Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 82, No. 01 2005

38 Green Revolution

48 High Gear 56 Bold Vision •

More than 28,000 donors contributed $7.7 million to the 58th Annual Roll Call, providing the unrestricted f to the future of Georgia Tec Thank you to those generous alumni, faculty/staff, friends, parents and students who chose to .

Be that some

Your Gift Enhances the Value of Every>Tech Degree ( I OIU.lATECIl.ALUMNI ASSOCIATION * 5Kth ANNUAL ROLL CALL

Get a head start on the 59th Annual Roll Call today.

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(404) 8 9 4 - 0 7 5 6 or (800) GT ALUMS Donate online at www.qtalumni.org under Give Back to Tech

Charles R Touchtori, III , PHYS 1957

Sandra C. Touchton,

"I hav^rerm^Hr^ously pdsitiv&Teelings about my year&MJech anatlje influence that Tech has hadbn my entire IffeX

Tampa, Florida • Native of Dade City, Florida, and, at Tech, a member oi Sigma Chi, Tau Beta Pi, and Scabbard and Blade.

• MS in Electrical Engineering, George Washington University.

• Retired from IBM after 36 years in a variety of project management assignments; recognized for bringing IBM's first voice messaging and videotex systems to the U.S. marketplace.

• Served as organizing chair of the U.S. Technical Committee for Audio/Picture Coding Standards leading to development and approval of the international JPEG and MPEG image compression standards.

• Currently serving on Advisory Board for the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida.

• Wife Sandy Touchton is a native of Tallahassee and a 1960 graduate of Florida State University; combined families of one son, four daughters, and nine grandchildren.

Thoughts on Giving to Georgia Tech: "I have tremendously positive feelings about my years at Tech and the influence that Tech has had on my entire life. I was proud of the school when I was a student and am even prouder of its more recent accomplishments and the clear impact that Tech is having on emerging technologies, on the region, and on the nation. Our giving to Tech is one way that we can help participate in that growth, these accomplishment, and contributions."

"Clearly, a charitable gift annuity offers benefits of guaranteed fixed income and tax savings that are important. From our standpoint, however, the really significant benefit is personal satisfaction. It isn't often that we have an opportunity to have so many benefits in one package, and a gift annuity was an opportunity we didn't want to turn down."

Georgia Tech

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For more information on leaving a legacy at Georgia Tech through a bequest or life-income gift, please contact: Office of Development • Planned Giving • Atlanta GA 30332-0220 • or call (404) 894-4678

Charlie and Sandy Touchton are members of Founders' Council, an honorary society of alumni and friends who have made life income gifts or estate provisions of at least $25,000 for the support of Georgia Tech.

Photo: Caroline Joe

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

Flight from Extinction A l u m n u s David Luneau, MS EE 8 1 , rocked the birding world w h e n he c a p t u r e d the first digital video footage a n d the first recorded image of an ivory-billed w o o d p e c k e r in nearly 70 years — proof that at least o n e ivory-bill exists in the Big W o o d s of Arkansas.

The cover illustration is by John James Audubon.

A Green Revolution on Campus This summer Tech rolls out a landscaping master plan to carpet the campus with green space and an ecocommons that includes a new water management system. Footpaths, floodplains and ball fields all are part of Georgia Tech's green revolution.

Bold Vision Since its launch in 1980, the A d v a n c e d Technology Develo p m e n t Center has h e l p e d entrepreneurs get 100 earlystage high-tech businesses off the g r o u n d . Those c o m p a nies have g e n e r a t e d more than $9 billion in revenue.

High Gear After George McCowan's plans to become an electrical engineer hit the skids, he switched gears and started drawing automobiles, a passion that drove him to a career with American Specialty Cars.

GIA TECH

VIEW 54 Viewpoint

Feedback

Runabouts Hugh Saint builds classic wooden boats.

On Board Dean Alford heads IE2 task force.

Alumni Almanac

InQuotes Interview

15"" InFocus

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United States needs to step u p efforts to e n c o u r a g e students to pursue science, math, engineering a n d technology.

Tech professor J a m e s Foley, chairman of the Computing Research Association, says the

Seventy-five years a g o B o b b y Jones

Page 54 m a d e history on the links at St. Andrews.

Faculty Profile Nael McCarty: Never-ending Opportunity

Tech Notes

NASA Trainer Cindy Begley teaches how to s p a c e walk.

Photo Finish Power Player

Georgia Tech

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Georgia Tech Alumni A s s o c i a t i o n Joseph P. Irwin, IM 80, Publisher John C. Dunn, Editor Maria M. Lameiras, Senior Editor Kimberly Link-Wills, Senior Editor Neil B. McGahee, Senior Editor Gary Goettling, Contributing Editor Everett Hullum, Design

Alumni Association Executive Committee J. William Goodhew III, IM 61 Chairman Carey H. Brown, IE 69 Past Chairman Janice N. Wittschiebe, Arch 78, M Arch 80 Chairman Elect/Treasurer C. Meade Sutterfield, EE 72 Vice Chairman Activities William J. Todd, IM 71 Vice Chairman Roll Call Walter G. Ehmer, IE 89 Al Trujillo, AE 81 Joseph P. Irwin, IM 80 President

Advertising Melinda McGuire (404)894-0765 • E-mail: melinda.mcguire@alumni.gatech.edu

Compelling Concept Discovery is a compelling idea. It's so much more than "Columbus discovered America" or the television channel that I watch entirely too much.

Discovery is a driver of society. And it's also one of the key concepts behind great research universities like Georgia Tech. The mission of Georgia Tech is "to provide the state of Georgia with the scientific and technological knowledge base, innovation and work force it needs to shape a prosperous and sustainable future and quality of life for its citizens. It is achieved through educational excellence, innovative research and outreach in selected areas of endeavor."

Reading between the lines, you'll see the pervasive theme of discovery. But it simply doesn't stop there.

Discovery is at the very root of innovation. And innovation is the basis for adaptability and, ultimately, survival and success. If you spend any time reading our various publications you'll notice a distinctive bent toward stories about discovery — stories that show how Tech's alumni, faculty and students are on discovery missions in a myriad of different disciplines that help to shape and improve our lives. Certainly these missions include technology-driven challenges but it's actually far broader than that.

Discovery is about trying and failing and learning from those failures in every endeavor in life. It's about human beings and how we learn to know each other, our environment and ourselves — which is why it is such a compelling idea. And why we're all engaged in the process.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine (ISSN: 1061-9747) is published quarterly (Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring) for contributors to the annual Roll Call of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, 190 North Ave. NW, Atlanta, GA 30313.

Georgia Tech Alumni Association allocates $10 from a contribution toward a year's subscription to its magazine.

Periodical postage paid at Atlanta, GA and additional mailing offices. © 2005 Georgia Tech Alumni Association Main Number (404) 894-2391.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, 190 North Ave. NW, Atlanta, GA 30313.

Editorial phone (404) 894-0750/0760.

Fax (404) 385-4637. E-mail: editor@alumni.gatech.edu; gtalumni.org.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

>>>FEEDBACK Lobster Tale When I saw the headline for the article about Herren's restaurant (ALUMNI MAGAZINE Spring 2005) I

was reminded of a very funny incident that took place more than 46 years ago.

I took my future bride to Herren's on our very first date, on Friday, Feb. 13, 1959.1 had help getting her to go out with me. My Tech roommate told her that I would buy her the best dinner in town, so off we went to Herren's for some boiled "live" Maine lobster and a great time.

After we were seated and the waiter asked what we wanted, my wife-to-be asked for the lobster and so did I, whereupon the waiter asked us to go and "pick one out" from the lobster tank for each of us. As I started to rise my future bride said, "You mean they're alive?"

That is when the waiter explained why they are called "live Maine lobster" but not to worry as the boiling doesn't really "hurt" them.

With that my future bride (almost in tears at the thought of a lobster being boiled alive) changed her mind and ordered

the fried shrimp and, so as not to make her any more upset, I had the same.

We were engaged in May 1959 and married in December of that same year. To this very day we tell people about our very first date at Herren's and really get a chuckle out of it.

Now my wife loves to eat lobster, but still will not go pick it out of the tank.

Stuart Slippen, IM 62 McKinney, Texas

Remembering Herren's My wife, Lorene, and I very much enjoyed Ed Negri's article about Herren's, "Around the Corner from Everywhere." My wife is featured on page 53.

She was a waitress at Herren's before and, for a short time, after we were married. I was among the first World War II veterans to enter Georgia Tech. I started in October 1944 under what was to become the Gl Bill and graduated in March 1948.

We were married in May 1949.

The job offers were plentiful for Georgia Tech graduates and I got several. I went with Otis Elevator Co. and spent a career

Names Behind News The ALUMNI MAGAZINE spread about the

GTMax unmanned aerial vehicle is like everything in the magazine, attractive and good reading. Recognition was given to Georgia Tech researchers. I'd like to identify several for their involvement with the long-term GTMax project: Daniel Schrage, director of the Center for Excellence in Rotorcraft Technology and professor of aerospace engineering; Eric Johnson, assistant professor of aerospace engineering; and George Vachtsevanos, professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Robert G. Loewy, professor and chair School of Aerospace Engineering

6

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

lasting 40 years with them.

R. Reagin Warren, EE 48 Signal Mountain, Tenn.

Serious Fun I enjoyed reading John Portman's comment ("In Quotes," Spring ALUMNI MAGAZINE) upon

being asked if he was going to retire now that he is 80. I too am at that stage and, like John, I also am having too much fun to quit.

Architecture is such a great profession, particularly when you have been taught to appreciate it by Paul Hefferman, Ed Moulthrop and Harold BushBrown â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and how to put it on paper by "Doc" Gailey, One doesn't have to reach stardom like John Portman.

There is the same pleasure designing churches and schools in small towns and cities as I have done for the last 50 years.

Quit? How could I or John?

It's fun, serious fun.

Robert Stephens, Arch 48 New Bern, N.C.

Well Done Congratulations, you did a great

job on the magazine. Even we old fogies appreciate the modern look and the wide spread of articles.

John Gaines, ChE 40 Prairie Village, Kan,

Nothing New The title to your article, "Robots and Ethics" (ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Spring 2005), is misleading. The article has practically nothing to say on the subject and, depending upon your definition of a robot, nothing new. I can argue, for example, that a vending machine replaces a salesperson in taking your money, examining it to assure that it is genuine and sufficient and giving you the article you want to purchase plus the correct change. It is in that sense a robot unless you insist that a robot be anthropomorphic (which you obviously don't).

The Navy pilot landing on a carrier under adverse conditions trusts an automatic landing system with his life and although he is prepared to take over manually I would guess that he often prefers to depend on the machine's skills over his

mmmm own. Again, it is not a mechanical man in the co-pilot's seat but a robot in the sense you seem to define it. And the Navy can tell you a lot about convincing pilots to trust their lives to systems that "think" and act for them.

It may be easier to love a robot dog than a pet rock, and there are pilots whose hearts fill with emotion at the sight of an old B-17 like the one that brought them home safely during World War II, but if you seriously think the question of marrying a robot is anything other than a crude joke, you've been in the laboratory too long.

As for the issue of a robot employing lethal force in combat, that seems to me just a variation of the land mine controversy that has been raging for years.

If there are new questions about ethics and robots, I didn't see them.

SAVE THE DATE! Mark your calendars for upcoming eventspresented by

Georgia Tech A l u m n i Association

Family Weekend September 16 -17: Exciting & Informative Seminars Welcome Reception Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre Tailgate Party Connecticut vs Georgia Tech Football Game Register today at stalumni.org/fatnilyweekend

William D, Clarke, AE 46 Hazel Green, Ala,

Homecoming Weekend October 27 - 29:

We Welcome Mail The ALUMNI MAGAZINE welcomes

letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, space and content.

Georgia Tech Alumni Publications 190 North Ave, NW Atlanta, GA 30313 Fax: (404) 385-4637 editor@alumni.gatech.edu

Stimulating & Enticing Seminar Series Dr. Clough's State of the Institute Address Buzz Bash Spooktacular Class of 1955,1965,1980 Reunion Parties Tailgate Party Clemson vs Georgia Tech Football Game For more information, visit gtalumni.org/homecoming 1-800-GT ALUMS

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

I think it's incredibly important the U with people. Exploration is all about pre I don't think (electric cars) will ever be a significant percentage of the vehicles out there.

Sam Shelton SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, DISCUSSING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY VEHICLES IN THE JUNE 13 ISSUE OF TIME

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^?9 Thermodynamics isn't for the timid.

Georgia Tech students are interested in engineering, science and advanced-technological research — majors that demand intense studying from students at most colleges. The Princeton Review ranked our classes as the toughest in the country.

R U t h M a l h O t r a , ' 0 6 , INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND PRELAW, IN THE INAUGURAL ISSUE OF CO-ED MAGAZINE

There's always danger associated when people start to bond with nonhumans or nonhuman artifacts. What the long-term effect on the social fabric will be is largely unknown and under-studied.

Ronald Arkin DIRECTOR OF THE ROBOT MOBILE LABORATORY AT GEORGIA TECH, CONCERNING PEOPLE FORMING BONDS WITH ROBOTIC PETS, IN FORBES MAGAZINE

This is a race between cooperation and catastrophe.

This work must be at the top of the global security and diplomatic agendas.

Sam Nunn, CIs 60 CO-CHAIRMAN OF THE NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE, SPEAKING ON KEEPING NUCLEAR STOCKPILES OUT OF THE HANDS OF TERRORISTS, IN THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

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Georgia Tech Alumni Matja/ino • Summer 2005

lited States of America continue to explore space serving the species and we'd better get on with it. \ Astronaut John Young, AE 52 WHEN RECEIVING AN AWARD NAMED IN HIS HONOR AT THE ORANGE COUNTY REGIONAL HISTORY CENTER IN ORLANDO, FLA., IN THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

Will the United States own the technology of the future? Probably not all of it, and only if we compete harder to maintain our current position.

Diana Hicks, PROFESSOR AND CHAIR, TECH'S SC

I IHI AMERICAN CHLMISIRY SOCIIIY S NAIIONAI Ml I UNO IN SAN DIEGO

Can it be done?

You're going to have a lot more nos than yeses in this business. You've got to have a strong will and not be afraid of no.

Jim Bob Taylor, IM 82 FORMER GEORGIA TECH AND PRO QUARTERBACK, MILLION DOLLAR CLUB IN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR TRAMMEL CROW, ON HAVING BEEN "THROWN OUT OF A COUPLE OF OFFICES ON COLD CALLS," IN THE ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE

We are presented with a choice between proven, successful adult stem cell research and the current field of embryonic stem cell research, wrought with ethical concerns and medical uncertainties. If we cross a moral divide of this magnitude unnecessarily, the ends will not justify the means.

Phil Gingrey, Ch 65 OB-GYN PHYSICIAN AND REPUBLICAN U.S* REPRESENTATIVE, IN THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

No matter what you decide to do with your life, I want you to go for it.

Yes, definitely. The question is what's to be done and why?

We're better at designing technology than we are at understanding what technologies should be designed. So the challenge with creating a $100 useful Internet appliance is understanding how people will use it, how they will be empowered by it.

Astronaut Sandra Magnus, PhD 96 SPEAKING TO GIRL SCOUTS AT SPACE DAY IN THE DAILY SENTINEL, GRAND JUNCTION, COLO.

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Michael Best VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ABOUT A PROGRAM TO EDUCATE THE WORLD'S KIDS WITH $100 PERSONAL COMPUTERS, IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR .L

It will be a historic moment when, working together, the global community eradicates this 3,000-year-old disease.

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Jimmy Carter, CIs 46 ON THE CARTER CENTER RECEIVING A $45 MILLION GRANT FROM THE BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION IN THE QUEST TO ERADICATE GUINEA WORM DISEASE, IN THE ATLANTA

JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

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Georgia Tech Alumni

Summer 2005

G e o r g i a TechWimhi Ma^ajjthe ••• Sbmaaer 200b

Crew Wins Gold

Georgia Tech's men's light four-plus crew scored a gold medal in the Dad Vail regatta — the national championships of collegiate rowing — held May 13-14 on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. This is the third consecutive year that a Tech team has brought home a gold medal. Tech rowers Cameron Troxel, Brian Waters, Shane Bechler, John Kaptyn and coxswain Theresa Mara jumped out to an early lead over Fordham, University of California-Santa Barbara and Army, then pulled away to defeat Fordham by two full seconds. Tech rowers just missed winning gold in the men's novice light eight race, falling to a strong St. Joseph University team by a boat length. "This is a great result for these guys," head coach Rob Canavan said. "We're looking forward to rolling that talent into a fast light eight team next year." The Tech women defeated 20 other teams to qualify two boats, light four and pair, in the finals. Both teams finished fifth in the finals.

Georgia Tec^^uuayj4aQ.a/ine • SummefTOOS ;

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Georgia TechN Building Construction Program

Sixth Annual

Benefiting the Georgia Tech Building Construction Program The Georgia Tech Building Construction Program would like to thank the following sponsors for their support of the 2005 Jim Dreger Golf Classic.

Presenting Sponsor:

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Founding Sponsors:

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Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

Georgia Tech is collaborating with the Southern Co. on the Southeast's first ocean-based wind power project off the coast of Savannah, Ga. The project hopes to determine if offshore wind power is a feasible and efficient renewable energy option for power generation. Plans call for three to five wind turbines that could generate 10 megawatts of power, enough to supply about 2,500 homes. "To win in the competitive marketplace of the 21st century, our energy solutions must offer value that makes them worth the cost," says Tech President Wayne Clough. By analyzing wind data from Navy platforms, a Tech research group led by Sam Shelton estimates there may be enough wind off the Georgia coast for power generation. The first phase of the project, expected to get off the ground in July, will evaluate technology options for wood turbines, platforms/ foundations, submarine cabling and grid interconnects

INFOCUS>>>

Photo Courtesy GE Energy©2005, General Electric Co

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Martian Lifestyle

A six-member Georgia Tech aerospace engineering crew spent two weeks in April exploring a Martian landscape without ever leaving Mother Earth. Outfitted in space suits and bubble helmets to stalk a barren Utah desert that looked strikingly similar to the red planet were mission commander Jan Osburg, MS AE 96, a research engineer in aerospace engineering; Heidi Anderson, AE 05; Kyle Brewer, AE 05; John Christian, AE 05; Rebecca Fink, AE 05; and senior aerospace major Douglas Martin. Explains Osburg, "We lived in an 8-by-8-yard space pod and wore space suits with the bubble helmets whenever we entered or exited through a simulated air lock."

The project was sponsored by the Mars Society, an international association that seeks to advance human exploration of Mars. "We were the first crew ever chosen from one organization," Osburg says. "That allowed us to train together for seven months." Reports detailing equipment success or failure were transmitted to mission control on the Tech campus and made available to the Johnson Space Center in Houston for use in future mission planning. Several of the earthbound space explorers say they would like to be part of the real thing. On May 1, Brewer took a step toward his goal of becoming a flight director when he began working at the Johnson Space Center. "Maybe I'll get the first flight to Mars," he says.

Photo Courtesy Mars Society

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Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

15

The Right Track Howard signs pro contract

Georgia Tech high jumper Chaunte Howard, a six-time All-American, announced that she would forgo her senior season of collegiate competition to sign a professional contract with Nike. She ended her Yellow Jacket track career with three NCAA national titles, six Atlantic Coast Conference titles, three ACC MVP awards and 13 AU-ACC honors. Howard set the current outdoor ACC record in April 2004, leaping 6 feet, 4 and three-fourths inches, then two months later won NCAA high jump titles at the indoor and outdoor meets.

She duplicated her ACC mark at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for the Athens Olympics, where she finished in a tie for 28th place. Howard plans to remain enrolled at Tech to earn an economics degree. GT Photo: Christopher Gooley

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

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Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

T ECHNOTES BUZZwords Celebrates Milestone Anniversary In addition to the news, the first BUZZwords included this item: George III of England was having difficulty collecting taxes, especially from the provinces. So he took one of those old English torture racks, put it on wheels and had horses pull it out to the provinces as a warning. But the rack was too heavy for horses to pull, so an elephant was provided.

Of course, the elephant had to be escorted by a special keeper. As the strange vehicle moved through the streets of London, one peasant asked another, "What on Earth is that?"

"Don't you know?" the other replied.

"That's a rambl in' rack for George's tax and an elephant engineer."

— Daniel H. Tarkington ME 67, of Loveland, Ohio

18

BUZZwords, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association's electronic newsletter, is 10 years old. During the decade, it has undergone several revisions and a name change. Novel for its day, it's ancient for a continuously published online newsletter.

Its April 24,1995, launch carried a "welcome from cyberspace" message by Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough to the initial 2,700 e-mail readers, but no graphics — although there was a promise that graphics would be added as soon as the technology was available.

"When I started at Georgia Tech way back in 1959, one of the first courses I had to take was how to operate a slide rule," Clough wrote in that first BUZZwords. "In my senior year, I got to take one of Tech's first formal courses in using a computer. It was a good thing that I was a co-op student or I would have graduated a year too early.

"I still have my slide rule, but it was one of the first road-kills on the information highway," Clough said. "As a longtime e-mail user, I appreciate the power of today's technology and I am glad we are one of the first institutions to use it to connect our alumni to Georgia Tech."

The electronic newsletter started off as BeeMail since it was sent via e-mail, but later during the year the name was changed to BUZZwords.

It began as a weekly update of news on campus and at the Alumni Association, but as electronic communication proliferated in recent years, the publication scaled back to a monthly schedule and is distributed on the first day of each month.

BUZZwords now goes to 56,000 alumni and friends.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

Gettin' Out More than 2,400 graduate and under-' graduate students officially "got out' of Georgia Tech on May 7 in a commencement ceremony held at the Georgia Dome. Georgia Tech Alumni Association Chairman Carey Brown welcomed the graduates as the Institute's newest alumni.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel

Photos: Stanley Leary

TECHNOTES>> Bodman told graduates at the Institute's 221st commencement ceremony that ensuring secure and affordable energy supplies, in a way that proi tects the environm

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challenges facing every nation on Earth.

"Georgia Tech already leads the way in many important areas of research that are addressing some of our most critical issues — including our energy problems," Bodman said. "Energy is the lifeblood of our economy and our modem way of life."

Bodman passed along to Tech students advice he received on the day he graduated. "Work hard, but save some time for some fun," he told them, "because before you know it, you will be standing in my place." >»

Leandro Rafael de la Torriente, one of several students who portrayed Buzz, holds his mechanical engineering degree aloft as he is carried across the stage by Buzz.

LEFT: Civil engineer-

ing major Andy Van Pelt dons a foam Buzz head under the traditional mortarboard.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

19

>>>TECHNOTtS

iTunes Identity Do you have dance fever and don't care who knows it? Or would you prefer to convey the image of a high-brow classical music connoisseur?

The key to your workplace image may be within your digital music files.

According to a study by human-computer interaction researchers at Georgia Tech, co-workers sharing digital music in the workplace via Apple's iTunes software form impressions of each other based on their musical libraries.

Researchers from Tech and the Palo Alto Research Center presented their findings in April at the Computer-Human Interaction Conference in Portland, Ore. The study was funded by PARC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

"People sharing music in our study were aware of the comings and goings of others in the office because they noticed the appearance and disappearance of others' music on the network," says Amy Voida, a Tech doctoral student and lead author of the paper. "They imagined what other people might think about their music collections and they were aware of the musical holes left when someone left the company. What once was an individual jukebox became a music community."

The researchers' report, which is nominated for a best paper award among 350 others, includes vignettes illustrating the findings. One user, sensing that his library was "not very cool," added more music to create a "balanced portrayal of himself."

Clough Urges Innovation-based U.S. Economy

By John Dunn

Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough launched the summer with a series of back-to-back high-tech presentations in June before a congressional subcommittee and also a conference of Federal Reserve Banks chairmen in Washington, D.C., and engineering educators in Portland, Ore. In testimony to the Senate Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness and also in a speech to the chairmen of the Federal Reserve Banks, Clough said development of an economy based on innovation is critical to the nation's well-being.

Clough, who was co-chair of the National Innovation Initiative sponsored by the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, said more than 400 of the nation's best minds from academia, industry and the government developed an action agenda to help the United States create an economy

"The strategies even of the latter part of the last century — cost control, total quality and continuous productivity improvement — will not be enough. To win in the 21st century will require flexibility, collaboration, customization, precision, global market savvy and speed."

based on innovation.

Clough told the congressional committee, "American manufacturing of the future will need to be focused on the high end of the economic spectrum if we want to maintain our standard of living. We will need to pioneer new manufacturing techniques and focus on the highest possible leadingedge precision technological work that it is not possible to do in other parts of the world.

E-mail Law Slams Spam Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the Georgia Slam Spam E-mail Act into law during a ceremony on campus attended by representatives from the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, EarthLink and the state Legislature.

"GTISC is committed to educating and promoting security among all of Georgia's Internet users," says director Mustaque Ahamad. "Providing Georgians with protection from unwanted e-mail solicitation and education on Internet security threats is a shared goal of both GTISC and our state leadership."

The new law allows any Georgia e-mail service provider and domain owner to bring legal >»

20

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

"The strategies even of the latter part of the last century — cost control, total quality and continuous productivity improvement — will not be enough.

To win in the 21st century will require flexibility, collaboration, customization, precision, global market savvy and speed," he said.

A

Georgia Tech survey of manufacturers in the state identified human

resource problems as a foremost concern, Clough said. "Yet, the United States is falling behind in the education of technology workers. China, India and the European Union each gradu-

ate more engineers than the United

mercializing the technologies it pro-

States."

duces that will set a positive course for

Also, studies show that the level of research and development in China

the future," Clough said.

"Beginning with the earliest pio-

of knowledge and ideas," Clough said.

"For most of the 20th century, economic value focused on tangible assets like natural resources, land,

and India are improving and many

neers, Americans have always looked

facilities and equipment. In contrast,

U.S. and global companies are build-

for new frontiers and imagined a better

today's firms increasingly rely on intan-

ing R&D facilities in those countries.

future. Today the new frontiers are in

gible human and intellectual assets to

Although the U.S. continues to be the

the realm of ideas," he said.

maintain their competitive edge. In

world's leading nation in the production of manufactured goods, the rate

Clough said the National Innova-

fact, intellectual capital has increasing-

tion Initiative generated 30 ideas

ly become a lead indicator of the

of growth in manufacturing production

grouped under three major topics â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

future performance of an organiza-

has remained flat for the past four

talent, the human dimension of innova-

tion," Clough said.

years and was outperformed by Asia,

tion; investment, the financial dimen-

Central Europe and the Balkans, Latin

sion; and infrastructure, which pro-

America and Western Europe.

vides the enabling framework.

"The National Innovation Initiative

Clough urged increased funding

n Portland, Clough gave the plenary keynote speech for the American Society of Engineering Education

calls for the United States to design

for the National Science Foundation

annual meeting, where he spoke

and implement a new foundation for

and said venture capital money should

about the Engineer 2020 initiative that

high-performance manufacturing pro-

be more widely dispersed. "About a

he has been chairing for the National

duction. That means new human,

third of the nation's venture capital is

Engineering Academy.

organizational, financial and policy

concentrated in the San Francisco Bay

models must be developed. New

area. Many parts of the country are

to increase by 2 billion people and the

designs, processes and materials

underserved," he said.

economies of China and India will

need to be introduced and new manu-

Clough told the bank chairmen,

While the population is expected

surge by 2020, Clough said there are

facturing technologies should more

"U.S. mutual funds now hold stocks for

impending breakthroughs in areas like

rapidly be brought to the production

an average of only 10 months, a

biotechnology, nanotechnology,

cycle," Clough said.

record low. Corporations are function-

telecommunications, logistics and sus-

"Manufacturing technologies of

ing in a contentious environment of

tainable technology that will open new

the future will include molecular and

complicated certifications, litigation

fields of endeavor and change the

nano-manufacturing, biomaterials and

and regulatory challenges," an envi-

way we live our lives.

bio-processing, microelectromechani-

ronment that stifles innovation.

cal systems, free-form fabrication and

"We need to find ways to broad-

new software control technologies.

en our investment horizons again and

Ideas that will come more strongly to

become more accommodating

the fore include innovation, knowledge

of risk and to recog-

management, customer relationships

nize the longer-

and waste reduction â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not only in the

term value

manufacturing process, but also over the life of the product," he said.

"Nanotechnology will transform an exotic research field to something that reaches out to touch all human civilization," Clough stated.

S

peaking to the Federal Reserve Banks chairmen, Clough empha-

sized that the dynamics of economic power are changing.

"We cannot predict the future accurately, but we can make careful investments in research and in com-

"Nano-manufacturing has the potential to impact virtually every humanmade object, from automobiles to electronics, from advanced medicine to energy production." â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Wayne Clough

>>>TECHNOTES

"The Slam Spam E-mail Act... enables us to keep all Georgians safe from spam. The state is fortunate to have organizations such as GTISC who work tirelessly to explore solutions to Internetbased threats." â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Pete Wellborn

McMath

Closes Chapter

action against a spammer. The legislation will work in tandem with the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 that went into effect last year.

GTISC, a National Security Agency Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Education, is an interdisciplinary center involving faculty from the College of Computing, the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Public Policy.

Pete Wellborn, ICS 86, an Atlanta attorney and EarthLink's outside counsel, says, "The Slam Spam E-mail Act is a fantastic new weapon that will further enable us to keep all Georgians safe from spam. The state of Georgia is very fortunate to have organizations such as GTISC who work tirelessly to raise awareness about and explore solutions to Internet-based threats."

The man who literally wrote the book on Georgia Tech is leaving the Institute to become the dean of the honors college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Robert McMath, a professor in the School of History, Technology and Society, the vice provost for Undergraduate Studies and Academic Affairs and the co-author and editor of "Engineering the New South: Georgia Tech, 1885-1985," will assume his new post Aug. 1.

lr

"The University of Arkansas has an amazing opportunity to create something very special through its new honors college," McMath says.

"Georgia Tech has been my life for 33 years and I will leave with a great deal of sadness, but the opportunity that has been presented to me at the University of Arkansas is the chance of a lifetime."

McMath joined the Tech faculty in 1972 after earning his doctoral degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Georgia Tech Alumni Association named him an honorary alumnus in 2004.

Provost Jean-Lou Chameau says McMath's impact on Tech's education programs is unequaled.

"Quiet leadership is often the most effective," Chameau says.

"Bob has proved it through his unparalleled leadership for undergraduate education and faculty excellence."

22

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

Robot Dogs Score at RoboCup Open Humans riding Segways paired with robotic Segway teammates competed in two-on-two teams in the ultimate human/robot soccer team competition, but of the five events at the 2005 RoboCup U.S. Open at Georgia Tech in May, soccer matches featuring teams of robotic dogs scored the most points with the fans.

The Sony AIBO computerized canines played on a 19-foot field. Two teams of four robotic dogs, including a goalie, searched for an apple-sized ball through the cameras in their noses. There are no remote controls. The dogs hit the ball with their noses and then communicated over a wireless network as they tried to outmaneuver the goalie and then knock the ball in for a score.

The reigning European champion is Dortmund University in Germany, which only played exhibition matches until Texas emerged the U.S. winner. Dortmund then played Texas, winning the match 2-0.

Six Georgia Tech students squeezed in a few hours a week to work on their robot dog software while maintaining classes as usual.

Dortmund University had about 20 students working 20 hours or more a week and was sponsored by Microsoft.

RoboCup U.S. Open chairman Tucker Balch, an assistant professor of computing at Tech, says the annual event "is primarily organized to drive software that will make really aware robots possible. Soccer provides a really nice testing environment. Everyone understands soccer so we don't have to explain what they're trying to do."

In addition to four soccer-based competitive events, there is a search-and-rescue event at a simulated disaster scene. Teams of remotely controlled robots seek victims in the fake rubble of a collapsed building.

Photo: Gary Meek

the college's ratings in such publications as Forbes, BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report and the Financial Times of London.

Blum Stepping Down as Dean Terry C. Blum, dean and Tedd Munchak chair of the College of Management at Georgia Tech, announced in June that she will step down effective June 30, 2006, to return to the faculty.

Blum has led the College of Management since the summer of 1999. Her accomplishments include changing the MSM degree to a MBA degree, leading the college's move to Technology Square, hiring 60 percent of the college's faculty and improving

"Terry provided leadership at a very important time for the college," says Tech President Wayne Clough. "Among a number of notable accomplishments, I think that she did an excellent job in leading the college across the Connector and into a more visible profile at Technology Square. The quality and Âť >

Tech hosted the RoboCup U.S. Open in May, when teams of Sony AIBO computerized canines battled it out in soccer matches played on a 19-foot field.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

23

>>>TECHNOTES Chairman Carey Brown, IE 69. Noting that of the nine public universities that rank with Tech among the nation's top 10, none matches the level of financial support given by Tech alumni, Clough told the group, "Georgia Tech alumni are number one."

The Roll Call's unrestricted funds are extremely important, Brown said. While all state funds and major contributions are earmarked, the unrestricted contributions enable President Clough to meet the Institute's greatest needs, he said.

Unrivaled Support About 600 Georgia Tech alumni who have made contributions of $1,000 or more attended the annual Presidents' Dinner on May 20, celebrating the 58th Roll Call campaign, a major source of unrestricted funds for the Institute. Hosting the dinner are, below left to right, Foundation Chairman A.J. Land, IM 60; President Wayne Clough, CE 64, MS CE 65; and Alumni Association

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K.

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Photo: Gary Meek

sophistication of that space will help tremendously in continuing to recruit outstanding faculty students and staff."

Blum broke ground as one of the first female deans of an academic college at Georgia Tech. In addition to being a professor, she previously served as the director of the college's Center for Entrepreneurship and New Venture Development (19962000). She was named to the Tedd Munchak chair in entrepreneurship in 1996, making her the first woman at Georgia Tech to be awarded an endowed chair.

Detecting Concussions Virtual reality could be called into play at football games when an athlete takes a hard hit to the head thanks to a portable device that can quickly test for concussions.

Michelle LaPlaca, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University,

and David Wright, assistant director of Emory's Emergency Medicine Research Center, have codeveloped DETECT — display-enhanced testing for concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries.

While typical brain injury testing requires a quiet room and a couple of hours at a hospital, DETECT performs neuropsychological exams in about seven minutes regardless of surrounding noise and movement.

DETECT runs the patient through three types of tests that measure the function of several parts of the brain. The system includes a laptop to run the software, a headset, earmuffs that act as headphones and an input controller. Impairment is indicated when the response time is too slow or incorrect answers are provided. In addition to the advantages of speed and portability, the testing could be administered by nonmedical personnel.

DETECT already has been tested in a hospital emergency room. Next up is a gridiron test. Tech plans to try it out on the football sidelines this year.

The device could be commercially available in about three years. »>

Biomedical engineering assistant professor Michelle LaPlaca demonstrates DETECT with the help of Bryan Williams.

The device helps quickly detect mild concussions in virtually any setting.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

25

>>>TECHNOTES ISyE Chair Chelsea "Chip" White III was named Tech's new chair of Industrial and Systems Engineering, ranked the No. 1 program in the nation by U.S. News& World Report.

White, the Schneider National chair in transportation and logistics in ISyE, assumed his duties as chair July 1 from William Rouse, now director of the Tennenbaum Institute for Enterprise Transformation at Tech.

Tracking Down the Witty Worm

Abishek Kumar, at right, helped trace the spread of the Witty worm and found a computer in Europe was the first infected.

Photo: Caroline Joe

26

A Georgia Tech PhD candidate was one of three researchers who used an innovative technique to trace the spread of the Witty worm, which infected more than 12,000 computers in a little more than an hour in March 2004.

A report co-authored by Tech student Abishek Kumar said the researchers located a computer in Europe that was the first infected by the worm, which targeted vulnerable products from Internet Security Systems Inc. United Press International reported that the researchers also found a set of 135 hosts at a U.S. military installation were infected by Witty and were critical to the worm's spread and that the computers were likely on a "hit list" of targeted systems.

Kumar led the study while working as a summer intern at the International Computer Science Institute at the University of California at Berkeley last year. The researchers used network telescopes to analyze Witty's spread.

Telescopes collect traffic sent to unused portions of the Internet's machine address space that inadvertently collect traffic generated by fast-moving worms.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

According to the report, the researchers found they could develop a more accurate picture of a worm's spread by analyzing the machines sending traffic to telescopes.

The paper's authors disassembled the worm's code and reverse engineered the pseudo-random number generator used to compile a list of computers to attack. Once they cracked the number generator, they were able to get a detailed picture of Witty's spread.

That picture allowed the researchers to spot an infected computer connected to the Internet through a European service provider. The Internet address connected to that computer was passed on to law enforcement officials, according to UPI. The amount of information gleaned from the analysis of the worm reportedly surprised even the researchers.

"I did not expect to find such precise details," Kumar says.

Photo: AP/WideWorld

Tech Teams Flex ACC Muscles Georgia Tech teams celebrated the 2005 spring sports season by winning three ACC championships and two conference individual titles.

Women's Tennis: The team was ranked No. 6 in the nation after winning the first ACC championship in Tech tennis history and advancing to the third round of the national tournament. All-American freshman Kristi Miller made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA individual tournament.

Head coach Bryan Shelton was named the ACC coach of the year and three players — senior Dasha Potapova, sophomore Alison Silverio and Miller — were named to the All-ACC team. Miller was also named the ACC rookie of the year. "It was truly a team effort," Shelton says.

Men's Baseball: Tech won its second conference championship in the past three seasons, edging Virginia 4-3 in the championship game. In NCAA postseason play, the Jackets defeated South Carolina in the regional tournament but fell to Tennessee in the super regional.

Women's Softball: The Jackets finished the season with a 51-14 record, winning 50 games for the second time in school history. The Jackets won the regular-season championship and the tournament title and were ranked No. 17 in the USA Today/ NFC A Top 25 final poll. The team defeated Kansas in the first round of the NCAA regional but lost the regional championship game to arch rival and top-seeded Georgia.

"I'm very proud of the girls for all they accomplished this year," says head coach Ehren Earleywine. "We reached so many of our goals. I just can't say enough about this team."

Swimming: Vesna Stojanovska of Skopje, Macedonia, broke five school records at the ACC championships to become Tech's first ACC women's champion in the 200-meter fly. Junior Sam Morgan won the ACC individual title in the 1,650-yard freestyle, the second Tech athlete to win that event — Ail-American Shilo Ayalon won it in 2003.

"Having an ACC champion is always special," says head coach Seth Baron. "For a program that is only four years old, having an ACC champion brings lots of recognition."

Golf: The Tech golf team, ranked No. 3 in the nation, finished 11 shots behind secondranked Georgia at the NCAA Golf Championship in Maryland. GT

Georgia Tech baseball players Cameron Lane, left, and Mike Trapani hold up the ACC championship trophy following the team's win over Virginia.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

f»~

27

"We all have a second chance to save this magnificent woodpecker from extinction.

As it inspires our hopes, this resilient ivory-billed woodpecker must also inspire our commitment to protect the habitat it needs for survival" John Flicker President, National Audubon Society

By Kimberly Link-Wills Photographs: Mark Godfrey

T

he search for the ivory-billed woodpecker has been likened to the quest for nature's Holy Grail. When proof of the bird's existence was shared with the world in late April, a spokesman for the National Audubon Society was quoted as saying it was "like finding Elvis."

The ivory-billed woodpecker is not extinct, and the key evidence of the bird's survival was collected by a Georgia Tech alumnus.

The stunning news sent bird-watchers flocking to Web message boards and conservation groups flying to microphones to hail what could be one of the biggest events in ornithological history.

The wings seen round the world were captured on four seconds of video filmed in an Arkansas swamp by M. David Luneau, MS EE 81, the first person to record an image of the bird in nearly 70 years.

"It's a story of hope, a story of recovery," says Luneau. >Âť

28

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 200,

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

The ivory-bill once thrived in swamps from Texas to North Carolina, from southern Illinois to Florida.

Ornithologists believe an ivory-billed woodpecker needs at least six square miles of virgin bottomland forest, mostly in the floodplains along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, to live. The birds eat beetle larvae and rely on dead and dying trees to supply much of their food.

By the 1940s, much of the bird's habitat was gone. The forests of the South were decimated through the intensive clearing of land and the logging of millions of acres of trees. The Mississippi River alluvial plain had shrunk to one-fifth its former 24 million acres.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service added the ivory-billed woodpecker to the endangered species list in 1967. As recently as 1997, petitions circulated pushing for a declaration of extinction.

Simply too much time had passed since a confirmed sighting.

Luneau's digital video changed everything. When it was unveiled at an April 28 press conference in Washington, D.C., John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, was quoted as saying, "Amazingly, America may have another chance to protect the future of this spectacular bird and the awesome forests in which it lives."

L

uneau has been a bird-watcher since his childhood in Pine Bluff, Ark. "Seventy million Americans list bird-watching as at least a part-time hobby," he notes.

Still, there was little time to follow birds as he pursued his undergraduate degree at Rice University, married and

moved to Atlanta to earn his master's at Georgia Tech. He worked at the Johnson Space Center for five years before returning to Arkansas to work as an engineer for AT&T. In 1991, he accepted a teaching post at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, where he is an associate professor of electronics and computers.

Luneau took note of the birds he saw in his back yard and on camping and fishing trips. From time to time he picked up a book on birding.

"If you read any bird book, it said the ivory-billed woodpecker was 'probably extinct' or 'possibly extinct.' It was like throwing down a challenge," he says. "I had heard that the last sighting was in Cuba in 1986 or '87.1 thought, 'Maybe I'll go to Cuba someday' But I didn't give it a whole lot of thought."

Luneau got his first lucky break at a book sale to clear the University of Arkansas library's shelves of unwanted tomes. "I got 'Research Report 1 of the National Audubon Society' by James Tanner (published in 1942). I got it for 50 cents. It's quite valuable now. It was the only detailed study of the ivorybilled woodpecker."

Then in January 2000 a report hit a birding list that a pair of ivory-billed woodpeckers may have been spotted in the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area in Louisiana.

"I knew immediately 1 had to go," says Luneau, who enlisted his brother to accompany him to the Pearl River for a long weekend in February 2000. A few weeks later he returned with three other people. "In the winter of 2001, four of us again went for a week — all to no avail.

"I thought, 1 need to find a way to make this my job.' But engineering and

birding don't necessarily go together.

Then I came up with the idea of audiorecording devices out in the woods as a constant presence to detect ivory-billed sounds," Luneau says.

The sounds of the ivory-billed woodpecker are different from other varieties of woodpeckers in that their display drumming consists of loud double raps. Their calls have been compared to the sounds of a tin horn or, as Audubon put it, "a high, false note on a clarinet." Bioacoustic scientists do have good vocalization recordings from a 1935 Louisiana expedition of an adult pair of ivory-bills and their young for comparison.

"In spring 20021 applied for a sabbatical for the purpose of working toward an audio-recording system. The very next day I saw an ad on a bird list for two researchers needed for a 30-day trip to the Pearl River to look for the ivory-billed woodpecker," he says.

Luneau was selected to participate in the expedition and place autonomous sound-recording devices on trees there.

Zeiss Sports Optics sponsored the trip — and publicized it, resulting in what Luneau calls "huge amounts of media attention."

T

he researchers came away with no proof that the shy ivory-billed woodpecker still existed in Louisiana. When he returned to Little Rock, Luneau had 100 hours of recordings from the Pearl River. He listened to all 100 hours. It was an act of futility.

The media interest waned after the researchers left the Pearl River without a single sighting. "But I was still very interested," Luneau says.

He next decided to search the White River National Wildlife >»

M S T K O c u G S b y sailed to America from England in 1 7 1 2 to study the plants and animals of the colonies. He wrote of the ivory-billed woodpecker: "The bills of these Birds are much valued by the Cannola Indians, who made Coronets of 'em for their Princes and great warriors, by fixing them round a Wreath, with their points outward. The Northern Indians having none of these birds in their cold country purchase them off the Southern people at the price of two, and sometimes three, Buckskins a bill."

30

Geo

Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

Luneau attaches monitoring equipment to a tree in the Big Woods of Arkansas.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summui ;'Oti.')

Refuge in southern Arkansas. "I had done a lot of fishing and camping, but I'd never been to the White River Refuge/' Luneau says.

He explored the region on foot with Robert Henderson, his brother-inlaw and a fellow engineer, in April 2002. They quickly learned the next time they needed a canoe. Luneau gives a spine-chilling example of the swamp's inhabitants they encountered. "I nearly stepped on a water moccasin the size of my forearm."

Luneau returned to the classroom in the fall of 2002 still determined to continue the search for the ivory-billed woodpecker in his spare time. In January 2003, he received a grant of a few hundred dollars from the Arkansas Audubon Society Trust to conduct a habitat analysis of the White River.

Word spread in the birding world and he soon had seven assistants, including an opera singer from New York and a tree surgeon from Rhode Island.

They found a habitat conducive to the ivory-billed woodpecker and bark scaled off trees, indicative of the bird's search for beetle larvae. Yet again, they saw no actual ivory-bills.

By the dawn of 2004, Luneau had no plans to return to the White or Pearl rivers. Then on Feb. 11, a kayaker and nature enthusiast by the name of Gene Sparling saw a woodpecker he considered too big to be of the pileated variety during a trip through the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, one of the few remaining examples of the Missis-

• •

sippi Delta wetland ecosystem, a 550,000-acre corridor of floodplain forest in eastern Arkansas known as the Big Woods. Sparling wrote about the bird he saw on the Arkansas Canoe Club Web site.

Tim Gallagher, editor-in-chief of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's Living Bird magazine, got wind of the sighting.

"Ironically, three weeks earlier Tim had been in my office interviewing me for a book he was writing about the ivory-billed woodpecker," Luneau says.

Gallagher and a birding friend, Bobby Harrison, an associate professor of art history at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Ala., met in Arkansas. On their second day in the Big Woods, at 1:15 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2004, an ivorybilled woodpecker flew directly in front of their canoe and fully revealed its dorsal wing pattern.

"Just to think this bird made it into the 21st century gives me chills. It's like a funeral shroud has been pulled back, giving us a glimpse of a living bird, rising Lazarus-like from the grave," Gallagher says on the Cornell Lab's Web site.

Luneau says it's true that after seeing the woodpecker, Harrison buried his face in his hands and cried. Luneau, who also had spent years looking for the bird, was only an hour and 15 minutes away, at home in Little Rock.

A

search team, including Luneau representing the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, formed the Big Woods Conservation Partnership, led by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and The

Nature Conservancy They set to work raising money, buying 18,500 acres of land in the Big Woods and putting searchers and equipment in the swamps. Confidentiality agreements were signed to prevent the media and amateur birders from descending on the forest.

Luneau was tasked with rigging cameras with integrated infrared heat and motion sensors within a two-mile radius in the "hot zone" near Brinkley, Ark., the closest town to the Bayou DeView swamps where the bird had been spotted. The cameras were strategically placed to point at trees with significant bark scaling indicative of the ivory-bill's presence.

"On April 25, 2004,1 went out with my brother-in-law to check the still cameras. I kept my video camera mounted in the canoe rolling the whole time," he says. "We were just starting to turn off the channel and I turned to lift the trolling motor out of the water. It locked into place and flushed a bird off a tupelo tree. It was about five or six feet off the water."

Henderson saw red on the bird's head as it flew away from the canoe.

Luneau had been picking up his paddle, but he caught a glimpse of a blackand-white pattern. Had they finally seen an ivory-billed woodpecker?

"It flashed a lot of white, but we were not sure. We listened for a while.

Then we decided to check the video camera to see if we got it on tape, and we did. I said, 'At least we've got something to look at when we get home/" Luneau recalls.

The digital images he downloaded to his computer were small, in the > »

• In the late 1700s, J o h n JaiTieS AudubOTl came across dozens of ivory-billed woodpeckers during his journeys through the o O U t h . He wrote, "I have always imagined, that in the plumage of the beautiful Ivory-billed Woodpecker, there is something very closely allied to the style and colouring of the great Vandyke. The broad extent of its dark glossy body and tail, the large and well-defined white markings and the brilliant yellow of its eye, have never failed to remind me of some of the boldest and noblest productions of that inimitable artist's pencil."

Audubon's illustration is probably the most famous — and best image — of the bird known today.

gazine • Summer 2005

corner of the screen and blurry. "There was so much white on the bird, but I was not confident. You get one chance to destroy your credibility," he says.

Luneau studied the digital footage over and over. He finally noticed "black, white, black, a speck on a tree. I couldn't believe I was seeing that. But it was very, very small, a 6-pixel bird. If I couldn't convince myself, I couldn't convince anyone else," he says.

He looked for help enhancing the video. An agency in Huntsville, Ala., that works with police surveillance videos was enlisted. "They couldn't do anything with it. It was too blurry."

The following week Luneau told Cornell's Fitzpatrick he might — or might not — have something. The Cornell Lab director flew to Little Rock for a "video-watching party" at Luneau's home in early May 2004. About 20 people were there to watch 42 seconds of film, including a four-second flight of 11 wing beats revealing extensive white on the trailing edges of the wings.

After watching the footage, Fitzpatrick turned to Luneau and shook his hand. "He said, 'You got it, man.' He was the fastest one to be convinced."

Luneau was told the footage's fund-raising potential made it a "$100 million video." He already had the original locked in a safe and made a limited number of copies. Cornell got one and began sharpening the images by deinterlacing the video, zooming in on the bird and slowing the speed of its flight.

"I went up there in the early summer. It looked a lot better just because it was bigger. But I still wasn't convinced until March of this year," he says.

While Cornell worked on a frameby-frame analysis of the video, Luneau returned to the Big Woods to measure the trees shown on the footage to determine the exact size of the bird. "We had to process it scientifically. It took five trips to prove it indisputable. The bird was too big to be a pileated."

Luneau was finally convinced that what he had recorded a year earlier was in fact an ivory-billed woodpecker.

The research team planned to report the astounding rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the May 19 issue of Science, with Fitzpatrick as the lead author and Luneau as one of the contributing writers. Luneau took a leave of absence for the spring semester to devote all his time to the Big Woods Partnership. But what he calls an "e-mail leak" derailed the plan to break the story in the scientific journal.

L

uneau was among the team members who met with representatives from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and scheduled a press conference in Washington, D.C., for April 28, the same day the paper was rushed to online publication on the Sciencexpress Web site.

The federal government made an announcement of its own that day: The Interior and Agriculture departments would set aside $10 million this year for the Corridor of Hope conservation plan to help save the ivory-billed woodpecker. The Fish & Wildlife Service established a 5,000-acre managed access area within the Big Woods that would be limited to researchers.

"Life got a lot busier" after the

story broke, says Luneau, who has fielded interview requests from around the globe. "Someone told me we even made the news in Calcutta, India."

Luneau receives dozens of e-mails daily, many from amateur bird-watchers who believe they have seen ivorybills in their back yards. One such e-mail came from Ontario, Canada, where one would be more likely to find Elvis than an ivory-billed woodpecker.

Appreciation of the magnificent bird is contagious. Luneau's wife, Terri, who supported him throughout his search for the woodpecker, has written a children's book called "Big Woods Bird," published in May. And the search for the ivory-billed woodpecker continues. No one is certain whether seven documented sightings in the Big Woods in 2004 were all of the same bird. Luneau says the bird he recorded "was probably born in the '90s, but it could have been born in the 21st century."

This gives scientists hope that a mating pair could exist, although searches for cavity nests that the ivorybilled woodpecker favors haven't turned up anything yet.

Luneau laughs when told that a Google search of his name brings up scores of hits trumpeting his video. On this day he is at home trying to bring his air conditioner back to life. He's not dwelling on the fact that his name forever will be linked to an ornithological breakthrough.

"I am very lucky to be part of it," he says. "It's a bird for the world." OT • To see Luneau's video of the ivory-billed woodpecker, visit www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/.

Once, the ivory-billed woodpecker's habitat stretched across the southern United States and included Cuba. But human settlement changed that. In 1935, Arthur A. Allen, founder

of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, made the Only m o t i o n p i c t u r e and a U d JO r e c o r d i n g s of the bird. By the end of the decade, only an estimated 25 ivory-bills remained in the United States. The last fully documented sighting — like Allen's, also in Louisiana — occurred in April 1944. The ivory-bill — the third-largest woodpecker in the world and the largest north of Mexico — stands about 20 inches tall and flies with an impressive 30-inch wingspan. The bill is not ivory, by the way, but keratin-covered bone.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

Hart Jones Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

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he Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston is one of the closest places to space on Earth. That's where Georgia Tech alumna Cindy Begley has been preparing astronauts for three planned space walks in anticipation of the space shuttle's return to flight.

Begley, AE 89, MS AE 90, is NASA's lead space walk officer for mission STS-114, set to lift off on the space shuttle Discovery in July.

The three planned space walks for the Discovery mission consist of a test of tile repair techniques, the replacement of a gyroscope on the International Space Station and the installation of an external stowage platform. Each of the three excursions will last more than six hours.

Begley is a scuba diver, but she spends most of her time in the control room to watch the astronauts from every angle during their underwater training.

"We have a tendency to do

things heads up, but in space, sometimes it's better to do it upside down or sideways," Begley told the Los Alamos Monitor in the New Mexico town where she graduated from high school.

Begley has been putting the astronauts through their underwater paces for more than a year. "They're more than ready."

"Exploration is ingramed in the human spirit and I think it's important that we get back to doing that again,"

She says the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, with its 6.2 million-gallon pool, is "absolutely the best thing we have" for extravehicular activity training, G T

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

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Georgia Tech's landscaping is going back to the future by features an 80-acre'eco-commons'with footpaths, floodpl^ environmental sustainability and water management and \ Georgia Tech Alumni M.'Kjn/inu â&#x20AC;˘ Sammoi :â&#x20AC;˘'()()!)

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ecreating some of what was. A new campus master plan ins and ball fields — a person-friendly outdoor lab for Conservation.

By Karla Jennings Photographs: Caroline Joe • Summei 2005

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Tech's master landscaping plans promise slightly more green space than today.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

his summer Georgia Tech rolls out a landscaping master plan to carpet the campus with green space and an eco-commons that includes a new water management system. "This campus will be a model for other urban areas of how you can have a quality environment in a dense urban environment," says Les Saunders, director of Capital Planning and Space Management. "Landscaping is the campus. Buildings grow out of the landscape."

Twenty-five years ago the Tech campus was aesthetically uninspired with parched patches of grass between stretches of concrete and brick. "Georgia Tech was a parking lot dotted with buildings," Saunders says. "It's a lot different now."

Today, a campus stroll takes you past flower beds, shadeblessing trees, secluded niches where students sprawl, snack, talk and study and sidewalks enlivened with patterned bricks.

Tech's green revolution culminates in the landscaping master plan, which tentatively goes on line in July. It's a companion piece to the updated 1997 campus master plan.

Tragedy helped prioritize Tech landscaping. In 1993, a 25^^^^^^^^^^^ foot sinkhole caused by Atlanta's eroding storm sewer system col< "Landscaping is the campus. Buildings grow lapsed a parking lot near Tech, killing two people. out of the landscape," contends Les Saunders, "Storm water management is a director of Capital very important thrust," Saunders Planning and Space says. "The goal is to ostensibly elimiManagement, holding a nate Georgia Tech's contribution to copy of the new green space master plan. Tech's the Atlanta storm water problem." attitude toward green Georgia Tech began as a forested space has evolved over stream. Atlantic Steel built mill workthe years, according to er housing on the future campus — Saunders, who says the the O'Keefe building was a high campus used to be a school and Couch was an elementary "parking lot dotted with buildings." school. The stream was sealed over and incorporated into the sewage system. Urbanization eroded the topsoil, leaving only clay.

Tech will go back to the future by recreating some of what was. The original stream can't be reclaimed, but another will be created over it — a physical virtual stream, if you will, running north/northeast past the Campus Recreation Center as part of an 80-acre eco-commons with footpaths, floodplains and ball fields. The eco-commons will be an outdoor lab for environmental sustainability and water management studies.

Ideally, Tech will use all its storm water for irrigation.

Twenty years ago, Tech didn't even have irrigation.

"The funding was not there," says horticulturist Donna Chronic, who has been a campus presence since 1984. The landscaping budget came under the maintenance budget.

Maintenance had to approve every single order.

Landscaping now has its own budget, which has risen from about $1 million five years ago to about $2 million today. "I'm not questioned anymore for ordering pine straw, I just order it," says Chronic. >»

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AT LEFT, ABOVE: A section looking north

of the Hemphill Street corridor north of Ferst Drive; AT RIGHT: the Atlantic Drive pedestrian corridor.

Swale' Clear Single Zone (No Shrub Layer)

Minimum distance Tree to Building = 15'

Reforesting Tech is part of the plan. When Chronic arrived, she found centuries-old trees, saplings dying in the heat and almost nothing in between. Creating a middle canopy of midsize trees will help cool the blasting effects of asphalt and concrete. Parking decks will replace parking lots, freeing land for green space and new buildings.

Tech's progress is evident at Chronic's current favorite spot, the oak-canopied area by the student center's outdoor deck. "How beautiful it is," she says.

"It's a combination of years of the tal< Landscaping architect ents of many people."

Ann Boykin-Smith says The master plan calls for dogin two years the Fifth woods, redbuds, service berry trees Street Bridge will sprout wings. By expanding the and oaks flourishing throughout the bridge spanning the green space. Perennial plantings will Downtown Connector to include Georgia natives such as bluea width of roughly 350 berry bushes and autumn ferns. feet, she will create an Landscaping will weave variety urban park with grass, plants and a shading with uniformity, the natural with the trellis along a bridge manmade. "Nature in real life has width roughly 350 feet. variety," says Saunders, "but, at the "It will be a place to sit, same time, the Hill has a uniformity if you don't mind the to it that dictates order." sound of traffic."

The goal is to make Tech a part of, yet apart from, the city. It should have a distinct campus identity, despite being close to Atlanta's heart.

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andscaping architect Ann Boykin-Smith, integral to devising the landscaping master plan, says that consistent landscaping guidelines detailed down to how closely the monkey grass meets the sidewalks and how wide those sidewalks will be will weave uniformity into variety.

"We're going to create corridors and sight lines," she adds. Landscaping will integrate paths for bicyclists, pedestrians, cars and campus motor carts. Continuous bike lanes will run along Ferst Drive, as they now do along Fifth Street.

The greening of the Yellow Jackets started with basic cleanliness. Landscaping employee Steve Pay ton, who in his 24 years at Tech does everything from building retaining walls to bricking sidewalks, says that as a new hire he was surprised to see the condition the campus was in. Sidewalks were inaccessible to other sidewalks, handicap ramps were nonexistent and trash receptacles were stuck far out of the way. >»

42

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

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Number of acres: 400 Open green space: 50 percent Number of flowers planted annually: 4,240 Sod planted in 2004:42,000 square feet Pounds of grass seed: 3,450 Pounds of turf fertilizer: 8,000 Pounds of shrub fertilizer: 1,800 Pounds of fertilizer in flower beds: 1,600 Number of trees planted annually: 15 replacements, 15 new plantings Number of mature trees: 195 trees with at least a 30-inch diameter Number of trees more than 100 years old: 60 to 70 Landscaping budget: $2.5 million Number of horticulturalists: 3 with undergraduate degrees Employees working in landscape: 45 full time, 10 temporary

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Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

"Young people haven't changed that much," he says, laughing. "You have to make it easy for them, make it two steps instead of 10 (to use a trash can). You can go plant a beautiful flower, but if you see paper and cans by it, it just won't look good."

Open and Green Space Recreation Streets, Surface Parking Student Support, Auxiliaries Athletics

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" Current Land Use Although the percentage of campus land devoted to grass and trees grows only slightly in master landscape plans, the overall effect — from new parking decks to rerouted sidewalks — will be to return campus to the feeling of openness and spaciousness that existed several decades ago, before the recent-years building boom.

46

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

Projected Land Use

o facilities landscape manager Hyacinth Ide, a native of Nigeria who studied in France before coming to the United States to attend college, it all comes down to

T dirt.

When construction ends and landscaping begins, "if you bring in the best possible soil you've solved 50 to 60 percent of your problems" for fertilizing, weed control, drainage and irrigation, < Facilities landscape Ide says. manager Hyacinth Ide was hired six years ago One of his major hassles is the to forge the landscaping "value contracting" for new construcdepartment into a team. tion, in which building contractors He fought for higher pay assume landscape responsibilities, he and more skilled workers, says.

"We actually spend a lot of time increasing his staff from about 40 to almost 60. fixing what contractors should have "When I get frustrated done." with the paperwork, I Disorganization was another probjust get in the car and lem.

Landscape priorities went to drive and take a look at "whoever screamed loudest," says what we've done."

Ide. He has now divided the Georgia Tech campus' 400 acres into three zones, with three priority levels.

"When I get frustrated with the paperwork, I just get in the car and drive and take a look at what we've done," Ide says.

The landscaping department draws in students through its annual Tech Beautification Day. This year almost 600 students laid pine straw and planted thousands of flowers, shrubs and trees. Landscaping supplies the materials.

Not everyone's behind the greening of Tech. One campus employee, talking to Ide about Beautification Day, demanded to know, "Why waste all that money on that?"

Ide grimaced. "I took a deep breath and told him, 'Your job depends on Tech bringing in good faculty and good students.'"

According to Saunders, a beautiful campus is like honey to would-be Yellow Jackets.

"In our annual survey of students — 'Why did you pick Georgia Tech?' — the number one reason is programs," he says. "A fairly close number two is the 'quality of place,' the 'Wow!' factor when the parents and their student step out of the car for the first time." GT

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High Gear After a slow start, automobile designer's career hits the fast track

By John Dunn Photograph: Caroline Joe Automobile Art: George McCowan

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ECAUSE A CIRCUIT BOARD

wouldn't work during a pass-fail electronics course in his junior year at

Georgia Tech, George McCowan is not fulfilling an ambition to ride the cusp of high technology as an electrical engineer. Instead he's living his boyhood dream drawing cars. > Âť

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

49

DETAIL:

M;

CCOWAN,

1935 PACKARD

A 1998 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN GRADUATE, works for American

, Specialty Cars, in Warren, Mich., the partner of General Motors that

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develops high-performance automobiles like the Cadillac V-Series and Corvette.

In 2001, McCowan had a one-man show in the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Mich., that featured 30 original illustrations. The Associated Press covered the show, which was also featured in Automotive News. Last fall, McCowan was one of about 200 artists commissioned by the Air Force to render an illustration of one of its planes.

"That was my first plane," he says.

McCowan shifted gears in his career three weeks into his junior year when he was unable to get his circuit board to work. But his initial reaction was that his academic career had been wrecked.

50

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

DETAIL:

"At three weeks, I failed the whole 12 weeks," McCowan says. He called

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his parents in Fort Wayne, Ind., and told them, "Come down and pick me

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up. I'm through."

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McCowan says his mother tried to calm him down.

"What do you want to do? For the rest of your life, what do you want to do?" she asked.

"I wouldn't mind drawing cars," McCowan answered.

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CCOWAN DISCOVERED TECH'S INDUSTRIAL DESIGN DEPARTMENT and

after showing faculty

members sketches of cars he had drawn in high school, he was allowed to switch majors.

McCowan knew he had made the right decision after his first homework assignment. He had always worked in black and white using graphite, but the course introduced him to water-

>»

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

51

DETAIL:

color-based design markers that gave him "instant color." The completed K^kW

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homework assignment got the attention of the whole class. Even the profes-

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work had exceeded expectations.

"After that," he says, "I had my color and the sky was the limit."

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is THE SECOND OF FIVE CHILDREN and carries on the family

, name as George C.A. McCowan IV. His father, a bishop in the

Charismatic Orthodox Church, told his son, "Whatever you have the gumption to do — go for it and don't look back."

McCowan attended a college preparatory school that he says prepared its students academi-

52

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

cally to attend any school in the country. "I wanted to go to Georgia Tech —

DETAIL: GRILL, 1999

a school that is large enough, but small enough, and is very renowned."

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McCowan designs exclusively on computers at ASC, which produces the Chevrolet SSR retro-truck in addition to its high-performance vehicles.

"We're doing our best to incorporate art and science into automobile design," McCowan says, adding that it usually takes from five to seven years for a vehicle to go from design to market. "We've got to move with the customer."

It's a dream job, he says, one he wasn't sure he would get. "To be an automotive designer, you either come out of two schools in the United States — the College for Creative Studies in Detroit or the Art Center in Pasadena, California. Georgia Tech must have given me something because I slipped through the back door and stayed in the office," he says with a smile, GT

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

53

Photo: Gary Meek

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

PACESETTERS<<

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was flying F-4 Phantoms at twice the speed of sound 40 years ago. I flew 141 combat missions in Vietnam. I never lost a second of sleep, I start this little business here and at 2:30 in the morning, I'm lying in bed with my eyes wide open," says Hugh M. Saint, AE 56, who launched his custom boat building company in Cape Coral, Fla., in 1981, a year after retiring from the Air Force,

Romancing Runabouts

By John Dunn

But Saint says there's more to keeping a company that builds classic runabouts afloat than great design and craftsmanship.

"There were two things I didn't have to worry about as director of logistics for airplanes in the Air Force — marketing and cash flow. It has caused me to have a renewed appreciation of entrepreneurs," Saint, who grew up boating in New Orleans, learned his craft while paying his way through Georgia Tech building Lafayette skiffs to trawl for shrimp off the Louisiana coast. In the process, he perfected his skill for building wooden boats.

Saint was attracted to Tech because of his ambition to fly, something he learned to do when he was 16. At graduation, he received his Air Force commission. By the time he retired, the former squadron commander had earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses, seven Air Medals and the Vietnam Cross for Gallantry. He and his wife, Sheryl, also reared four daughters and two sons. Grandson Brian Hollaway is a President's Scholar at Tech.

In retirement, Saint was also drawn to sporty, vintage wooden boats. "The look of those mahogany runabouts has a timeless beauty. I thought it would be neat to build them, so I went into the business."

"When you build a boat that has to work day-in, day-out, every day of the year, you learn the value of quality and design" says Hugh Saint, AE 56, top right.

Saint is faithful to the grace and style of these classic wooden boats. "We use beautiful wood — top-of-the-line Honduran mahogany." He pioneered a wood-epoxy-saturation technique for building his wooden boats. It is a timeconsuming and expensive process, but it gives a greater strength to weight ratio than fiberglass or steel.

The custom runabouts and sport fishing boats range from $125,000 to $3 million and take a year or more to build. Now Saint is finishing up a 36-foot fishing boat destined for Tokyo, ordered by someone else who appreciates quality and fine craftsmanship — Taro Kinoshita, one of Japan's leading makers of violins, G T

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

55

T

HE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CENTER

was barely a few months old when a contingent of Japanese businessmen, lured by a spate of magazine articles about the new high-tech business incubator, showed up at Georgia Tech for a tour of the facility. There was only one problem.

"We didn't have an incubator yet," laughs Wayne Hodges, who joined ATDC in 1981 as acting associate director. "We had two offices, two employees and me, and about $185,000 from the state."

A lot has changed in 25 years, including Hodges' title. As

vice provost he heads the Office of Economic Development and Technology Ventures, which oversees ATDC and Georgia Tech activities in technology transfer and commercialization, economic development and strategic industrial relations.

F

OUNDED IN 1980 TO STIMULATE GEORGIA'S TECHNOLOGY BASE,

ATDC's management and technical assistance, access to resources and low-cost office space have helped entrepreneurs launch exactly 100 early-stage high-tech businesses.

Those companies have generated more than $9 billion in revenue and provided thousands of jobs across the state.

> Âť It was a bold vision that hadn't been done before. So a small group of yoir entrepreneurial community in metropolitan Atlanta. Today the Advanced Techno!:

56

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

Along the way, the Georgia Tech-affiliated center received the Outstanding Incubator of the Year Award from the National Business Incubation Association and has been recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the nation's top nonprofit incubators. The first annual Tibbetts Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration bears ATDC's name for exemplifying "technological innovation, economic impact and business achievement" within the federal Small Business Innovation Research program. Last year, ATDC received an Excellence in Economic Development from the U.S. Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration.

"We were making things up as we went," says Hodges, reflecting on the fundamental tasks of getting ATDC up and running. "Unfortunately, there wasn't any model for a university-based incubator. We were the first. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute opened a technology incubator at about the same time, but theirs was and is focused inwardly on faculty and students.

"In the early days, 90 percent of our companies came from outside our community — that is, while the majority had a Tech connection, most weren't coming out of Georgia Tech research. Of course, Tech research then wasn't >»

g Georgia Tech visionaries became movers and shakers in creating a high-tech gy Development Center is at the center of a technology nexus. By Gary Goettling Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

57

nearly as large, diversified or industry-intensive as it is now."

In June 1982, after serving in acting capacities for 18 months, Jerry Birchfield, EE 64, MS EE 67, was named director of ATDC and Hodges was named associate director. Three years later, Hodges assumed the post as the organization's longtime visionary director.

A

TDC'S ORIGINAL CONCEPT AND MISSION WERE DRIVEN BY

a group of Georgia Tech alumni: the Georgia Tech Committee of 20, with a rotating membership comprised of two members from each of the 10 most recent graduating classes. Established by the Alumni Association to encourage young alumni involvement, in the late '70s the committee decided to tackle an exceptionally ambitious agenda.

Two committee members, John Hayes, IE 71, and Ben Dyer, IE 70, were establishing Peachtree Software. The difficulties facing their technology-based start-up raised questions with a broader application: "Tech didn't have the same kind of high-tech business community surrounding it that you had around MIT in Boston or around Stanford in Silicon Valley, and we were trying to figure out why," says Hayes.

Hayes and other committee members, resolved to do something about it, formed a technology business development subcommittee "to identify areas in which Georgia Tech can provide assistance to small, high-technology businesses."

In January 1978, another Hayes memo reviewed several areas the subcommittee deemed essential for the as-yetunnamed initiative: a technical assistance group, seminars, publications, continuing education programs, a venture capital group and an incubator building. In addition, a comprehensive feasibility study, which was soon conducted with a grant from the National Science Foundation, would, it was hoped, corroborate the alumni's concept.

"To say we made it up as we went along is true to the extent that nobody had done this before," Hayes recalls.

:

"There wasn't a model of how you create an incubator and high-tech development activity. What we were trying to do was create a high-tech, entrepreneurial community in Atlanta.

"We recognized that some things were absolutely necessary such as venture capital and a professional base of lawyers, accountants and bankers that understood high-tech entrepreneurial companies because there really weren't any in Atlanta at that time."

Each area noted in Hayes' memo was developed into what became known among Committee of 20 members as simply "the plan," and it became the basis for soliciting support where it mattered most.

A

T D C WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT TECH PRESIDENT

Joseph M. Pettit, who had been dean of engineering at Stanford University and helped forge the working relationship between Stanford and Silicon Valley. "When presented with the concept, he immediately endorsed it and was a very active proponent," Hayes remembers.

Another key endorsement, Hayes says, came from Gov. George Busbee, who secured funding to renovate the O'Keefe Building for incubator space and added money to build the ATDC facility on 10th Street. Busbee also included funds for the professional staff in the state budget, Hayes notes.

The support of Tom Stelson, vice president for research, was also important, Hodges adds. ATDC eventually landed under his purview, and Stelson was instrumental in securing cooperation from the campus research community and providing the initial ATDC staff.

Life for the center began in earnest in 1983 when it moved into the O'Keefe Building.

Sales Technologies Inc., which would become ATDC's first graduate company, was among the first start-ups to take advantage of the incubator. The developer of sales force automation software set up shop in what had been the teachm0

ATDC IN CAPSULE: Founded 1980 > Gains incubator space in O'Keefe 1983 > Firs

58

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

r OffICers

ers' lounge back when O'Keefe was a public high school.

"In the early '80s you did not have a lot of infrastructure in the Southeast that understood the start-up process â&#x20AC;&#x201D; accounting firms, legal firms and so forth," says Chuck Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Sales Technologies. "What ATDC offered more than anything was a lot of support and confidence that said, 'You can step out of your day job and you can start a business.' So it was a wonderful emotional underpinning."

Johnson also appreciated the low-cost ATDC office space and shared services such as photocopying, as well as

guidance for writing Sales Technologies' business plan.

"We always had 10 or 15 Georgia Tech co-op students rotating through our place," Johnson says. "It was very good talent, and it gave us a chance to be competitive when graduation time came because the students already knew us and what we did. So while these folks were solicited by a lot of larger companies, they also knew what they might be getting should they join a smaller company like Sales Technologies."

In terms of the future for both Sales Technologies and its CEO, perhaps the most important service ATDC performed was to host a seed capital conference in 1983. >Âť

ECONOMIC IMPACT > Georgia Tech's incubator among national elite An economic development study conducted by the state of Connecticut ranks Georgia Tech among the nation's elite institutions for generating economic development through university transfer of technology.

The study, released by Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, praises the Advanced Technology Development Center as one of the premier incubators in the country. The Economic Development Institute is highlighted as "one of the strongest, if not the strongest, university-based economic development programs in the nation."

Factors cited for helping states position their universities as centers of innovation and business growth included academic leadership and research capabilities, earlystage capital, commitment to and support of entrepreneurship programs and the existence of infrastructure such as innovation

centers, incubators and research parks.

discern which initiatives are state of Georgia and which are Tech," the study reports.

"Georgia Tech is one of the strongest universities in terms of its relationship with and assistance to industries of all sizes and its strong role in statewide economic development," the report states.

Tech was one of nine universities selected as a case study for the report. The others were Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Purdue, Stanford, the University of California-San Diego, University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Washington University.

"Perhaps what is most remarkable about the Georgia Tech model of technology-based economic development is how intertwined it is with state and local economic development initiatives. When one examines the economic development initiatives linked to the university, it is difficult to readily

"The level of private sector involvement in helping shape and direct these initiatives is stronger than in almost any institution in the country. Georgia actively solicits industry input... at its colleges and research centers, and this has helped shape the institution's curriculum, R&D focus and service orientation as well as encourage direct industry involvement."

The report acknowledges that certain issues must be worked through by institutions in regard to balancing academic life with the corporate need for commercial confidentiality. It cites Tech, MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon as institutions that appear to have found a balance between achieving academic excellence and pursuing technology transfer and commercialization goals.

seed capital conference 1983 > Graduates first of 100 start-up companies 1987 > Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

59

"We were accepted to make a presentation at the conference," Johnson recalls, "and as a result, we received funding from Noro-Moseley Partners, which coincidentally was also formed in 1983. So there was a lot of stuff coming together in the early '80s — ATDC, the formation of venture capital in the Southeast — that has all grown up together over the past 20some years."

Sales Technologies was only Noro-Moseley's second investment, and a most profitable one at that, growing from zero revenue in 1983 to $50 million annually by 1991. Johnson himself joined the venture capital firm as a partner in 1993 after Sales Technologies, now Synavant, was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet.

Another ground-level ATDC tenant was a company called Comsell, a pioneer in the development of interactive technology and co-founded by Hayes.

"All we really got was space," Hayes says. "The staff was brand new and there was not much in the way of infrastructure or support other than the fact that we had space that was convenient to the Tech campus. We hired Tech students to work there, which turned out to be a very good thing."

Most organizations would regard having their own building as the definitive measure of recognition and acceptance, but at ATDC — which opened two incubator buildings in 1985 — officials were still sounding cautious.

Three-quarters of the multimillion dollar investment in the 82,000-square-foot ATDC facilities were provided by the state, "and we borrowed the other quarter," Hodges says.

"We built in two phases because we weren't sure if we'd get enough follow-up money to build one large building."

One of the design conditions was that the structures be easily convertible to research space — just in case, Hodges says. "Even then, we didn't know if we were going to be successful or not."

Hayes' second ATDC company, an online provider of health-related products called Interactive Health Network, was nurtured at the 10th Street incubator. In addition to surroundings designed to suit the needs of small, independent businesses, the staff had become more experienced in the ways of high-tech start-ups.

"They had people with core competencies in many different areas, and they were very helpful," Hayes says.

A

TDC's 10TH STREET LCXZATION WAS NOT WITHOUT ITS drawbacks. Parking was too limited, even by Georgia Tech standards, and the facility was isolated from the rest of campus.

"There was no place for the companies to mingle or meet each other except in the restrooms," Hodges remembers. "It wasn't as friendly an environment as you want when you're trying to encourage interaction and networking."

These problems were addressed when ATDC moved again, in 2003 to the Technology Square complex in Midtown.

At the center's headquarters in the Centergy One Building, 18 start-ups are housed on a single floor, promoting collaboration in a variety of ways from problem solving to psychological support.

Hodges regards the new environment as part of ATDC's natural evolution. "ATDC was meant to be the center for the technology community," he explains. "One of the concerns we had over on 10th Street was that companies would incubate with us, then move to other places. That was fine because they always stayed in the state, but it would be nice to see high-tech companies congregating around us as they graduate. We think we have the beginning of that kind of technology nexus here in this new, highly visible location."

ATDC's visibility has also grown throughout Georgia, with incubators operating in Columbus, Warner Robins and

;

Seventy-five percent of start-ups launched since 1995 have succeeded > Two dozen-f

60

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

•

ATDC's first group of graduates

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Open houseitt

Savannah. On the Georgia Tech campus, the ATDC Biosciences Center helps meet the unique needs of companies in the rapidly growing fields of biomedicine and bioengineering.

VentureLab, a four-year-old sister program that, like ATDC, is managed by the Office of Economic Development and Technology Ventures, helps faculty and students create high-growth companies from innovations developed through Tech's $375 million research program.

The indefatigable Hayes has kept up with ATDC too. He is founder and CEO of his third ATDC company, FTRANS, a Web-based provider of services for banks and small businesses. The assistance he utilizes now compared to his 1983 experience reflects "a world of difference," he says.

"This staff is really incredible," he says. "They are competent, and they have done a really good job interacting with venture capital. We've had the ATDC office in Savannah help us promote to banks and businesses in the Savannah area, and we're going to do that other places around the state.

"As an insider, a user of the services, I can appreciate what ATDC is doing. And then you look at the output and see the businesses that have graduated and how large they are and how much they've brought to the Georgia economy — it's a great story."

P

ART OF THE STORY CAN BE TOLD WITH NUMBERS: SlNCE 1987,

ATDC companies have provided employment for thousands of people, while 75 percent of ATDC start-ups formed since 1995 are either still in business or have been acquired by other companies. More than two dozen ATDC firms have been represented on the public markets via acquisitions or initial public offerings. Perhaps most revealing, ATDC has contributed to Georgia's rank as one of the Top 10 states in the United States for venture capital investment in 2004, according to the Money Tree Survey compiled by Pricewater-

Street facility

houseCoopers, Thompson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association.

Hayes emphasizes that the impetus for ATDC was provided by a committee of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. "It had a vision," he says. "Most of what was originally envisioned has, in fact, happened — except it has happened much larger, much better, much more successfully than I or anybody else who was involved in it in the early days thought it might."

ATDC has also sparked improvements in Georgia's hightech business environment generally, according to Hodges.

Organizations such as the Technology Association of Georgia provide support to high-tech entrepreneurs in ways that did not exist 25 years ago.

Another important player in high-tech economic development is the Georgia Research Alliance, a 15-year-old collaborative effort between government and private industry to fund strategic investments at the state's leading research universities in eminent scholars, research laboratories and equipment, national centers for research and innovation, and technology transfer.

The increasingly rich research activities at Tech, Emory and other universities are providing new start-up opportunities for homegrown businesses — many of which get their start at ATDC, Hodges states. The investment community has flourished, accompanied by an administrative infrastructure experienced in the intellectual property issues peculiar to high-tech entrepreneurship.

Most telling, he adds, is the fact that nearly half of current ATDC companies include experienced entrepreneurs in their management. Some, like Hayes, are working on their second, third or even fourth venture.

Concludes Hodges, "They're repeat entrepreneurs, which gives you added chances for success." OT

lus ATDC companies have gone public > Revenue gain for state of Georgia: $9 billion Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

61

>>PACESETTERS

On Board for Kids' Education

By Maria M. Lameiras

Alumnus Dean Alford heads Georgia's new education initiative: "By 2014, we want 100 percent completion [of students in school].

It is bold and it is aggressive, but we are basing our formula on that desired outcome."

F

or two decades, C. Dean Alford has been fighting for better educational opportunities for Georgia's youth.

It began when he was in his first of five terms as a state representative. Now, 20 years later, Alford, EE 76, a member of the State Board of Education, heads the Governor's Task Force on Education Funding, the group charged with updating the state's education initiatives.

The current formula is, Alford says, "as complicated as the IRS code and it hasn't yielded the results of student achievement we would like to have."

The task force's new plan, called Investing in Education Excellence, or IE2, focuses on student achievement beyond the basics.

"The name IE2 is important because we want exponential results," says Alford, who is president and CEO of Allied Utility Network, a consulting firm to the electric and natural gas utility industries.

"We want to take the discussion on improving education to a higher level," Alford continues. "Investing implies a return for what you put in and that return has to be academic achievement, particularly in light of the fact that our children have to compete in a global marketplace."

The main concentrations of IE2 are a focus on student achievement, equal opportunity for educational excellence for all students, a plan that is simple to understand and administer and accountability for success and failure within the system, according to the objectives for the program.

The task force is developing a list of indicators based on student achievement and defining strategic requirements and best practices to accomplish those results. A new curriculum called Georgia Performance Standards will be implemented statewide over the next five years to "ensure kids can compete in a global marketplace."

"Our goal is for every child who wants to go to college to be able to, but those who don't go to college will still be able to succeed. It is about lifelong learning and, if we don't get K through 12 right, it becomes very difficult beyond that," he says. "Education faces the same chal-

Rockdale Magnet students work in the biology lab.

lenge as the rest of the world. The rate of change is increasing and we have to become more nimble in our thinking because of the ever-changing world we live in."

The Georgia Legislature passed a bill this year to form the Georgia Virtual School, an online program to provide advanced-placement courses to students in smaller or rural school systems.

"The virtual school feeds into where we are going. Almost 30 percent of students are failing the science graduation test. We ought to be using the technology we have to assist Kthrough-12 students. We need to make use of our broader resources. We know partnerships work, but we need to create more partnerships online so we can put it in every school virtually. To me that is exciting. We can fill

shortages through technology we could not fill before."

Another innovative approach is the Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology, a partnership between Georgia Tech and the Rockdale County Schools that Alford facilitated. "Education is not a simple regurgitation of facts.

The ability to think is part of it. That is one of the things that students are learning at Rockdale High. Everything is focused on research and solving problems," Alford says.

One component of IE2 ensures equality of education from the smallest to the largest school system in the state, "We are starting from the ground up and seeing what the cost is to provide that education experience to every child. We are developing a formula that gives local systems and schools the flexibility to focus on each child," Alford says.

Education is a big business, Alford points out. In

Georgia public education is a $13 billion industry that employs 122,000 people — "That would put us at about 138th on the Fortune 500 in revenue and 36th in number of employees. I realize that we are not trying to do this with an unlimited amount of resources. We have to apply business principles as we think about re-engineering public education. We also have to manage our resources so we get the most out of every dollar spent. It is a big job, but as in all big jobs, we are taking it one step at a time.

"Every parent, every businessperson, every community leader needs to help Georgia have excellent schools.

There is nothing more important in terms of making a longterm impact on the community than each of us being involved in the education of our children." GT

"When a child is educated in Georgia," says Alford about the ultimate challenge of his work, "we want people to say 'That child received a quality education.'"

• For more information on the Georgia Virtual School program, visit http://www.gavirtualschool.org/.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

63

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G e o r g i a T e c h Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

Georgia Tech ~ Alumni Association

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JMFOLE^ James D. Foley is a professor in the College of Computing and the Stephen Fleming chair in telecommunications at Georgia Tech; he is also a Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar and chairman of the Computing Research Association, an organization of more than 200 university computer science and engineering departments, professional societies and industrial research labs. He first came to Tech in 1991 to establish the Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center. He left in 1996 to become director of the Mitsubishi Electric Research Lab in Cambridge, Mass., and directed four of Mitsubishi's labs before returning to Georgia as executive director and then CEO ofYamacrazv, Georgia's economic development initiative in the design of broadband systems, devices and chips. In 1999 he rejoined Tech's faculty.

Interview by John Dunn Photography by Gary Meek

The Computing Research Association says student interest in computer science is in a free fall. Nationally newly declared computer science majors have declined significantly in the past four years.

Tech's College of Computing experienced a 50 percent enrollment decrease during that period. Why the decline?

There are several reasons. It was a perfect storm between the dotcom crash and the hullabaloo about the offshoring of information technology jobs, which the media overplayed. That combination made some high school students and parents think there is no future in IT That was a mistake because there are great job opportunities in the future.

Of course, the decline is not

66

all bad. Tech's drop in enrollments gives the Institute a chance to "catch our breaths."

Georgia Tech's enrollments grew so rapidly in the mid- to late '90s that we could not add enough faculty and facilities to match the increases, putting strains on students and faculty alike.

Recent faculty additions, the Technology Square Research Building and the soon-to-be completed Christopher W. Klaus Advanced Computing Building will help us catch up with our peers.

But some IT jobs are being outsourced.

The number of technology jobs outsourced is really quite small.

It is less than one percentage of the overall technology jobs in the country, so it's not a huge number. It's there and it's part of the internationalization of technology and that's not going to stop.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

There will be lots of jobs in the U.S., and American companies are already worrying about where future computer science employees are going to come from. Those companies are past the dot-com crash stage and they are looking to grow and to hire and they are concerned. The Bureau of Labor statistics project that in the next 10 years, there will be a need for about 1.6 million new information technology jobs to meet job growth and to replace people who will be retiring.

Computer scientists say their ranks need to grow to tackle such challenges as protecting the country's financial, utility, telecommunications, transportation and defense systems from terrorist attacks. How will colleges and universities attract those students?

Part of the issue is that we have an image problem. The Computing Research Association is tackling this problem head-on, as are a number of professional societies. The public perceives computing as a profession dominated by young men hunched over computer video games and as a career where you spend a lot of time by yourself just writing computer code. The word geek is used in that context.

Those stereotypes are not true, but that's the image rein>Âť

"We are entering a new world economy â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an economy based much more on intellectual resources and on human resources than on natural resources. That's why other countries are poised to be much stronger competitors of the United States."

^L^

n^ i

>>>INTERVIEW forced in movies and in media.

We're going to change it.

How do you do that?

We tell people about the real job opportunities in computing. We change the perceptions at the educational level. Mark Guzdial, an associate professor in computing, is doing that with a media computation course — a freshman course that is an alternative way to learn computer programming.

It is popular and successful.

"If we do not step up to the challenge other countries are posing, we run the risk of falling behind economically.

And some other countries are planning on spending more money on R&D as a percentage of the gross domestic product than does the United States."

68

American universities once dominated the information technology world. In recent years, Asian and Eastern European schools have been scoring increasingly well in the world final of the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. This year the United States placed 17th and an American university hasn't won since 1997. What's happening here?

It's a bad sign. I don't see the 17th-place showing — which was by the University of Illinois — as the United States falling behind in the sense of changing its absolute position, but we're changing our relative position because other countries are coming on strong.

Other countries are producing more engineers per capita than the United States.

We are entering a new world economy — an economy based much more on intellectual resources and on human resources than on natu-

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

ral resources. That's why other countries are poised to be much stronger competitors of the United States. Countries that have the greatest number of people are getting an advantage over countries that have the greatest natural resources.

We have a population base in the United States of nearly 300 million. China has 1.3 billion people and India has 1.08 billion people. No country has a monopoly on human intelligence. Now that China and India are developing their educational systems even further, they have a much larger starting base of human talent to train and motivate to be technological leaders.

Is America's technological leadership seriously being challenged?

To me it's a big wake-up call for the United States. We need to step up our efforts both to encourage students to study science, math, engineering and technology and to increase government funding of research.

Research is at the heart of economic growth over the last 30 or 40 years. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee, attributes a major part of our increase in gross domestic product over the past 10 years to information technology-driven productivity of companies. Plus there is the actual growth of companies like IBM, Intel and Microsoft and their contributions to the economy and the exports of those companies to the other parts of the world.

How strong is the U.S. investment in R&D? Some budgets have gone down slightly — particularly the National Science Foundation has been hit in the past few years. Congress passed and the president signed an authorization bill to double NSF funding, but it hasn't happened.

NSF funds much of the computer science basic research.

Tracy Koon, director of corporate affairs at Intel, said, "If you assume science and math drive innovation, and innovation is the soul of technology, and technology drives a large part of the global economy — and any particular nation's ability to be competitive — we (in the United States) have a problem." Would you agree with that assessment?

We are losing our competitive edge because of our underinvestment in research and our lack of will to bring young people into science and technology.

How early should students be brought into science and engineering?

Young people make their decisions and get interested in technology or not in middle school or earlier. By the 11th and 12th grades it's too late to start interesting students in science and engineering.

Do many students resist math and science because those subjects are considered hard?

Math and science are both hard and fun.

There seems to be a national proclivity on average to take the easy way out — take the easier courses, take the courses that are sure A's rather than by taking the more difficult, and I would say, more important courses. That goes back to the notion of the will to study, the will to learn and the desire to learn.

Many immigrants have seen hard work and hard study as the path to upward mobility. That's still true, particularly for immigrants from Southeast Asia. But you don't see that with many of our native-born citizens. It's not part of the psyche. And it's not just the individual, it's the culture, it's the society, it's the parental expectations.

It's the parents who nowadays, when something goes wrong at school, blame the teacher, rather than focusing on the real problem, which often is their child's performance, their child's attitude and their own parental attitude toward learning, education and discipline.

We need to have respect for education and the importance of really digging into subjects and understanding them and earning those A's the old-fashioned way.

How does Tech stand?

Georgia Tech is in a leadership position, from the president to the students. President Wayne Clough is university vice chair of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, serves on the National Science Board,

which advises the National Science Foundation on its policies, and was appointed

by President George W. Bush to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

The College of Computing, since it was formed in 1990, has had a focus on broadening computing to look not just at the core of computer science, but to really engage other disciplines in developing ways in which computers can help solve problems in those disciplines.

That's one of the real promises of computers in the way computers benefit all of us and help send the message that computing is about engaging with others to solve real-world problems, not about being isolated from others or just writing code.

Using computers to solve real-world problems has been a theme of the Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center since I founded it and has been a theme of my predecessor directors as well.

College faculty have redesigned some of our courses specifically to attract and retain students and we're defining application-oriented areas of specialization for our undergraduates and developing joint programs with other schools. One of these is the new undergraduate degree in computational media, offered jointly with the School of Literature, Communication and Culture.

This degree was just launched and students are enthusiastically signing on.

So, everyone is on board, GT

A 1/25-scale replica of the official Ramblin' Wreck.

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G e o r g i a T e c h Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

69

Limited Edition Deluxe

BABY BUZZ CLUB The Georgia Tech Alumni Association is pleased to introduce the Deluxe Baby Buzz Club.

This limited edition gift has all of the original Baby Buzz favorites, plus a wonderful CD featuring original lullabies a n d a piece entitled "Georgia Tech Medley."

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Baby Buzz includes: Canvas Bag Buzz Hooded Towel GT Rattle Buzz Bib Sipper Cup Enroll by returning the order form and your check for $49.95 + 8% tax (in Georgia only) and $6.00 Shipping and handling made payable to

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ALUMNIALMANAC<<< At 11:47 a.m. on the last day of May 1955, The Yellow Jacket — Tech's 50-year-old humor magazine — got the death sentence by the faculty senate for publishing a particularly objectionable article. Dean of Students George Griffin — who long had been a champion of the publication — made the motion to abolish the magazine. The Yellow Jacket staff had anticipated its fate and the cover headline of the final issue, which went to press before the faculty vote, read R.I.P.

Years After leading an American team that invaded the British Isles in 1930 to win the Walker Cup, Bobby Jones, ME 22, left, made history at St. Andrews, Scotland, where he won the British Amateur Golf Championship for the first time, defeating one of Britain's great sportsmen, Roger Wethered, in the finals on May 31. Hailing him as the King of Golf, the alumni magazine noted that Jones was the first person to win the four major golf titles of the world.

He had won a championship every year since 1923, including the U.S. Open and British Open in 1926 and the U.S. Amateur and British Open in 1927 and British Amateur in 1930.

/n\n=u„AT.

*

iars

Albert Staton, ME 22, the first director of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association and first editor of the alumni magazine, died in June 1980. A versatile student, he played varsity football and was a member of ANAK, Phi Kappa Phi, the Glee Club, the Technique staff, the Blueprint staff and a captain in ROTC. He left the Alumni Association to become a missionary in South America, A prominent Atlanta businessman protested, "Don't be silly.

I'll pay you enough and you can send six missionaries to South America."

Staton replied, "I'm sorry sir, but I gave my word and I will go through with my promise." Staton later returned after his wife contracted tuberculosis; he became a vice president with the Coca-Cola Co.

%.:/

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9

tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

\

FACU LTYPROFILE

Never-ending Opportunity A teacher of "Excellence" and father of three children, Georgia Tech professor Nael McCarty is involved in innovative research as well as creative and energetic classroom instruction.

By Maria M. Lameiras

N

ael McCarty's motivation for doing a helluva job of teaching is simple: "1 have one child in college and two who will be there eventually and I treat my students as I would want my kids' college professors to treat them," says McCarty, an associate professor in Georgia Tech's School of Biology.

In April, McCarty received a 2005 Center for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for his efforts.

McCarty takes great joy in teaching and interacting with students. "Tech undergrads are great students. When you are dealing with good students, it is not hard to be motivated to do a kick-butt job of teaching," he says. "My mantra is 'ChERI,' which is French for dear. For me it is an acronym.

"Ch is challenge your students. My immunology class has got a ton of information in it and I challenge them to get it all.

"E is for enable. I want to enable them to learn and move toward the career they want whether that means going to graduate school or med school or law school, whatever.

"R is for reward. I give my students lots of opportunities to earn extra credit and I always start the semester by showing them the grades from my previous classes. I sort all the final scores and I tell them that the people at the top were the ones who did the extra credit term paper and attended the extra lectures and who always came to class and scored well on the pop quizzes.

"I is to inspire because it is not my goal to have them jump through the hoops and get through the class without having it affect their lives. I want to make them better citizens by having them understand that something like stem cell research is important by inspiring them to learn more about it."

T

eaching is also a never-ending opportunity to learn, he says. "With biology, there are so many unknowns, so much new stuff to figure out."

Although he loves the research component of

72

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine â&#x20AC;˘ Summer 2005

his profession, McCarty feels teaching is vital to his success as a scientist.

"If you don't have exposure to students, you aren't going to get them in your labs. Also, at my previous institution, I only gave a few lectures per year. If you are good at something and it is important to your career, what good is it if you don't get to apply it?" he asks.

McCarty came to Tech in 2001 from Emory University, where he still holds an adjunct professorship in physiology in the school of medicine and serves as associate director for basic research at the university's Cystic Fibrosis Center. He holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Kansas, a master's degree in marine biology from the University of North Carolina and a doctorate in physiology from the University of Texas.

"There are opportunities at Tech to make a phenomenal impact on the life sciences," McCarty says. "The sky apparently isn't even the limit to what we can do. We don't know what the limit is."

He and Julia Kubanek, assistant professor of biology, chemistry and biochemistry, recently identified a peptide toxin from scorpion venom that inhibits activity in voltage-gated chloride channels expressed in many human cell types, McCarty says.

Channel proteins in the membrane that surrounds a cell are important for the control of membrane excitability and processes of secretion and absorption, for example. However, little is known about how chloride channels work, unlike channels for sodium and potassium, which have been thoroughly researched, he says. Overactivity in chloride channels contributes to polycystic kidney disease and secretory diarrhea due to cholera, and identifying the chloride channel that causes it could lead to advances in treatment of the diseases.

"And we are this close to finding one that works on cystic fibrosis chloride channels," he says, holding up his hand and peering through a tiny space between his index finger and thumb. "Animal venoms have been used in the study of the cell mem-

Photo: Sue elites

brane channels that allow sodium and potassium to pass through, but there have never been any peptide toxins identified to interact with chloride channels of known identity."

A

lthough in cystic fibrosis, which has been the focus of McCarty's chloride channel research for many years, certain chloride channels don't work or are absent altogether, he says finding an inhibitor for such a channel could lead to breakthroughs in cystic fibrosis treatment and help treat the other more common diseases.

"If we can use this toxin to understand how the normal channel works, we might be able to fix it in CF. Also, polycystic kidney disease affects five times as many people as CF and cholera impacts hundreds of thousands of people, particularly in third-world countries, so we get added value from this research in treating those diseases."

Using the same ion-channel approach, McCarty and biology assistant professor Harish Radhakrishna are researching a class of membrane proteins called G-protein-coupled receptors, which are the targets for 70 percent of the pharmaceuticals currently on the market.

"These receptors control many functions — cardiac activity, vaso-restriction, vaso-dilation, kidney function — and for decades people thought a single receptor worked by itself. But many will come together to form a heterodimer, made up of two different proteins," he says. "All of the drugs the pharmaceutical companies are developing are tested by overexpressing a single receptor — say, receptor X — and they will test 10 million compounds against that one receptor, but if it exists, possibly, as a heterodimer with receptor Y, then the drugs actually need to be developed for the X-Y combination. In most cases, we really don't know what the consequences of this dimerization phenomenon are on receptor function."

Research along this line may lead to advances in drug effectiveness and the specificity of drugs to work for a greater number of diseases, McCarty says. "If you look at a dose response curve for how receptor X responds to a drug, we have data that show the response characteristics are very different when receptor X is expressed along with receptor Y. Because so many of the drugs in the pharmaceutical market target this class of protein, I think understanding these effects will be huge." GT

"There are opportunities at Tech to make a phenomenal impact on the life sciences," says Nael McCarty, an associate professor in the School of Biology, "The sky apparently isn't even the limit to what we can do."

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2005

73

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'On homes contracted by 8/31/05 for GA Tech Students & Alumni.

Seo agent for details. Information believed to be accurate but not warranted.

The Global Learning & Conference Center is the perfect home for corporate and association meetings, business retreats, educational seminars and training and development needs.

Over 32,000 square feet of meeting space.

27 conference rooms including, 5 amphitheaters ranging 75 to 250 seats and 22 meeting rooms ranging 20 to 96 seats, with a total seating capacity of more than 1,000: all rooms equipped with ergonomic seats and spacious desks.

State-of-the-art technology to broadcast your program anywhere in the world.

Adjacent to a 252-deluxe room hotel, a 1,500 space parking deck, and numerous restaurants and retail establishments.

Located in the heart of Midtown Atlanta's business district, near the North Avenue and Midtown M ARTA stations, and interstates 75/85.

Book Your Meeting Now ••> 404-385-3500 84 5th St. N W • Atlanta, Georgia 3 0 3 0 8 - 1 0 3 1

Warm Hospitality Cool Technology >:

MEMBER INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OP CONFERENCE CENTERS

For More Information Visit www.glcc.gatech.edu

>>>PHOTOFINISH

Power Player

Freshman Kristi Miller, Tech's first women's tennis Ail-American, won a school record 42 consecutive singles matches and advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Singles Championships in May. Miller finished the season ranked 12th in the country. The women's tennis team (21-4) won its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a No. 6 national ranking — the highest final ranking for any Tech women's team. "We had a heck of a run, and it was a lot of fun," said Bryan Shelton, Tech's tennis coach. into Journal Constitution

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r THERE'S ONLY ONE CREDIT CARD PROGRAM FOR YELLOW JACKETS. Whether you're back at Georgia Tech or off traveling the world, take the card that's got Yellow Jackets covered. The no-annual-fee, Georgia Tech Alumni Association credit card offers 24-hour Customer service and is accepted at millions of locations and ATMs worldwide. And it's the only credit card program that actually supports your Alumni Association every time you use it. Each and every purchase generates valuable support for the Alumni Association and its student and alumni programs, at no additional cost to you.

Plus, you'll save money thanks to a remarkably low introductory Annual Percentage Rate on cash advance checks and balance transfers. It's a great deal for Yellow Jackets. Apply now.

Call 866-GET-MBNA MBHfK A M E R I C A *

Please mention priority code XVAH. There are costs associated with the use of this credit card. To request specific information about the costs, you may contact MBNA America Bank, N.A., the exclusive issuer and administrator of the Platinum Plus credit card program, by calling 1-800-523-7666 or writing to RO. Box 15020, Wilmington, DE 19850. TTY users, call 1-800-833-6262. MBNA, MBNA America, and Platinum Plus ate service marks of MBNA America Bank, N.A. MasterCard is a federally registered service mark of MasterCard International Inc. and is used pursuant to license. Š2001 MBNA America Bank, N.A. AD-08-01-0134

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The world's most affordable Business Class.

Ah. the joys of business class. All the spacious seating. The complimentary cocktails. The priority boarding and deplaning. But most importantly, the distinct absence of someone else's arm on yours. Now that's humanity. Book your Business Class seat at airtran.com, where you'll always find our lowest fares, or call 1-800-AIR-TRAN.

Go. There's nothing stopping you.