Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Meeting with Lena Weber

Tonight Kurt English, Peter Snyder, Mr. Gallagher, and myself, Juliana Wakeman, went to C.T. Male Associates, P.C. to meet with Lena Weber, Ph.D., GIS Applications Manager. This was a follow-up to information Mr. Wakeman gave us on an online NRCS soil database. Dr. Weber taught us how to use ArcExplorer Java Edition with GIS Software. Using ArcExplorer we can access maps that show regions of soil type throughout New York State. We can search for maps of broader areas as necessary. Using Microsoft Access in conjunction with ArcExplorer we are able to access information about each varying soil type and save this information in Microsoft Excel, which can be accessed using Perl, integrating this information into our final output. We really appreciate Dr. Weber taking the time to teach us these applications.

Meeting with Bruce Hodge

Last night Bruce Hodge, founder of local company Tech Valley Technologies, was kind enough to meet with us for a second time. Not only did he help us educationally with our project. Mr. Hodge we be donating a server for our use. We are extremely thankful for this wonderful support! Mr. Hodge taught us how to use Perl, which is the language we will use for programming. We now have a much better idea of where our project may be headed, both this year and in future years. It is very exciting to see everything coming together! We really appreciate all the help Mr. Hodge has given us.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Happy Holidays!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Talking to the experts

Two weeks ago, I went to the midwest to visit colleges. I stayed with my friend's family in which almost every adult male was a farmer. Not one to forget my InvenTeam responsibilities, I grilled my friend's relatives for about 2 hours about how they tested their soil, what measurements were most important, how they decided what treatments they needed, and how those treatments affected crop yield. Their input will help us make sure that our device is usefull; after all, despite all of our research, none of us are farmers. We should never forget to talk to the real experts. Thanks to the Lowe family and relatives!

Soil Compaction Presentation

Today the Soil Compaction group presented their findings to the class. They primarily used the University of Minnesotat Extension website; http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC3115.html From here this group will attempt to come up with a device to determine soil compaction.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Article featured on SSHS Website

While checking out the Saratoga Springs City School District web-site tonight I stumbled upon an article written about us!

I think it was written in September because it says we learned of the award "this month" but the article briefly describes our plan for our project, the Lemelson-MIT Program, and Project Lead the Way. Mr. Gallagher is quoted saying, "The kids are really excited to be involved in this project. In the engineering world, this program is as big as it gets."

He couldn't have said it any better. We really appreciate the support that the Saratoga Springs School District community has given us throughout this project and look forward to working with everyone at SSHS for the rest of the year!

- Juliana

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Comment by Professor Crawley

Hello Everyone -

As you may or may not have noticed we have received our second comment on our blog. No, we didn't get Google-bombed again. Professor Ed Crawley from MIT posted a comment to a recent post on our blog.

Dr. Ed Crawley is a Professor of Aeronatuics and Astronautics at MIT. He is also an Advisor to NASA, the Director of the Gordon MIT Program on Engineering Leadership, and has pretty awesome taste in music.

We would like to thank you, Dr. Crawley, for your interest in our InvenTeam and we can not wait to get a chance to meet you at the EurekaFest this coming June.

Here is what Professor Crawley had to say about our InvenTeam:

"As an MIT professor interested in invention and innovation, I have been observing your progress and it seems that you are doing a great job. What you are learning is a great preparation for a career in engineering innovation. I look forward to seeing you in the future at places like MIT."

Thank you -

Elliott