The newsletter provides updates on activities at various cyber centers and clubs over the past few months. Key events included: 1) Fifty-five members of the Kent State University Tuscarawas Cyber Club attended the SIGGRAPH conference in New Orleans, where they attended demonstrations and had the opportunity to meet with industry professionals. 2) Students from the KST Imagineers and Cyber Club visited Valve Software in Seattle and Bellevue, where they toured the facility and met with animators to discuss careers. 3) The KST Cyber Club held a summer institute offering courses in areas like CAD, game design, and robotics for high school students. 4) Plans for the upcoming year include expanding the

1. Volume 3, Issue 1
OCTOBER
THE MAKING OF A GREAT YEAR
As we head into the final sors to Siggraph in New Moving into spring look for
year of the WIRED program Orleans. For those that exciting activities at Ohio
it looks to be an exciting have never been to a Sig- University with an Interac-
time. The three Cyber Cen- graph it is a mind-boggling tive Digital Media awards
ters are up and running experience of all of the un- event. This will be the third
with their original contract believable technology that is year of their game develop-
for $400,000 each and are in development all over the ment efforts with games
now dealing with the pleas- world. developed by the GRID Lab
ant problem of defining the over the last two years un-
work to be done for the ex- Next up will be the der active consideration by
tension from December to Shawnee State University major game development
June in order to spend an Center with Shawnee 7.0 on companies. Also the VITAL
additional $150,000. Out of October 30. This year Lab had a major opening
the 13 Generation Two should be the best ever with this year with the launch of
Grantees we believe that we Sidley Verbeck, CEO of The the Smithsonian’s Latino
are one of about three that Electric Sheep Company as museum in Second Life.
were granted six-month the keynoter. For those CSI Additionally, Credit Union
Wired Networking Newsletter
extensions so the others will New York fans if you re- Island that was developed
begin the process of winding member the series last year by the VITAL Lab is in the
down in the coming months. where they tracked a killer process of being commercial-
A big Atta Boy to Bruce for through Second Life and ized as a Financial Literacy
making that happen. even had a virtual world Simulation for youth and is
crime scene where you could being marketed to banks
By the way, Bruce has collect clues and process and credit unions.
moved upstairs to the State them in a virtual forensic
where he is in charge of laboratory, it was Sidley’s So this year has the poten-
overseeing all of the State of group that put that to- tial to be a real breakout
Ohio’s Department of Labor gether. Electric Sheep is one year. After years of laying
grants and activities. Talk of if not the top interactive the foundation we are get-
about having a friend in digital media development ting dangerously close to
high places. Bruce will con- companies in the world. being in the right place at
tinue to be involved with Also Jason Conaway from the right time with the right
WIRED activities but now Electronic Arts, our key- abilities. Remember, a defi-
as a representative of the noter from last year will be nition of luck is when oppor-
Governor. We will miss not returning to do a concurrent tunity meets preparation.
having his full time atten- session. Additionally, We are well into the prepa-
2009
tion but with the contracts Shawnee State will cut the ration part now it is time to
and programs pretty much ribbon on a state of the art get ready for the knocking
in place our course for the motion capture studio that sound.
next year is clear. will provide a facility for the
region for both education From,
The Kent State Tuscarawas and commercial uses. So do Bill Sams
Center had an even stronger what you need to in order to
summer than last year with be at Shawnee 7.0 in Ports-
not only excellent sessions mouth on Friday, October
for students and train the 30 from 9 to 3.
trainers but also taking over
50 club members and advi-
Inside this issue:
Notes from the Collaboratory 2-3
Cyber Clubs visit to the SIGGRAPH conference 4
Trip to Valve Software in Washington 5
KST Cyber Club Summer Institute 6
Kamal’s Visions for Cyber Clubs 2009-2010 7
The WIRED Islands 8

2. Notes from the Collaboratory
The WIRED Collabora-
tory is a support service
to the Cyber Centers and
Clubs. The group exists
virtually and consists of
Roger Cable
rcable@workforceconnect
ions.biz who takes care
of the OVITA Web site
and BaseCamp, Seth
Knore
sknore@workforceconnec
tions.biz who provides
general technology sup-
port, Tom Stead
steadthomas@gmail.com
Second Life Developer
extraordinaire, Michelle
Gatchell
gatchellm@gmail.com
who handles PR, and Bill
Sams samsw@ohio.edu
for ideas and contacts.
A visit to the WIRED1
Island in Second Life is
not to be missed. Tom
has created an un-
equaled array of items to
demonstrate proofs of
concept ranging from a
walk through universe
based on photos from the
Hubbell Telescope to an
Egyptian Tomb to a
complete coal fired elec-
trical power plant . The
training and educational
potential of the items
demonstrated on
WIRED1 are only limited
by your imagination.
Contact Tom for a guided
tour and feel free to use
our conference room in
(Continued on page 3)
Volume 3, Issue 1 Page 2

3. the sky for virtual meet- mental concept is to find
ings. You can change the a way to connect the
background from a sea- evolving technology
shore to a ski lodge in a needs of small local busi-
click and without a travel nesses with the inherent
approval. technology skills of our
youth in a manner that
The collaboration tool is a win-win for every-
BaseCamp provides a con- one. If you have an inter-
venient place to store in- est in such a program
formation and collaborate please contact Bill.
on documents. Rodger can
get you set up in minutes On the social network
and the site is very intui- end, while Facebook is
tive as well as supported the popular area
by excellent short tutori- LinkedIn has a stronger
als on the use of each fea- tool set for professional
ture. Uploads are limited collaboration. Bill is
to 100 Megs for each file seeking inputs on the
which should be more interest in establishing a
than enough unless you WIRED LinkedIn Profes-
are doing large video files. sional group to share
ideas and best practices.
Seth is the newest mem- Since Bill is still strug-
ber of the group and will gling with texting and
be coming around to visit twitter the soon to be
the Centers and Clubs. He outdated email system is
is way up there on the still his preferred
digital literacy curve and method of contact. In a
will be a major resource survey of OU Freshmen
for technology issues. texting and twitter were
their top two methods of
communication, email
Michelle will be putting
was at 1% (too slow) and
out a monthly email and don’t even think about
online newsletter so paper.
please send her any items
of interest. We need to
move from being a well- Tom and Bill are also
kept secret to a prime ex- available for community
ample of the world-class and industry presenta-
talent that is being devel- tions. So if you have a
oped in Appalachian Ohio. group that would like to
know more about
WIRED and Interactive
Bill is turning his focus to Digital Technology and
how social networks fit its potential for work-
into interactive digital force training and eco-
technology and program nomic development send
sustainability. On the us an email.
sustainability end Bill is
working on a concept
called Youth Works that The bottom line of the
involves the creation of WIRED Collaboratory is
certifications for Cyber to do what we can to help
Club members who would you be successful.
then be qualified to work
as consultants for small
local businesses to assist
them with various tech-
nology issues. The funda-
Volume 3, Issue 1 Page 3

4. Kent State University Cyber Center Checks-In
Cyber Clubs visit to the SIGGRAPH conference
Academy Award-winning director of
Fifty five members of the Kent State Uni- Spore™ and The Sims series, Randy Thom
"Ryan", Peter Ludé Senior Vice President,
versity Tuscarawas Cyber Club network Pioneer in sound and two-time Academy
Engineering, Sony Electronics
which was initiated in September 2008 Award® winner, Steve Duenes Graphics
including the five Tuscarawas county high Director, New York Times, Chris Landreth Executive Vice President, SMPTE Board of
schools: New Philadelphia, Dover, Clay- Directors ITVS and Bob Whitehill
mont, Tusky Valley and Indian Valley Stereoscopic Supervisor, Pixar
traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana to Animation Studios.
attend the 36th international SIGGRAPH
While in New Orleans, the Cyber
conference. The Conference on Interactive
Club students and advisors at-
technologies and Digital Techniques fea-
tended the Computer Animation
tured the highest quality, most timely
Festival and the Real time Render-
educational experiences the community
ing demonstrations.
has to offer, presented by world renowned
and most engaging leaders in computer In addition to the educational ex-
graphics and interactive techniques. Con- perience, the students had an op-
ference Keynote speakers included Will portunity to enjoy the cultural and
Wright Video game designer, creator of historic sites they visited during
the August 4 – 8 trip.
“While in New Orleans, the Cyber Club students and
advisors attended the Computer Animation Festival
and the Real time Rendering demonstrations.”
Page 4 Wired Networking Newsletter

5. Kent State University Cyber Center Checks-In
KST Imagineers and Cyber Club students trip to Valve Software in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington
The Imagineers trip to Seattle involved 24 discussed Valve's design and manage-
students from the KST Imagineers and the ment philosophy. Further sites in
KST Cyber Club to visit Valve software, a Seattle included the Seattle Art Mu-
world leader in game development. The seum, Olympic National Park,
students toured Valve’s facility in Bellevue the Space Needle, the Seattle
and Seattle. After the tour the students had Aquarium and the Experience
an opportunity to meet with Matt Russell, Music Project where they re-
supervising animator of the movie Jimmy corded a song. There were also
Neutron, as well as Karen Prell, a character a number of cultural dining
animator whose credits include the Red experiences including local and
Fraggle from Fraggle Rock and character Thai cuisine.
animation with Pixar Studios before moving
onto Valve. During this meeting, the stu-
dents had a unique opportunity to ask ques-
tions related to their career goals on a one- “Valve created games such
on-one basis with some of the best in the as:
animation and game design industries.
After their animation presentation Robin Half Life, Counter Strike, Day of
Walker, the creator of Team Fortress 2,
Defeat, and Team Fortress 2.”
Dual Enrollment Initiative
Starting late in August, 2009, KST Engineer- These courses were
ing Technology department is offering two identified by the Cyber
courses to area high schools. During the Fall Club advisory council
semester, Electric Circuits I ( 4 credit hours ), and the Cyber Club
and Technical Computing (3 credit hours) are steering committee
offered to students who are attending the during the 2008 -09
course at Claymont high school using the academic year. It is
newest technologies in web assisted as well as anticipated that addi-
videoconferencing instruction. During Spring tional courses will be
2010, Electric Circuits II ( 3 credit hours ) and targeted for offering
Applications in Computer Aided Design (2 during the 2010 –
credit hours) will be offered. 20111 AY covering an
array of engineering
technology disciplines.
Volume 3, Issue 1 Page 5

6. Kent State University Cyber Center Checks-In
KST Cyber Club Summer Institute
The KST Cyber Club Summer Institute
offered 3 – 4 day training courses which
served all high school students in the
Campus service area. These courses were
designed to be Application Based-Project
Based (ABPB). The courses were:
Computer-Aided Design
3D-Character Sculpting
Digital Visualization and Multimedia
Interactive digital Control Applications
Robotics design & Applications
Video Game Design
Game Design for the I-touch & the I
phone platforms
In addition, Train-The-Trainer classes
were offered to area teachers on TRIZ
and on the Adobe CS4 Software suite.
The rest of the meetings for the 2009 –
2010 AY are scheduled as follows, all in
Business Conf. Room A in Founders
Hall:
Wednesday, September 16
Wednesday, October 14
Wednesday, November 18
Wednesday, December 16
Wednesday, January 13
Wednesday, February 10
Wednesday, March 10
Wednesday, April 7
Wednesday, May 12
Page 6 Wired Networking Newsletter

7. Kent State University Cyber Center Checks-In
Kamal’s Visions for Cyber Clubs 2009-2010
I am excited about so many things, but here are just a
few that I hope to see in the next year:
• Addition of 2 Cyber Clubs to the current six (5
high schools and KST) in Fall 2009, with 2 addi-
tional to join Spring 2010. The two for the Fall
have already been selected and have joined the
CC group during our September 16 meeting. They
are Carrollton High School and Strasburg High
School.
• The total Cyber Club student membership for all
(8) clubs has increased from the current 180 to
240 student members.
• Additional focus on entrepreneurship in planned
activities for Fall and Spring.
• Expansion of the pilot implementation of the Dual
Enrollment initiative in service area high schools.
Currently there are four courses offered during Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. Starting August 31st, 2009 two courses are currently
taught under this initiative: Electric Circuits I ( 4 credits ) and Technical Computing ( 3 credits ). During Spring 2010, Electric Cir-
cuits II ( 3 credits ) and Applications in CAD ( 2 credits ) will be offered. These courses are taught at 2 high schools; Indian Valley and
Claymont. It is our hope to increase the offering to 3 courses each semester for next year, offered at 5 different high school.
• Exposure to exciting career opportunities in IDT and Engineering related disciplines through selected trips to visit companies,
shadow professionals, summer internships and attendance of conferences.
• Offering of a variety of mini courses and workshops for teachers and cyber club members.
• Actively continuing the engagement of a high school student development team on Second Life. This initiative was started June 2009.
It is planned to be continued for AY 09’ – 10.
• Expanding the use of the Remote Login and
Render farm pool capability by teachers and
students at the cyber clubs
• Developing course material for the courses tar-
geted for dual enrollment to be delivered on the
iTouch and iPhones.
• Completing the development
of the social and professional net-
working Web site started Summer
09 to include e-portfolios, job opps,
blogs for Cyber Club members and
networking with employers, cur-
rent students and KST alumni.
• Increasing planned Competi-
tions for Cyber Clubs in various
related disciplines of interest.
• Planning and hosting an IDT art gallery Spring 2010 to display and celebrate CC achievements in IDT.
Dr. Kamal Bichara, Director Engineering Technology
Kent State University
Volume 3, Issue 1 Page 7

8. The WIRED Islands
The WIRED Islands are located in Second Life (www.secondlife.com) and sponsored by a WIRED
Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Training Administration to the State of
Ohio for developing workforce in Interactive Digital Technology (IDT).
WIRED Island One is the possibility island. The immersion factor in virtual worlds can be util-
ized to develop powerful packaged experiences for your web visitors that go far beyond ordinary
two dimensional sites. Experiences such as this "map" in many parts of the brain simultaneously
to enable powerful memories. This island's many platforms house environments, concepts and
projects that were built as small examples of the endless possibilities.
We know that you'll likely think of many ways that you might use parallel ideas to further your
own needs and goals. When you combine the ability to develop these created experiences with the
included free world-wide voice you will see the possibilities for a green method of opening all
kinds of discussions and training. You'll see in our IDT Plaza how many Fortune 500 Corpora-
tions have made major commitments to developing these spaces for their own uses.
Wired Networking Newsletter
WIRED Islands Two, Three and Four are
operated by our University Cyber Center
partners and used as teaching spaces for the
students involved in the sponsored Cyber
Clubs at many high schools, community col-
leges and colleges. WIRED Island Two is
Kent State University's space, WIRED Island
Three is Ohio University's space and WIRED
Island Four belongs to Shawnee State Uni-
versity.
If you would like a tour contact Tom Stead steadthomas@gmail.com Second Life Developer
extraordinaire, Michelle Gatchell gatchellm@gmail.com, or Bill Sams samsw@ohio.edu.
Page 8