experimental models cost about $6,000 for each kit. The basic kit components are a hand-held combined controller/TV screen, a robot and a battery charger.
The Army wants to make it rugged for use in combat and to reduce the cost to about $3,000, Robinson said.
The simple design makes the throwbot easy to use, Griffin said. "It's pretty simple in that a soldier can just throw it into a room or around a corner, and then drive it around to explore," Griffin said.
It's also geared for the young soldiers brought up on video games, Griffin said. The controller is similar to those used on Nintendo and Sega game machines.
"They won't have any trouble getting used to it," Griffin said. "The young guys grow up using this kind of equipment."
Griffin hopes the concept will be groundbreaking not only for the technology but also in the development process.
It can take years, even decades, to develop and field tools for troops. Engineers at Redstone and the University of Minnesota have been working on the throwbot for about a year, and hope it will be sent to Iraq by spring for tests.
If all goes well, it could be in production in another year, Griffin said. "There are some challenges to overcome," he said. The Department of Defense "has to decide to purchase it, and another is making sure the university can move this along into (a business) that can manufacture it."
"It's a concept right now, but it is a concept that looks promising."
What type of rocket will loft the next American spacecraft off Earth and possibly on to the moon is a tangled question aerospace experts say could take a few years to answer.
At Marshall Space Flight Center, engineers are developing a number of options for industry to develop a rocket suitable to loft the as-yet-to-be-designed Crew Exploration Vehicle, Marshall Director Dave King said earlier this week.
"We are looking at all concepts from a heavy-lift, Saturn V-like vehicle, to a shuttle-type vehicle, to using expendable rockets," King said. "The truth is that we've got to pick what type of crew vehicle that's best for the exploration (plan), and then design a vehicle to lift it.
"This is a multiyear exploration plan and we've got a couple of years before we have to make that decision."
There are advantages and disadvantages to many designs. A Saturn V-like vehicle would place a lot of cargo into Earth orbit with just a few launches, but it would be expensive, space experts predict.
Another option would be to modify the shuttle's external tank and solid rocket boosters to lift an unmanned cargo package, and yet another one to launch multiple expendable rockets like the Boeing Delta IV or Lockheed Atlas 5 into orbit.
"We just don't know yet," King said. "I expect that within the next year the design (plan) will take shape and we will work toward that goal."
Whatever form that rocket might take, a general consensus among space experts is that it won't be an updated version of the massive Saturn V rocket that took Apollo astronauts to the moon more than 35 years ago. Dr. Wernher von Braun and his rocket team started work on the Saturn V designs in the late 1950s while still working for the U.S. Army.
The Saturn V had the power to propel a three-man crew out of orbit and on to the moon, and it put up America 's first space station - Skylab. NASA does not have a similar vehicle today. The shuttle has enough power to put an orbiter, crew and cargo into a 200- to 300-mile-high orbit.
A new, large rocket could keep NASA plans to return to the moon on the ground. Dennis Wingo, Huntsville businessman and space expert, predicts a Saturn V-type design would bankrupt any space exploration plan.
"If they hold out for a Saturn V, then this will fall apart," Wingo said. "There's no money for a long development program to design and test a heavy-lift, Saturn V type vehicle."
Wingo said a promising option would be to develop automated docking systems and use Boeing's Delta IV expendable vehicles to assemble a crew vehicle in space. "This is all proven hardware and wouldn't take that long to develop," Wingo said.
Another option is to slightly modify the space shuttle hardware by removing the crew orbiter and replacing it with a cargo carrier, said Dr. Owen Garriott, a former NASA astronaut who lives in Huntsville .
"Perhaps the least expensive options for providing this vehicle would be based upon space shuttle hardware," Garriott said in an interview last month.
"NASA could simply remove the orbiter and probably use a cargo package" mounted on top of the external tank to avoid debris strikes.
"This would use the already designed external tank and the solid boosters. It could be the least expensive option."
Garriott, who has consulted on several spacecraft designs for NASA, predicted using shuttle hardware for a while would keep shuttle production lines open until a new vehicle is developed. "That way there would be no gap in (American) launch capability like there was in the late 1970s," he said.
After Skylab ended in 1974, America practically had no space program until the shuttle was launched in April 1981.
Aerospace industry engineers are not ruling out a large rocket, said Chuck Allen, Northrop Grumman's vice president for space exploration systems, and, much like NASA, they consider a Saturn V-type rocket an option.
"We could look at heavy lift," Allen said.
"Right now we are in the process of doing all the trade studies. From there, we will jointly propose to NASA what we believe the (Crew Exploration Vehicle) and the systems you need to support those need to be."
Probably the best answer to what a rocket and crew capsule should be lies along the hardest path, Allen said.
"In designing these types of systems, it's best to look at the absolute hardest scenario and then plan for that," he said.
Allen said designing a rocket for an easy option "probably means everything has not been developed and that just means you spend a lot of money fixing those problems later."
IPIX Corp. may be doing the West-to-East coast shuffle, but there are no plans to move or significantly alter the Oak Ridge-founded company's local operations, according to IPIX's newly appointed CEO.
The 39 employees that form IPIX's engineering and research and development operations will stay put, said Clara Conti. She was appointed CEO of IPIX in September.
Conti came to IPIX after serving as president and CEO of ObjectVideo, a video surveillance company based in Washington , D.C. Since her appointment, the company's headquarters have been moved to the Washington suburb of Vienna , Va. , and IPIX's headquarters in San Ramon , Calif. , closed.
Conti said the company, with the recent spin-off of its newspaper- and advertising-based products, would focus its attention primarily on the security market with both its 360-degree video and still photo products.
IPIX develops technology that creates submersive images, allowing users to view in 360 degrees a scene captured by video or a still photo image.
In the dot-com days of the late 1990s, that technology was sold primarily for Internet-related uses in the real estate, tourism, marketing and journalism fields. Today, the company is focusing on the security market, pitching the technology to government and corporate customers.
"My background is in the physical security base," Conti said. "What IPIX wants to do (is) leverage its existing core technologies and patents in the visual intelligence base. What we've done is we've reorganized IPIX to be focused as one company on one mission."
When IPIX spun off its AdMission business as a separate company earlier this month, 17 employees went with it, Conti said, with about five corporate employees remaining at IPIX's San Ramon offices.
Most of those employees probably won't make the transition to IPIX's new headquarters, Conti said, and CFO Paul Farmer has already announced his resignation. Jim Griffin, who formerly headed IPIX's security division has also left the company for "personal reasons," she said.
IPIX currently has nine employees at the Vienna office and 39 in Oak Ridge , Conti said. She said she expects to add sales and marketing as well as administrative positions at headquarters as well as adding some sales positions in Oak Ridge . She said she intends to keep the company's engineering staff in Tennessee .
"Oak Ridge will always remain the engineering, R&D and manufacturing anchor for IPIX," Conti said. "We see nothing but growth for the Oak Ridge operation. There's some staffing up going on right now in engineering, and we're putting our plans together for product development for the next couple of years."
Conti said the pool of technically trained employees in Oak Ridge is tough to match elsewhere.
"There's such a resource of talent in Oak Ridge , and it's basically been the heart and soul of this company," she said.
Engineers who left Oak Ridge National Laboratory to launch their own business founded IPIX in Oak Ridge in 1985 as TeleRobotics International.
It then became Omniview, named after a video-based technology its developers imagined would appeal to security and surveillance markets, before becoming IPIX - first as Interactive Pictures Corp. and then Internet Pictures Corp. before being shortened to IPIX Corp.
Conti said the company would continue developing technology along the security theme, although she said its non-security applications - such as the real estate market to which the company recently regained access - should grow as well.
IPIX's non-security sales make up "about 10 percent of the business," she said. "I expect it to increase."
The company is advertising for 16 new job openings on its web site. SAIC is currently seeking customer service representatives to provide technical assistance to SAIC employees worldwide. This help desk support will provide first line technical support relating to system/network administration for Windows 2000/XP desktops with emphasis on supporting PeopleSoft and SAP applications.
Interested job seekers may apply for these positions online at www.saic.com.
The Somerset Center will provide technology consulting and management services to federal and commercial clients in the areas of systems engineering, operations, and integration. It will also serve as the north anchor for SAIC facilities that span the Tennessee Valley Corridor from Huntsville, Alabama, through Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and now to Somerset, Kentucky . The initial focus of the Center will be to provide threat reduction assessments, strategies, and operational models for federal and commercial clients.
Enterprise services SAIC representative Brad Burrows thanks SKED Executive Director Greg Jones, and Lonnie Lawson, President and CEO of The Center for Rural Development, for their assistance in making the transition to Somerset seamless such as information technology asset monitoring and management focusing on 24x7 continuous business improvement methodologies will be delivered on an international scale through the Center.
"SAIC is looking forward to being a part of the Somerset business community," said SAIC Vice-President Mike Cuddy. "The support of SKED in our transition has been outstanding."
SKED spearheaded SAIC's recruitment to Pulaski County . The non-profit organization has worked with the company over the past two years to provide an easy transition.
"SAIC is a business recruiter's dream. They are moving in, hiring local people and making plans to grow here in Pulaski County, " said SKED Executive Director Greg Jones. "We want to ensure their success here for the company and entire region."
SAIC is the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the United States, providing information technology, systems integration and eSolutions to commercial and government customers. SAIC engineers and scientists work to solve complex technical problems in national and homeland security, energy, the environment, space, telecommunications, health care and logistics.
SKED is a non-profit community organization created by Fifth District Congressman Hal Rogers in 1986 to create jobs in a 27-county service area in Southern Kentucky . It accomplishes this mission by recruiting new businesses, making direct loans, offering small business technical assistance and providing community/economic development services to local communities. The organization has received designation as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), and funding to implement several innovative regional initiatives including the Valley Oak Technology Complex, the Southern Kentucky Intermodal Transportation Park, and the Southern Kentucky Information Technology Center. Since its creation, SKED has successfully prepared loan and grant applications totaling more $18 million, funding over 50 projects which have created more than 5,000 jobs in the region.
George W. Bush has officially started his second term as an unabashedly pro-business president, the 109th Congress has been sworn in, and U.S. manufacturing is starting to rebound from a years-long slump.
According to statistics compiled by the Federal Reserve, industrial production in 2004 grew for the first time in four years, despite global competition and rising commodity prices.
But don't get too excited about manufacturing's upswing, even in Tennessee , which has consistently topped national figures.
Potential cuts to the federally funded Manufacturing Extension Partnership will hurt the Tennessee small to mid-sized companies most in need of support.
The Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Program "is one of the most important things in the state for small and medium-size manufacturers," says Deb Woolley, executive director of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "Funding for them is an investment."
TMEP was created by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1963. Like the manufacturing extension programs in all 50 states, it provides a range of operational services and technological resources to companies without in-house capabilities.
Programs include LEAN manufacturing, quality management, environmental health and safety consulting and computer networking. They are administered out of five regional offices across the state.
T.C. Parsons, director of the Tennessee Center for Industrial Services, the entity in which TMEP is housed, says threats of budget cuts are routine.
"The administration has threatened to reduce the budget each year and Congress has managed to get it restored at the last minute," says Parsons, noting that U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn. (6th District) has annually fought for the program's full budget.
And if those last-minute efforts don't happen, it could be a replay of last year. When the 108th Congress was approving the 2004 federal budget, it slashed the manufacturing extension budget by more than $60 million.
Tennessee 's program was barely affected, says Parsons, although others were not as lucky.
"We're fortunate we're viewed as a very good performance center," he says, adding that TMEP receives state funding through its alliance with the University of Tennessee .
Nonetheless, Parsons would just as soon not have to adapt his program to such circumstances.
"If we lose (funding), will it hurt us? Yes. Will it affect industrial services? Yes. Will it close CIS down? No," he says.
Program advocates say cuts would damage a great asset to both the state and national economy. Despite painful cuts since the late 1990s, the manufacturing sector still employs 14.4 million people in the United States .
"I would hate to see it," says John Johnson, president of Mid-South Wire Co., of the cuts.
Johnson's company, which booked $91.4 million in revenue in 2003, is one of several Middle Tennessee businesses that have taken advantage of MEP's services to improve their performance.
"If you were talking about cutting farm extension programs, people would go ballistic," says Woolley, whose organization is a TMEP partner. "This is basically the same thing."
Woolley says she'll be watching the congressional committee agendas for the issue's appearance. When it does, she says she'll gear up her manufacturing members to convey the importance of the program. And Parsons will be right there with TMEP participants.
"Manufacturing is really under attack in the U.S. ," he says. "It's still a very significant source of wealth generation in this state and in the U.S. "
The City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County will more than double the size of Enterprise South Industrial Park through a transaction with the federal government that will add 1,787 acres to the park, bringing the total acreage of Enterprise South to almost 3,000 acres, including the 400 acres needed to meet TVA Mega Site Certification.
The acquisition places the entire former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant (VAAP) site � some 6,000 acres -- under control of the city and county, which have been working with the General Services Administration (GSA) for eight years to acquire the property.
"We have partnered with the GSA and the U.S. Army to realize the dream the city and county have had for many years to acquire the VAAP property for economic development and recreational use by the public," said Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey.
"The addition of the remaining available land at Enterprise South is a tremendous milestone for our community and will make the park a site selector's dream," said Mayor Bob Corker. "This land acquisition further enhances our ability to recruit large and small businesses to our community and to create great, high-paying new jobs for our citizens for many decades."
According to U.S. Congressman Zach Wamp, the land acquisition is the culmination of many years of effort. "The cooperation by both County Mayor Ramsey and Mayor Corker has furthered Sen. Thompson's and my actions six years ago to take a void in the Chattanooga landscape and turn in into something productive," said Congressman Zach Wamp. "They have taken our work and continued to transform an enormous resource into a gold mine for private development. Clearly doors will be opened as this transaction takes us into the Mega Site status."
Ramsey and Corker announced Thursday the acquisition of the 1,787 additional acres for Enterprise South. The property, located west of the 1,210 acres already included in Enterprise South, encompasses an additional 400 acres ready for immediate development.
"We have a nearby interstate, an interstate exit under construction, utility infrastructure, dual rail service and now more than the amount of acreage required for virtually any kind of industrial project," Ramsey said. "With a Mega Site ready for development, Chattanooga enjoys a distinct advantage in the highly competitive site selection process for new automotive manufacturing facilities, among others."
Trevor Hamilton, vice president of economic development at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, said that once Enterprise South gains certification as an auto assembly plant site, the park would qualify for almost any other industry.
"There is hardly any other industrial project more demanding than an automobile assembly facility," he said. "Already our participation with TVA in the Mega Site certification project has provided us with great exposure to site selection consultants and automotive-related projects."
The purchase price of 763 acres of the latest acquisition is $7.1 million, with the city and county each paying $3.55 million.
An additional 1,024 acres will be acquired through special legislation approved by Congress in 1999 through the efforts of Wamp, Thompson and Senator Bill Frist.
The legislation allows for a portion of the VAAP property to be conveyed by the Secretary of the Army to the city and county at the fair market value of $5.5 million, with payment deferred for 10 years.
The acquisition announced Thursday is the latest in the city and county's purchase of VAAP acreage. In September of 2000 the city and county purchased 940 acres of the VAAP property for economic development purposes. In April 2003 the county and city purchased an additional 262 acres, and in November of 2003 the governments purchased eight acres for a grand total of 1,210 acres.
In addition, the GSA transferred 2,800 acres of the VAAP property to the city and county for use as a passive park. The acreage was approved by the National Park Service for recreational uses last summer.
The city and county have continued negotiations with the General Services Administration for the purchase of the remaining economic development property at VAAP in order to allow Enterprise South to become a certified Mega Site to attract large industries.
Last August, McCallum-Sweeney Consulting, which helped analyze more than 25 major industrial sites for Mega Site certification in the TVA service area, called " Chattanooga 's team presentation . . . one of the best we saw. It was clear to us that the whole community is behind this effort."
Enterprise South was listed as a certified contingent Mega Site for a major auto plant, with full certification depending in part on the acquisition of 400 more acres.
McCallum-Sweeney recommended the additional 400 acres to "square off" the Mega Site location at Enterprise South that the Chamber presented to consultants last summer.
The GSA is the federal agency responsible for disposing of surplus federal land. The VAAP was idled after the end of the Vietnam War.
http://www.chattanoogachamber.com/newsandvideo/esip_expansion.asp
Two years and two university presidents ago, the University of Tennessee announced it planned to build a business incubator on campus to help spin local research into high-tech companies.
Today, state, local and university officials will announce they finally have in hand the $2.5 million needed for the center.
"We have been unwavering in what we thought we needed to do to enhance our capacity to commercialize the technologies of the university," said Fred Tompkins, executive director of the UT Research Foundation, which is heading up the project. "It has simply taken us a while."
The incubator was conceived during the administration of John Shumaker, who resigned in August 2003 and was succeeded on an interim basis by former President Joe Johnson.
Tompkins said the appointment last summer of UT President John Petersen helped revive the incubator plan and shore up the needed funds.
"(Petersen) has affirmed his commitment to growing the research enterprise and increasing the intellectual property production on the campus," Tompkins said.
The incubator, to be built on UT's Agriculture Campus, will be funded through a "collaborative effort" of public and private money, Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale said.
Knox County has committed $250,000 to the project.
"We started working on this at the very beginning of our administration, so we're excited it's finally coming to fruition," Ragsdale said.
Ragsdale said the incubator project fits with the county's other efforts to create jobs and encourage investment in the region.
"Basically what it is, if we're going to grow our community in the right kind of way, we have to take advantage of our technology background," he said, referring to the proximity of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and UT.
Other incubator contributions include:
$300,000 from UT's Knoxville campus;
$150,000 from the Tennessee Valley Authority;
$50,000 from the Knoxville
Utilities Board;
$500,000 from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community
Development through a Tennessee Industrial Infrastructure Program grant;
$1.25 million in a matching grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's
Economic Development Administration.
Petersen, Ragsdale and Matt Kisber, state commissioner of economic and community development, will attend a press conference at 9 a.m. today announcing the funding.
Absent from the list of incubator contributors is the city of Knoxville .
"Mayor (Bill) Haslam is very supportive of the project," city spokeswoman Amy Nolan said. "But the city, of course, has limited financial resources and other projects that it is committed to."
Money in hand, Tompkins said the university can now go to work on the specifics of the plan, such as precisely where the building will be located, its dimensions, its design and a schedule for construction.
He also will be developing an annual budget for the incubator, which will be funded through the UT Research Foundation and require additional fund-raising efforts, he said.
Oak Ridge-based Technology 2020's Center for Entrepreneurial Growth will likely aid in managing the facility, Tompkins said, although its exact role has not been determined. The CEG is a program that provides assistance to startup technology businesses, and it already has been working with several UT-related companies under an annual $120,000 contract with the university.
Based on early projections, the incubator likely will include about 15,000 square feet of office space, Tompkins said. The building won't contain lab space, however, he said, because of financial constraints.
"Basically what we had was a concept, and we used the concept plan to be a basis for raising funds," he said. "(The funding) simply now opens the door for us to begin planning the actual structure, planning the timeline."
Attracting new high-tech companies and boosting technology education are key to Chattanooga 's future economic health, mayoral hopefuls said at a candidate forum Thursday. During a forum hosted by the Chattanooga Technology Council, seven of the eight candidates vying to succeed Mayor Bob Corker in the March 1 election outlined ways the city can use technology in economic development efforts.
"The more attention we can give to increasing technology, the better off we are," said Dan Johnson, a local certified public accountant. Mr. Johnson said the city must focus on practical uses for technology developed in places such as Oak Ridge , Tenn., and Huntsville , Ala. He proposed hiring a person at City Hall to concentrate innovations out of the Tennessee Valley Technology Corridor. Mr. Johnson also said he would work with the EPB to connect area schools to the utility's high-speed fiber optic network.
"We have a deficit in our educated work force," he said. Ann Coulter, a former RiverCity Co. executive, said not embracing technology is not an option. "It is critical to our future in every industry you can name," she said. The city must work closer with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to promote technology growth, Ms. Coulter said.
"We have to deepen the knowledge base of our labor pool," she said. In a mobile society, where people can start up businesses anywhere, the city also should pitch its quality of life to prospective entrepreneurs, Ms. Coulter said. Ron Littlefield, a city councilman, said he would launch a "Junior Achievement-type program" at the city's recreation centers and library branches to help teach young people about technology. With UTC's engineering program and SimCenter, the city has plenty to offer high-tech companies, he said. "This is a city with a long history of innovation," he said. " Chattanooga needs to be known as a city that is not afraid of new ideas." Chattanooga , Mr. Littlefield said, has put in place technology that prepares it to become a "city of the future." Angela Clark, a former Chattanooga Housing Authority employee, said the city should work to attract technology companies producing products that "make our lives more efficient."
The city also must develop technology to provide information on Chattanooga government to residents more quickly, Ms. Clark said. Karl Epperson, a retired truck driver, said the key to attracting high-tech jobs is through a better education system.
"With the education system the way it is, and if I were a CEO, I would question moving here," he said. Mr. Epperson also said more city government information must be put on the Internet. Eddie Eubanks Jr., a former Marine, said technology "plays a vital role" in the city's growth. He said the city should work to attract companies in fields such as robotics, wireless phones and high-speed rail. Thomas E. Smith II said education is the key. "We are lacking in so many fields because of our education levels," he said.
"Technology is the future. We have to get everyone involved." Candidate Robert "Buzzy" Hamilton was absent from the event. About 40 people attended the forum at the Chattanooga Convention Center . Questions came from technology council members and were rotated, meaning not every candidate received the same questions.
The council plans to have a Web cast of the forum available at www.chattech.org.
The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce's five-year strategic investment plan - designed to help the area compete for economic growth - calls for efforts like an aggressive new marketing campaign aimed at automotive, biomedical and other targeted industries, and work with other local groups to try to lure young professionals here.
The plan, released Tuesday in a meeting with The Times' editorial board, is part of the chamber's Huntsville Regional Economic Growth Initiative unveiled in 2003 to help Huntsville compete with Austin, Texas; Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, N.C.; and other technology-based U.S. cities.
The five-year plan, which will be updated in September, sets eight goals with strategies on how to meet them.
"To improve the quality of life, we think, is the bottom-line reason for economic development," said Brian Hilson, the chamber's president and chief executive officer.
Joel Daves, president of AmSouth Bank in Huntsville and vice chairman for investor relations on the chamber's 2005 Executive Committee, was recently asked the reason behind the effort. "The answer, of course, is we want to be better than anybody else."
The plan "does suggest we need to work on retaining and attracting young professionals," said Brad Jones, CEO of Crestwood Hospital and chair of the chamber's Strategic Planning Committee. Although that is an important part of the plan, he said, "it is one of many variables that will lead to success."
Here are the plan's goals:
Grow and preserve the Huntsville region's economic base, business climate and business culture. Among the strategies: calling on 120 local employers each year to explore the potential for growth and find out how the chamber can help, and creating a Small Business Council to develop a business mentor program for new businesses.
Recruit targeted businesses. Among the strategies are implementing a new business marketing campaign aimed at corporate decision-makers at the headquarters level of companies in targeted sectors like automotive and aerospace manufacturing and support, diversified manufacturing, space and defense, electronics and information technology and biomedical; developing a marketing campaign for business location consultants; and expanding the marketing of local research parks and industrial properties.
Grow defense and space industry. Strategies include being an advocate for Redstone Arsenal during the Base Realignment and Closure process, evaluating the feasibility of attracting a new space, defense or technical program office to Huntsville as its headquarters and positioning Huntsville to assume a lead role in the state's homeland security initiatives.
Engage the resources of universities and colleges. Strategies include encouraging companies to work with local schools in research and development projects that may spin off technologies into the business market, and working with the Army's Aviation and Missile Command, Marshall Space Flight Center and others to expand co-op programs and internships.
Work force development. Strategies include working with local schools to expand work-force development efforts and working with community organizations to attract professionals age 25 to 35.
Community image enhancement. One strategy calls for producing marketing publications to introduce the Huntsville area economy and marketable assets to target audiences.
Develop capacity for new and sustained economic growth.
Accountability. Strategies call for collecting financial and demographic data for Huntsville and peer cities and creating an average net new job growth of 2,500 new jobs a year in targeted industry sectors.
Howard Thrailkill, president of Adtran Inc. and past chamber chairman, said the plan isn't meant to be critical or divisive. "This plan presents a vision," he said.
PINEY FLATS, Tenn. (AP) -- Saying he "won't be satisfied until every Tennessean who wants a job has a job," Gov. Phil Bredesen on Wednesday proposed $20 million in new funding for job training and expansion of the state's technological infrastructure.
"We must get back to basics and modernize the economic development 'tool kit' we use to recruit and retain new industry and business in Tennessee ," Bredesen told an audience at Tri-County Industrial Park .
"That means investing in hardworking Tennesseans to ensure they have the skills to participate in this changing economy. It means expanding our infrastructure to make Tennessee more competitive for new industry and to foster growth in the industry we already have."
The governor said the $20 million request in "one-time funds to help jump start these efforts" will be contained in the fiscal 2006 budget he will submit to the state General Assembly on Monday.
Last week, Bredesen identified preschool programs as his top priority for the new legislative session, with job creation and work force training his second priority.
Tennessee 's unemployment rate in December was 5.2 percent, up two-tenths of a point from November but down from 6 percent a year ago. While last month's rate was still below the national average of 5.4 percent, it meant some 153,500 Tennesseans were out of work.
The governor said a portion of the new job-training money would used to help companies already in Tennessee upgrade their employees' skills.
"By providing this help to current industry, we accomplish two things. We keep those Tennessee companies here in Tennessee and we increase the overall skill level of our work force - making us even more attractive to new industry."
In addition, Bredesen wants to devote some of the $20 million to developing a statewide broadband capability that would link small locales as well as large cities "to meet the economic challenges of tomorrow." He said Tennessee already trails surrounding states.
"Technology is the thread that runs through entire organizations, connecting people, ideas and powering business operations and strategy," he said. "We must work together to build a foundation for innovation in Tennessee ."