regulated by a computer that links the two trucks at a precise distance until they are disengaged by the second driver. Called “platooning” this procedure reduces the wind drag on both trucks and can potentially save trucking companies millions of dollars in fuel every year.
Sports and Training Being naturally bigger, stronger, and faster simply isn’t enough for today’s collegiate and professional athletes. Any legal edge is pursued that will add a bit more arch to a pitcher’s curveball, help a golfer drive her ball a few yards farther up the fairway, or get a sprinter out of the starting block a fraction of a second faster. Increasingly computer technology, including motion analysis and simulation software, is being applied to these and other sports to achieve results unimaginable to previous generations of sports stars. Computers are also used to track and compare player stats to analyze potential future performance. And, perhaps most important, equipment manufacturers are using computer aided design, or CAD, software to produce more durable and protective helmets, pads, mouth pieces, and face gear. Technology in Action: If you’ve seen the movie Moneyball, about the Oakland Athletics and their innovative general manager Billy Beane, then you’re probably familiar with sabermetrics. Sabermetrics is almost as difficult to explain as it is to understand. Basically, it’s an analysis tool that uses mathematical formulas and statistics to determine how baseball players will perform under certain circumstances. As you can imagine, these numbers are difficult to compile manually so teams have begun hiring specialists who compile statistics from around the league to help their team make personnel decisions. The online school, EdX, even offers a course in sabermetrics that teaches the “basics of data science . . . that requires skills in computation, statistics, and communicating results of analyses” and covers “the basics of statistical regression, the R Language, and SQL.”
Human Services
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For nearly a decade the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) have applied set standards to the changing role of social workers in relation to various technological advances. These standards are necessary since social workers,
counselors, and counseling psychologists rely on trust and confidentiality with their patients or clients. For this reason, unlike most professions, those who work to improve the lives of others are very cautious about emerging technologies and the possibility of private information becoming public. Yet, although mindful of security issues, many leading social work educators believe high tech solutions should be embraced to provide the best, most comprehensive treatment to the most people. Jerry Finn of the University of Washington, for instance, says, “In the near future, real-time video-based computer communications will be widely available, enhancing service delivery and removing some of the assessment and treatment downside barriers to current online practice.” And Philip Ng of the University of Rochester assures that technology will offer “ . . . an improvement of the tools in assisting (social workers) to perform everyday tasks, with the focus still firmly planted in helping those who need it the most.” Technology in Action: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been pioneering mathematical models based on psychology theories that allow computers to mimic human creative problem-solving. This is a key stage in the development of artificial intelligence. According to Ron Sun, a professor of cognitive science at the school, their work “pushes forward the field of research on creative problem solving and offers an explanation of the human mind and how we solve problems creatively.” This model can potentially create artificial intelligence programs that are good at solving problems creatively rather than deliberately. Of course computer technology is advancing and revolutionizing career fields ranging from retail sales to crop farming to mechanical engineering to conservation science (actually this list could go on indefinitely so we’ll stop here). To learn more, talk to your guidance counselor, your computer science teacher, or begin exploring your options online. Trust us, so much computer related career information is available you’ll soon find more answers than you have questions.