Amazing Technologies

SH Coatings:

SHC produces super hydrophilic coatings to protect power lines form inclement weather:

http://energy.gov/americas-next-top-energy-innovator/sh-coatings-lp

TrakLok:

TrakLok makes security devices that track the location of cargo and other shipments.  It also allows the user to set ‘fences’ that prevent the courier from opening shipments and cargo containers outside of the specified locations:

http://www.traklok.com/products/geolok

NELL:

The Never Ending Language Learning Project is a semantic language learning machine developed at Carnegie Mellon supported by grants from DARPA, Google and the NSF.  Its goal is to be able to answer questions posed in a natural language.  T achieve this goal NELL sifts through web pages attempting to create semantic relationships between data found on the web:

http://rtw.ml.cmu.edu/rtw/

Ampakines:

A class of compounds that show promise in enhancing attention span, learning, and memory without great adverse side effects:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampakine

Google Driverless Car:

A car that operates without a human driver and won 2 competitions posed by DARPA; The 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and the DARPA Grand Urban Challenge:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car

ABET Definition of Design, and the Design Challenges

The ABET definition of design is as follows:

Engineering design is the process of devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. It is a decision-making process (often iterative), in which the basic science and mathematics and engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet a stated objective. Among the fundamental elements of the design process are the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis, analysis, construction, testing and evaluation. The engineering design component of a curriculum must include most of the following features: development of student creativity, use of open-ended problems, development and use of modern design theory and methodology, formulation of design problem statements and specification, consideration of alternative solutions, feasibility considerations, production processes, concurrent engineering design, and detailed system description. Further it is essential to include a variety of realistic constraints, such as economic factors, safety, reliability, aesthetics, ethics and social impact." Elsewhere in the ABET criteria for accreditation; they stress the use of teams in solving problems and performing designs.

During the two challenges in class we followed various parts of this definition.  Both design challenges included creativity, use of open-ended problems, consideration of alternative solutions, feasibility considerations, productions processes, and concurrent engineering design.

For the marshmallow challenge we were tasked to design a system that met the need of holding a marshmallow aloft at the greatest height.  It included an iterative decision making processes in order to perfect the design that was optimal.  Evaluation of the design was simply to see if the structure would hold the marshmallow and which design was the tallest.

The paperclip challenge included designing a system or component to meet desired needs; however, those needs were abstractly defined.  The design only needed to “do something useful.”  The definition of useful was left up to the design team.  It included iterative decision making and creative process through the requirement that the request for design be given with no direction on the process of production, thus creating 3-4 separate designs that fulfilled the desired result.  The metrics for evaluation of success were much more complicated than the marshmallow challenge and included testing of several designs by one design team rather than one design by each design team.

Setback Requirements in Knoxville, TN

The setback requirements for a residential house in Knoxville TN require that the house be positioned a minimum distance from the street on all sides.  The various minimum distances are as follows:

Front Yard – 35 feet, no addition to the house can extend into this area
Side Yard – 8 feet for single story homes, 12 feet for two story homes, and additions may not extend into the minimum 8 feet from the street.
Rear Yard – 10 feet for main buildings and unattached accessory buildings may not be closer than 5 feet from the street.

Who is Min Kao?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Kao

Min Kao is one of the co-founders of Garmin.  He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Tennessee.  The Min Kao building that recently opened on the UT campus is named for him due to the $17.5 million transformational gift by Min Kao to the University as thanks for his education.

New Technologies

Memristors:

A circuit that can remember electrical states even when turned off in developement by HP:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memristor


Quantum Dots:

Tiny semiconductors under investigation for many purposes, notably quantum computing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_dot


Magnetic Soap:

Magnatized soap that could easily be collected after used to clean up hazardous spills:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/25/2731244/magnetic-soap-oil-cleanups-bristol-university


Spintronics:

A solid state technology that exploits the spin of the electron and it's magnetic moment.  Applications are various:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spintronics

High-temperature superconductivity:

Useful in creating no loss conductors, frictionless bearings, magnetic levitation, and various other applications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-temperature_superconductivity

H.R. 2930

House Resolution 2930, named the "Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act," is a federal bill currently under review that would affect crowdfunded businesses and projects.  It allows an exemption for registration with the SEC as long as these projects meet certain requirements based on the projects income and the amount of ‘equity’ sold within a 12-month period.  The resolution also sets up requirements for intermediaries to crowdfunding, such as websites or applications, which include warnings, actions to reduce fraud, production of information, background checks on entities using the intermediary, and access to the intermediary by the SEC.  The requirements for projects not using an intermediary for crowdfunding are similar to those requirements placed on intermediaries.  Information and access to information must be provided in all situations.

Using Social Media for Raising Funds

An excellent article describing how social media can be used to raise funds can be found here:

Using Social Media for Raising Funds

This includes many sites and tools to help someone get started on raising funds.  My favorite sites/tools, in no particular order, are:

1. Kickstarter
2. Chipin
3. Razoo
4. Artez
5. Care2
6. Convio
7. Piryx
8. Profounder
9. IndieGoGo
10. AppBackr

More information on crowdfunding can be found on Wikipedia here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd_funding

Another top ten list for crowdfunding can be found here:

http://cashtostart.com/10-crowdfunding-websites-entrepreneurs/

What is a Corporation? What is Equity?

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporation) defines a corporation as:


"A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members.^[1] There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter (i.e. by an ad hoc act passed by a parliament or legislature). Most jurisdictions now allow the creation of new corporations through registration.
An important (but not universal) contemporary feature of a corporation is limited liability. If a corporation fails, shareholders may lose their investments, and employees may lose their jobs, but neither will be liable for debts to the corporation's creditors.
Despite not being natural persons, corporations are recognized by the law to have rights and responsibilities like natural persons ("people"). Corporations can exercise human rights against real individuals and the state,^[2] and they can themselves be responsible for human rights violations.^[3] Corporations are conceptually immortal but they can "die" when they are "dissolved" either by statutory operation, order of court, or voluntary action on the part of shareholders. Insolvency may result in a form of corporate 'death', when creditors force the liquidation and dissolution of the corporation under court order,^[4] but it most often results in a restructuring of corporate holdings. Corporations can even be convicted of criminal offenses, such as fraud and manslaughter. However corporations are not living entities in the way that humans are. ^[5]
Although corporate law varies in different jurisdictions, there are four characteristics of the business corporation"


And equity  as:


"In accounting and finance, equity is the residual claim or interest of the most junior class of investors in assets, after all liabilities are paid. If liability exceeds assets, negative equity exists. In an accounting context, Shareholders' equity (or stockholders' equity, shareholders' funds, shareholders' capital or similar terms) represents the remaining interest in assets of a company, spread among individual shareholders of common or preferred stock.
At the start of a business, owners put some funding into the business to finance operations. This creates a liability on the business in the shape of capital as the business is a separate entity from its owners. Businesses can be considered, for accounting purposes, sums of liabilities and assets; this is the accounting equation. After liabilities have been accounted for the positive remainder is deemed the owner's interest in the business.
This definition is helpful in understanding the liquidation process in case of bankruptcy. At first, all the secured creditors are paid against proceeds from assets. Afterward, a series of creditors, ranked in priority sequence, have the next claim/right on the residual proceeds. Ownership equity is the last or residual claim against assets, paid only after all other creditors are paid. In such cases where even creditors could not get enough money to pay their bills, nothing is left over to reimburse owners' equity. Thus owners' equity is reduced to zero. Ownership equity is also known as risk capital or liable capital."


In order to create a Corporation or a Limited Liability Company, one must follow the State laws that dictate how to form one of these entities.  The method for setting up either is similar with the only difference being the paperwork that must be submitted for approval.  The steps are as follows:

1. Determing that the name for your Corporation or LLC is available and in accordance with the laws requiring "Corporation," "Incorporated," or "LLC" to be a part of it.
2. File the "Articles of Incorporation" to create a corporate entity or "Articles of Organization" to create and LLC.
3. Hold the "Organizational Meeting" and adopt bylaws for a corporation or operating agreements for an LLC.
4. Obtain a Federal Employer Identification Number and open a bank account for the company.
5. Get a local business license from the city or county where the company will be located.

          http://www.mynewcompany.com/incorporate_tennessee.htm


There are 3 options for dissolving a corporation in Tennessee; voluntarily (described in Tennessee code sections 48-24-101 through 48-24-108), administratively (described in Tennessee code sections 48-24-201 through 48-24-25), and judicially (described in Tennessee code sections 48-24-301 through 48-24-304).  For voluntary dissolution all that is necessary is to file the proper paperwork and then proceed to the "winding up" process.  The winding up process includes the following steps:

1. Collecting corporate assets.
2. Disposing of property that will not be distributed to shareholders.
3. Paying off or making provisions to pay off corporate liabilities.
4. Distributing assets to shareholders.
5. Doing any other act necessary to wind up corporate affairs.

        http://corporations.uslegal.com/corporate-dissolution/tennessee-corporate-dissolution-law/

The steps for dissolving an LLC in Tennessee are similar to dissolving a corporation, again, only differing in the required paperwork.

The cost of creating a corporation or LLC in Tennessee is minimal and should only be about $200, not including any proprietary licenses necessary to the running of a specifice business (i.e. a tobacco license or an alcohol license ).

The required forms for forming or dissolving a corporation or LLC in Tennessee can be found here:

http://www.tn.gov/sos/bus_svc/forms.htm

Meet and greet:

I am a computer science major.  I chose this major after many years working on an IT support call line while pursuing a finance major.  The opportunity to be a computer science major at UT and have access to the super computers at Oak Ridge National Lab was what helped me decide on switching schools and majors.

On completing my degree, I hope to get a job in software development or seek further education so that I can get a job in cyber security.  To achieve this I plan to finish out my internship with ORNL in good standing so that I will have a noteworthy resume when I graduate.

The employment rate for college graduates is about 60% and they carry a debt of $25,000 on average.  The top employers of college graduates can be found here: http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110509/50-top-employers-for-college-grads/.

Here are the descriptions of a few classmates:

T.P.  COSC major-

Has designed computer games before.
Likes working with and writing compilers.
Interested in possibly writing a tutorial application for this class.
Sleeps 6-8 hours a night.
Is taking 12 credit hours this semester.
Knows C++, HTML,  CSS, C, SQL
Would like to learn PHP.

L.H. ECE: EE major-

Is interested in Software design.
Good at management, was an R.A. for a period of time.
Has done a good amount of fundraising before.
Sleeps 6-8 hours a night.
Is taking 18 credit hours this semester.
Has 5 room mates that are business majors.
Know C++.
Interested in doing a facial recognition system for this class.

M.B. -

Knows Java, Objective C
Interested in doing some sort of application for this class.

K.D. ECE:EE major-

Has worked with power systems, both consumer and industrial applications.
Not very good at programming.
Works in retail sales with computers at the Student Center.
Has mainly built power supplies for past jobs.

What is design:

According to http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/trinity/watdes.html, Design is the following:

The nature of design is equally as complex as that of technology. Archer wrote that:
“Design is that area of human experience, skill and knowledge which is concerned with man’s ability to mould his environment to suit his material and spiritual needs.” 
Design is essentially a rational, logical, sequential process intended to solve problems or, as Jones put it:
“initiate change in man-made things” 
For the term “design process,” we can also read “problem-solving process”, which in all but its abstract forms works by consultation and consensus. The process begins with the identification and analysis of a problem or need and proceeds through a structured sequence in which information is researched and ideas explored and evaluated until the optimum solution to the problem or need is devised.
Yet, design has not always been a rational process; up until the Great War design was often a chaotic affair in that consultation and consensus were barely evident. Design was not a total process. The work of participants in the process was often compartmentalised, each having little if any input in matters which fell outside the boundaries of their specific expertise. Thus, participants explored their ideas unilaterally, with one or another participant, through virtue of their “expertise”, imposing constraints upon all others. In this way, the craftsman has a veto on matters to do with skill or availability of materials, the engineer had a veto on technological considerations, and the patron alone could impose considerations of taste and finance.
During the inter-war years the Bauhaus movement attempted to knit the design process into a coherent whole in that students were encouraged to study design in a way that was both total and detailed. That is, designers were expected to balance all the considerations that came to bear upon the design of particular artifacts, systems and environments. In this way, though, design quickly evolved into a closed activity - an activity in which all but the designers themselves has little if any valid input to make on questions of materials, taste . . . and so on. Designers came to exist within a social bubble, consulting no-one but other designers. The result was that many designs conceived particularly during the immediate post-Second World War period did little to satisfy the needs of users. Such designs were exemplified by the disastrous housing policies adopted by many local authorities in the UK who built residential tower block after residential tower block. These were essentially realizations of dreamy design concepts rather than solutions to the social, cultural and environmental needs of the local populations.
Recent years have marked a sharp reaction against the design movement, which has perhaps been personified by Prince Charles and has crusade against architectural “carbuncles”. Likewise, individuals within society have sought to express their own tastes, their own individuality, personal style and personal self-image through what they use and purchase. Thus it is that design is not an activity solely for engineers and designers but is a shared activity between those who design artefacts, systems and environments, those who make them and those who use them.