CT Ranked #3, Bridgeport-Norwalk-Stamford at #5, Among States, Regions with Most College Degrees

Connecticut has the nation’s third highest rate of residents holding a college degree – and the greater Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area has the fifth highest rate among metropolitan regions, according to a new report by the Lumina Foundation. The report reveals" real progress has been made" in the national effort to increase post-secondary attainment, but "current rates won’t be enough to meet America’s future economic and workforce demands." The annual report, A Stronger Nation through Higher Education, finds that “unless actions are taken now to significantly increase post-secondary attainment, the nation will fall short of workforce needs by the end of this decade.

Connecticut is making consistent progress on increasing attainment, according to the report. The most recent Census data (2013) show that 47.8 percent of the state’s 1.9 million working-age adults (those between the ages of 25 and 64) hold a two- or four-year college degree. This is an increase from last year’s rate of 47.5 percent and an increase from 46.6 percent in 2008. The state’s rate of higher education attainment is above the national rate of 40 percent.

A leading indicator of where higher education attainment rates are heading is the rate among young adults, those between the ages of 25 and 34. In 2013, this rate in Connecticut was 48.4 percent, higher than that of the adult population as a whole and also above the national rate of 41.6 percent.

According to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 65 percent of U.S. jobs will require some form of postsecondary education by 2020. Yet, according the Lumina report, only 40 percent of working-age Americans (ages 25-64) held a two- or four-year college degree in 2013—the most recent year for which data are available. That figure is up from 2012, when the rate was 39.4 percent, and from 2008, when the rate was 37.9 percent, or a total of more than 2.8 million more degrees.

In Connecticut, 22.5 percent of residents ages 25-64 hold a bachelor’s degree, 17.1 percent have a graduate or professional degree, and 8 percent have an associate’s degree.  Eighteen percent have some college, but no degree, according to the data, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 American Community Survey.

Degree attainment in Connecticut, by ethnicity, was at 53 percent of Whites, 28.4 percent of African-Americans, 22 percent of Hispanics, 71 percent of Asians and 29 percent of Native Americans, according to the 2013 data. The progress nationally reflects incremental gains that the report authors say aren’t nearly enough to reach Goal 2025—a national effort calling for 60 percent of Americans to have a high-quality post-secondary degree, certificate or other credential by the year 2025.

The percentage of Connecticut residents (ages 25 – 64) with a college degree, by county, are:  Fairfield (53.8%), Middlesex (51.2%), Tolland (50.6%), Hartford (45.9%), Litchfield (44.6%), New Haven (43.4%), New London (41.1%), and Windham 32.1%).

In college enrollment, Connecticut exceeded the national average among residents age 18-24, but was slightly below the national average among residents ages 25-53.  Connecticut was below the national average among Hispanics 4.9% vs. 5.2%); slightly above among African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Whites.

“Economists and other experts give us good reason to be convinced that reaching Goal 2025 is a national imperative,” said Jamie P. Merisotis, president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, and a former Connecticut resident. “We have just 10 years to reach it, and our current pace of progress is insufficient for meeting employers’ workforce needs and addressing the growing inequality issues we face as a nation.”  Merisotis, testifying at the Connecticut General Assembly back in 2009, told legislators that "you will need to invest more in educating underprepared students than you do now. But invest you must. The alternative is a Connecticut far less prosperous and far less prepared to deal with the rapidly changing world in which we live."

A Stronger Nation estimates that if current trends continue, 30.7 million more Americans will earn college credentials by 2025. That increase will allow the nation to reach an attainment rate of 48.7 percent over the next 10 years—well short of the 60 percent needed to reach Goal 2025. To reach the Goal, Lumina estimates that another 19.8 million postsecondary credentials will need to be added.

Top 10 states—based on the percentage of adults (25-64) with at least an associate degree in 2013:

1. Massachusetts —51.5% (up from 50.5%)
2. Minnesota —48.1% (up from 47.7%)
3. Connecticut —47.8% (up from 47.5%)
4. Colorado —47.6% (up from 47.5%)
5. New Jersey —46.5% (up from 45.8%)
6. New Hampshire —46.4% (down from 46.7%)
7. Virginia —46.1% (up from 45.3%)
8. New York —46% (up from 45.1%)
9. Maryland —46% (up from 45.5%)
10. North Dakota —45.8% (up from 45.6%)

Among the nation’s metropolitan areas, the leading regions were:

1. Washington, D.C./Arlington-Alexandria, Va.—55.36%
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.—55.32%
3. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.—54.73%
4. Madison, Wis.—54.67%
5. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.—54.41%
6. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.—53.79%
7. Raleigh, N.C.—53.57%
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.—51.80%
9. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.—49.82%
10. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.—49%

56 Women of Innovation Recognized; Girls Encouraged to Enter STEM Fields in CT

Fifty-six women, from across Connecticut, were honored for their innovation and leadership during the eleventh annual Women of Innovation awards gala, held this week. This awards program recognized women innovators, role models and leaders in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math as well as outstanding women at the high school and collegiate level. “The Council is honored to recognize Connecticut’s most extraordinary and talented women representing a cross section of the state’s most important technology companies and educational institutions.” said Bruce Carlson, President and CEO of the Connecticut Technology Council.

Of the 56 women honored, 10 were recognized as category winners; there are two winners in both the Research and Collegian categories: Academic Innovation and Leadership: Medria Blue-Ellis, Principal, Engineering & Science University Magnet School; Collegian Innovation and Leadership (two winners): Sapna Gupta, Ph.D. Student, University of Connecticut, Monika Weber, Ph.D. Student, Yale University; Community Innovation and Leadership: Keshia Ashe, Co-Founder & CEO, ManyMentors; Entrepreneurial Innovation and Leadership: Christina Lampe-Onnerud, Founder & CEO, CLOTEAM LLC; Large Business Innovation & Leadership: Yu-Hui Rogers, Site Director, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine; Research Innovation and Leadership (2 winners): Serap Aksoy, Professor, Yale School of Public Health, Radenka Maric, Connecticut Clean Energy Professor in Sustainable Energy, University of Connecticut; Small Business Innovation and Leadership: Lisa Braden-Harder, CEO, Appen; and Youth Innovation and Leadership: Anubhuti Mathur, High School Student, Glastonbury High School.

Presenting sponsors of this year’s event, held at the AquaTurf in Plainville, were Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation, Covidien, Day Pitney LLP, and United Technologies Corporation.

Efforts to interest girls in the STEM fields are underway elsewhere in Connecticut as well.  UIL Holdings Corporation is among the organizations encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by supporting three Generating Girls Opportunities (G2O) Expos.

These expos offer girls exposure to STEM fields, as well as the opportunity to participate in hands-on experiments.  The next G2O Girls & STEM Expo to be held April 10 at Central Connecticut State University.  It is a half-day interactive event for 9th and 10th grade girls introducing participants to all the possibilities of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) through workshops and activities led by college professors and STEM professionals.

Activities are designed to inspire girls to question, create, design, test, explore, and more!  They learn about possible STEM careers and talk to colleges and employers to help them plan for the future. The expos, organized by the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF), are designed to engage the students and teachers in expanding educational opportunities in STEM programs and careers.

A study commissioned by the Girl Scout Research Institute found that girls are interested in STEM fields and aspire to STEM careers, but need more exposure and adult support to carry this interest into the future.  Additional expos will be held in West Hartford at the University of Saint Joseph on May 4 and at Mitchell College in New London on June 5.

The Connecticut Technology Council (www.ct.org), which organizes the annual Women of Innovation, is Connecticut’s industry association for the technology sector. CTC’s mission is to connect people, ideas and opportunities to the global technology and innovation community.

________________________________________

2015 Women of Innovation

Medria Blue-Ellis is the principal of ESUMS, a Magnet School of Excellence and CT School of Distinction. Her Curriculum expertise, creative thinking, and persistence are shared with the female STEM teachers she mentors. Her encouragement of female students to excel in STEM manifests in accomplishments such as the 2014 Verizon App Challenge State Finalist. Medria was one of 100 school leaders, educational advocates, and researches convened at the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation “Closing the Excellence Gap” conference.

Sapna Gupta is a graduate research assistant at the Center for Clean Energy Engineering and a Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering at UCONN. Sapna’s academic achievements, innovative research and creativity are evident in the many fellowships, distinctions, and awards she has received, including her honorable mention for the 2014 Baker Student Researcher award. She is founder and president of UCONN Keramos, and delegate of the ACerS PCSA

Monika Weber is a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at Yale University and the co-inventor of Fluid-Screen, a small device that detects bacteria in 30 minutes. She has won the Grand Prize in the NASA “Create the Future” Design Contest 2011” and the Gold Prize in MassChallenge and received over $200,000 in technology and entrepreneurial awards. Monika combines leadership skills with strong technical expertise, creativity and business acumen.

Keshia Ashe is a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering at UCONN and co-founder and CEO of ManyMentors. ManyMentors is a STEM online and in-person mentoring nonprofit organization that connects university mentors with middle and high school students interested in STEM degrees and careers. She is a mentor, role model, TEDx speaker, and an unwavering advocate for STEM education in Connecticut.

Christina Lampe-Onnerud is known for her innovative work developing high-performance, low-cost, safe, environmentally-friendly batteries for portable electronics, electric vehicles and energy storage. She is founder of Boston-Power (IPO in 2016) and CLOTEAM, as well as holder of 80+ patents and author of numerous scientific articles. She was recognized as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum where she serves as an advisor on global innovation and renewable transport.

Yu-Hui Rogers is leading the JAX-GM Administration and Operation Team in establishing its new research institute in Connecticut. She was the vice president of Core Technology Development at the J. Craig Venter Institute where she was responsible for technology development and a large-scale genomic operation. She was instrumental in the development and implementation of a high-throughput sequencing pipeline that enabled the completion of the first human genome sequence at Celera Genomics.

Serap Aksoy is a professor at the Yale School of Public Health where she works on insects that transmit disease-causing microbes to animals and plants. She lectures internationally, maintains ongoing collaborative research programs, and has made landmark contributions to the functional and evolutionary aspects of insect-microbe interactions. Through her discoveries, she developed innovative methods that use beneficial bacteria to render insects inhospitable for disease-causing pathogens, thereby reducing their disease transmission potential.

Radenka Maric joined UCONN in 2010, where she focuses on developing new materials and novel structures for energy storage and conversion, structural ceramics and hydrogen production and separation. Previously, she was group leader and program manager at the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation, program manager at nGimat and senior scientist/team ILeader at the Japan Fine Ceramics Center in Japan. Radenka has published over 150 scientific papers.

Lisa Braden-Harder started her career in IBM’s research division, moving on to found the Butler Hill Group in 1993. There, she leveraged her background in linguistic products ranging from grammar checkers to search engines. In 2011, the company merged with Appen, an Australian company also engaged in taking devices to global markets. In 2013, she became CEO of the combined entity and in January 2015, led the company through an IPO on the Australian stock exchange.

Anabhuti Mathur conducts research at the UCONN Health Center and was a 2014 summer student fellow at The Jackson Laboratory. She was an Intel ISEF finalist, American Chemical Society award winner, National JSHS State Representative, Chemistry Olympiad Semifinalist, and the Anna Harrison award winner for top female scorer. Anubhuti captains Glastonbury’s Debate and Science Bowl teams, is president of the Medical Leaders Club, and runs a charitable multicultural dance organization.

CT Would Be 22nd State to Require CPR Training in High School

Connecticut is poised to become the 22th state to pass legislation requiring CPR training as a high school graduation requirement, according to data from the American Heart Association and the National Center for Education Statistics. The state legislature’s Public Health Committee approved a bill last week that would establish the requirement in Connecticut schools, following passionate testimony supporting it, from the public and legislators.  The bill must be approved by the House and Senate before moving on to Governor Malloy to sign into law.

West Virginia recently became the 21st state to pass a CPR bill, which was signed into law by that state’s Governor earlier this month. A similar bill is now being considered by state legislatures in Missouri and Florida.

Every hour in the U.S. approximately 48 people will have a cardiac arrest event outside of the hospital. Nine out of ten people will not survive. However, if lifesaving CPR is performed, a victim’s chance of surviving can double, or even triple, according to the American Heart Association.

The AHA is among the organizations supporting the legislation, working in Connecticut and across the country to pass state laws “that will assure all students are trained in life-saving CPR before they graduate from high school.”  In addition, a website, becprsmart.org, has been developed to provide information related to the national initiative.

The organization’s CPR in School Training Kit is portable, durable, designed to train 10 to 20 students at once, and comes with “everything you will need to quickly and easily teach your students,” the AHA website points out, noting that “one CPR in Schools Training Kit can train hundreds of students!”

In testimony at the Connecticut State Capitol, Elizabeth Schiller, president of the Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians, said that CPR “may mean the difference between life and death. By instituting education at the high school level, young adults will become familiar with the process and hopefully will feel comfortable assisting others in a time of need.”

The CPR in Schools Training Kit empowers students to learn the core skills of CPR in under 30 minutes, and it teaches AED skills and choking relief, according to the AHA. Described as an “easy-to-use kit,” it is designed “specifically for the needs of school educators. It’s portable, allowing for convenient movement from classroom to classroom and easy storage. It’s also reusable.”

The CPR in Schools Training Kit was developed by the American Heart Association and “incorporates the very latest science.”  The American Red Cross also offers a range of first aid courses for students, including CPR.

https://youtu.be/G68pDlloGZI

Additional information:  www.cprcertificationtrainingonline.com/

Tough New Anti-Smoking Ads to Air in Connecticut, Nationwide

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching its 2015 “Tips From Former Smokers” campaign with a series of powerful new ads featuring former smokers who suffer from smoking-related illnesses, including vision loss and colorectal cancer. Ads also highlight the benefits of quitting for smokers’ loved ones, and the importance of quitting cigarettes completely, not just cutting down. Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year and remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. For every American who dies from a smoking-related disease, about 30 more suffer at least one serious illness from smoking.

Beginning March 30, the ads will run for 20 weeks on television, radio, billboards, online, and in theaters, magazines, and newspapers. Connecticut is included in the national ad buy, which includes cable TV, magazine, and digital media, according to CDC officials. 

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that in 2013, 15.5 percent of Connecticut adults were smokers.  This was lower than the national average of 18.1 percent, and lower than the other New England states, which ranged from 16.2 percent (New Hampshire) to 20.2 percent (Maine).

CDC’s successful Tips national tobacco education campaign has helped prompt millions of smokers to try to quit since it began in 2012, officials said. It has also proven to be a “best buy” in public health by costing just $393 to save a year of life.

“These former smokers are helping save tens of thousands of lives by sharing their powerful stories of how smoking has affected them,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.  “These new real-life ads will help smokers quit, adding years to their lives and life to their years.”

In 2014, Tips ads had an immediate and strong impact. When the ads were on the air, about 80 percent more people called the national quitline, CDC officials noted, for free help. Since 2012, Tips ads have generated more than 500,000 additional calls to the toll-free quitline number, 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

Nationally, about 3 in 4 adult e-cigarette users also smoke cigarettes. If you only cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke by adding another tobacco product, like e-cigarettes, you still face serious health risks, according to CDC offcials. Smokers must quit smoking completely to fully protect their health -- even a few cigarettes a day are dangerous, they emphasize.

The agency website, www.cdc.gov/tips, includes personal stories from the campaign.  The website also includes detailed assistance developed by the National Cancer Institute to support smokers trying to quit.

Besides the human cost, smoking takes a devastating toll on the nation’s economy, CDC officials point out. Those costs exceed $300 billion a year—nearly $170 billion in direct medical care for adults and more than $156 billion in lost productivity.

The Tips campaign serves as an important counter to the more than $8.3 billion spent annually by the tobacco industry to make cigarettes more attractive and more affordable, particularly to young people, officials said.

https://youtu.be/GEWky9PEroU

Too Much Sharing on Social Media - by Parents, Survey Finds

Earlier this month, the Lymes’ Youth Services Bureau offered a program for parents on social media and internet safety.  The focus, as is usually true of similar sessions in communities across the state, was on protecting children, and understanding how they are using social media. What is often overlooked in such community meetings is how parents – especially parents of young children - are using social media. Recent statistics from a national poll by the University of Michigan indicate that the parents of today’s youngsters are increasingly online using social media, often for reassurance, advice and guidance.  And they are concerned about how other parents are using - or overusing - social media.

Most parents of young children (84% of mothers, 70% of fathers) report using social media like Facebook, online forums, or blogs, according to the national poll. Over half of mothers (56%), compared with only 34% of fathers, discuss child health and parenting topics on social media.  When sharing parenting advice on social media, common topics include getting kids to sleep (28%), nutrition/eating tips (26%), discipline (19%), daycare/preschool (17%), and behavior problems (13%).

Parents rate social media as useful for making them feel like they are not alone (72%), learning what not to do (70%), getting advice from more experienced parents (67%), and helping them worry less (62%).  In contrast, about two-thirds of parents are concerned about someone finding out private information about their child (68%) or sharing photos of their child (67%), while 52% are concerned that when older, their child might be embarrassed about what they have shared on social media.

The majority of parents who use social media (74%) know of another parent who has shared too much information about a child on social media, including parents who gave embarrassing information about a child (56%), offered personal information that could identify a child’s location (51%), or shared inappropriate photos of a child (27%).

Parents in this national poll cite many benefits of using social media to seek and share parenting advice, most notably around feeling that they are not alone with parenting concerns. In the poll analysis, it is pointed out that connecting with another parent who is awake in the middle of the night can help to counteract feelings of isolation. Asking for other parents’ recommendations can facilitate the choice of a new childcare provider. And hearing about strategies used by other parents can offer practical tips to deal with a toddler’s behavior problem.

Parents also recognize that there can be downsides to sharing too much information about children on social media. Although there are no hard and fast rules about what is appropriate to share, this poll found that three-fourths of parents think another parent has shared too much information about their child online.

Other concerns about social media use pertain to fears that postings could be used to identify a child’s home, childcare or play locations. In certain situations, such as child custody disputes or domestic violence cases, disclosure of identifying information could pose a significant risk.  Many parents employ privacy settings on social media to control who can see their personal information; however, privacy settings are not well understood by all users, the poll indicates.

The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital has coined the new term “sharenting,” the social media violation parents continue to commit with a simple keystroke and click.“By the time children are old enough to use social media themselves many already have a digital identity created for them by their parents,” research scientist in the U-M Department of Pediatrics Sarah J. Clark, associate director of the poll. “Parents are responsible for their child’s privacy and need to be thoughtful about how much they share on social media, so they can enjoy the benefits of camaraderie but also protect their children’s privacy today and in the future,” Clark said.

The survey, for the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, was administered in November/December 2014 to a randomly selected, stratified group of adults age 18 and older. Responses from parents with a child 0-4 were used for this report.

https://youtu.be/o_xn6xwl0BI

Two CT Students Show Inventions at White House Science Fair

Two Connecticut students were among the featured participants Monday as President Barack Obama hosted the 5th annual White House Science Fair, celebrating the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions across America. The high school students, whose ingenuity has been encouraged by their participation in the Connecticut Invention Convention (CIC), were Mallory Kievman of Manchester and Lilianna Zyszkowski of Southfield, MA, who attends the Indian Mountain School in Lakeville.  Zyszkowsi invented a series of products, including most recently the PillMinder, a pill cap that reminds users when to take their medication. Kievman invented Hiccupops, the world’s first-ever lollipop to help suppress the hiccups.

In addition to meeting with students and reviewing their innovations, President Obama announced new steps as part of his Educate to Innovate campaign to get more girls and boys, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups, inspired and prepared to excel in the critical STEM fields.

This year is Lilianna Zyszkowski's fourth year with the CIC and her second year as part of the organization’s Next Step Inventor’s Program. Driven to invent things that help people, the 9th grader  has developed a series of CIC award winning inventions that use networked sensors to "mind" things for people.  Her first invention, created with a grandparent in mind, used capacitive touch sensors, LED's and a networked microcontroller to remind people to take their medications on schedule. The PillMinder alerts caregivers via Twitter and SMS whether the proper pills had been taken on time. As a CIC Next Step Inventor, Lilianna is working with a Silicon Valley firm, SaferLockRX.com, to bring the PillMinder technology to market as a pill cap that addresses pill safety and pill taking compliance.

The Connecticut Invention Convention (CIC) is an award winning, internationally recognized, 501(c)(3) educational organization, open to K-8 students statewide, designed to develop, encourage, and enhance critical thinking skills through invention, innovation and entrepreneurship.  The CIC curriculum is standards-based and enables students to research, analyze and effectively focus on and solve their real-life problems.

This year marks the first time that two CIC students were selected to participate in the White House Science Fair.  The Connecticut Invention Convention is the oldest kid invention curriculum and competition in the United States. Annually the CIC serves more than 15,700 students from more than 215 participating schools.  Each year, the top 1,000 student inventors participate in the annual state convention held at the University of Connecticut.  

After enduring recurring bouts of hiccups over an extended period in the 7th grade, Kievman researched the physiology of hiccups and the associated folk remedies that have persisted over time. Hiccups are a nuisance for most, but also a little-known side effect of chemotherapy, kidney dialysis, anesthesia, and other medical treatments—affecting quality of life for already-suffering patients.

Kievman, now in 11^th grade at Loomis Chaffee School, identified three approaches that worked to soothe her own hiccups: consuming apple cider vinegar, consuming sugar, and sucking on a lollipop. She combined all three approaches and coined her invention the “Hiccupop” – and is now a patented inventor (US Patent #8,563,030).

Her creation appears to work by over-stimulating a set of nerves in the throat and mouth that may be responsible for the hiccup reflex arc. She has contracted with a specialized facility in Texas to produce her product in volume, and the production line is already moving Hiccupops into the market.

Kievman and Zyszkowski were among 100 students from 30 states who were selected to present their inventions at the White House Science Fair.  As part of the Fair, President Obama announced over $240 million in new private-sector commitments to inspire and prepare more girls and boys – especially those from underrepresented groups – to excel in the STEM fields. With those commitments, the President’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign has resulted in over $1 billion in financial and in-kind support for STEM programs.  The initiatives announced Monday include a “Let Everyone Dream” campaign to expand STEM opportunities to under-represented youth and a Department of Education competition to create science and literacy themed media that inspires students to explore.

"It’s not enough for us to just lift up young people and say, great job, way to go," President Obama said.  "You also have to have labs to go to, and you’ve got to be able to support yourself while you’re doing this amazing research.  And that involves us as a society making the kind of investments that are going to be necessary for us to continue to innovate for many, many years to come."

In addition, the President announced that 120 universities and colleges have committing to train 20,000 engineers to tackle the “Grand Challenges” of 21st century  and a coalition of prominent CEOs, Change the Equation, has committed to expand effective STEM programs to an additional 1.5 million students this year. The White House also recently launched “Untold Stories of Women in Science and Technology” on the White House website.

The White House Science Fair, including remarks to the students by President Obama, was live streamed from the White House.  The White House website includes brief profiles of the students, including Kievman and Zyszkowski, and their innovations were featured in White House announcements during the day.

Last year, Kievman delivered a keynote speech at the CT Invention Convention, and issued a challenge to the inventors: to develop and commercialize their products and to give back to the community.  She has committed a percentage of the profits from Hiccupops to support programs like the CIC that encourage youth entrepreneurship and innovation.

Attendees joining President Obama and the students at the White House Science included Susan Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Mariette DiChristina, Editor in Chief of Scientific American; Jim Gates, Member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST); Dean Kamen, Entrepreneur, Founder of FIRST; Dan Mote, President of the National Academy of Engineering and Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

https://youtu.be/OvPEhk5v7nc

Boston Children’s Hospital Delights with Interactive Wall Developed at UConn

It lives in Boston, but was built at UConn.  Boston Children’s Hospital’s recently installed Interactive Media Wall is an immense, high-tech, engagingly interactive product of the University of Connecticut’s Digital Media and Design program – a collaboration of students and faculty that is bringing smiles to children and families who encounter the massive 30-foot wall in the facility’s reconstructed lobby. For a team of animators accustomed to designing for screens a few inches across, the task of designing a scene three stories high was daunting – but a challenge they took on energetically.  The electronic wall consists of a large high-definition video screen, and a series of cameras and sensors that observe the presence and movement of people in the space below it, allowing people entering the space to control what appears on the screen.  It can be a powerful experience, for children and adults, as their movement defines the action on screen.

Rather than just showing a pretty picture, the wall hopes to offer some therapeutic benefit to the children who interact with it, in support of the mission of the hospital, which is widely considered one of the best pediatric hospitals in the world.

“The idea was to empower emotionally and physically challenged children to take control of something in their life, at a time when things were spinning out of control,” Tim Hunter, Department Head of Digital Media & Design and Director of the Digital Media Center told UConn Today.

How did a major healthcare facility in Boston connect with Connecticut’s flagship university for the project?

Prior to joining UConn’s faculty in 2007, Hunter spent 25 years developing and producing national and international design projects through his New York City based company. His areas of expertise are in digital animation design & production, digital media design & production, lighting design, scenic design and video projection design.

Through that firm, he had worked for many years with Boston-based Elkus/Manfredi Architects, which in turn worked with Boston Children’s Hospital on various projects.  When the project to renovate the facility’s lobby came along, the architects suggested that hospital leadership contact Hunter to see what he would envision as a centerpiece, interactive experience. 

It was a good match.  Initial work began on the project at UConn in the fall of 2011, accelerating during the spring 2012 semester.  Plans called for the UConn Digital Media Center faculty and students to develop a unique imaging and sensing system that would be controlled by guests of the hospital as they traveled through the lobby.  The work was completed in mid-November 2014, and has been well-received by patients, visitors and staff, earning a not-to-be-missed following.

The UConn team drew on the expertise of faculty members from a broad range of disciplines. Experts in child psychology, in human behavior, and in several disciplines of computer science and engineering contributed to the development of the installation.

That kind of collaboration was critical to the success of the wall, says Hunter, even though such projects are not usually developed at an academic institution. “A university is not the first place you would look for something like this,” said the industry veteran-turned-educator.

Among the students participating in the project were William Pritchard, interaction design and project management; Somaiyeh Ghaffarnia, animation and character development; Sean Dexter, 3D animation; Kevin Richetelli, 2D animation; Samantha Menza, game design; Tom Lee, game design and music composition; and Tiffany Hoang, game design. Prtichard and Ghaffarnia began working on the project as undergrads and continued while pursuing their graduate degrees.  The other students were undergrads.

UConn faculty involved in the project, along with Hunter, were Samantha Olschan, animation and character development; Mike Vertefeuille, technology and installation; and Zsolt Palatinus, data mathematician.  Also participating were staff member Michael Toomey, interaction design and project management, and CHIP members Tim Gifford and Christian Wanamaker, engineering and coding.

There may be more to come.  UConn’s Digital Design department – with students in Storrs and Stamford - and Boston Children’s Hospital now have an ongoing relationship, with plans for UConn to develop new interactive experiences for the next five years.

https://youtu.be/DD7gk2kHP3g

As Competency-Based Education Gains Interest, Charter Oak State College Among Leaders

“Competency-based education has the potential to streamline the path to a college degree for a significant number of students, both working adults who can apply their skills and experiences to earn credit for what they already know and other students who prefer self-paced learning over the traditional time-based model of earning credits.” That is the conclusion of a new report analyzing the current status – and future potential – of competency-based education (CBE) in the United States, researched by the American Enterprise Institute’s Center on Higher Education Reform.

The study, “The Landscape of Competency-Based Education,” found that there are currently 34 colleges nationwide that have CBE programs, with at least 18 more colleges working on developing programs.  One of those 34 colleges is Connecticut’s Charter Oak State College, the state’s on-line degree-granting institution.  It is the only Connecticut college highlighted in the report. 

For Charter Oak, the approach is wholly consistent with its mission, not a new concept, and growing in interest and popularity among potential students.

The report indicates that a growing number of colleges and universities are offering, or soon will offer, college credits in exchange for direct demonstrations of learning, NPR recently reported. “That's a big shift from credit hours — the currency of higher education for more than a century — which require students to spend an allotted amount of time with instructors.  A ‘competency’ might be a score on a standardized exam or a portfolio of work. The major argument in favor of competency-based programs is that they will offer nontraditional students a more direct, more affordable path to a degree,” the NPR story indicated.

Charter Oak State College has been very involved in the competency based education national movement for some time. The institution’s President and Provost are part of the steering committee of C-BEN, the Competency Based Education Network which is comprised of colleges who are interested in “pushing the traditional college delivery envelope.”  The initiative is funded by the Lumina Foundation, one of the nation’s most respected education foundations.

Charter Oak State College President Ed Klonoski participated in a panel of leading higher education innovators in Washington, D.C. to discuss new and emerging models of academic learning and assessment. The panel was moderated by Jamie Merisotis, Lumina Foundation President & CEO (and a Connecticut native), and took place in The Dirksen Senate Office Building nearly two years ago.

Klonoski pointed out that "at Charter Oak we have been offering competency based approaches to higher education since our founding in 1973,” adding that “these approaches are now being highlighted as ways to lower the cost of higher education and accelerate degree attainment."

Panelists addressed the growing importance of identifying and assessing learning outcomes and their impact on shortening the time toward degree completion, and shared insights about innovative and effective models in linking learning and degree attainment.

Also in 2014, the federal Department of Education sought proposals from institutions seeking status as experimental sites focused on competency-based education. Charter Oak submitted an individual college response and a joint response with C-BEN members.  By late last month, the federal agency designated Charter Oak as one of 11 CBEN institutions to participate.

Charter Oak’s proposal would create an Experimental Site in financial aid that would offer aid to students for prior learning (established via portfolios and tests), with the aim of making a college degree more affordable and accessible.

The American Enterprise Institute report calls for more data to be gathered in rigorously examining the range of CBE programs being offered and developed, to better identify strengths and weaknesses of the various types of programs, and the students who would benefit most from particular programs.  The report was researched by Robert Kelchen, assistant professor of higher education at Seton Hall University, who noted of the evolving field, “there is still no consensus definition of CBE, even among the institutions that provide it.”  Programs fall into two main areas, according to the report:

• Well-established prior learning assessments (PLA), which grant credits for content that a student has previously mastered; and
• Newer competency-based coursework, where students progress toward a degree as they demonstrate mastery of new academic content.

The American Institute plans additional reports on additional aspects of CBE, as the field continues to “catch the attention of federal and state policymakers, foundations, and colleges.”

Western Connecticut Earns Acclaim for Performing Arts Center, Theater Program

It turns out that the phrase “build it and (they) will come” applies to more than a fictional baseball story.  At Western Connecticut State University, the new Visual and Performing Arts Center, opened last fall, is already drawing accolades, and with it a brighter spotlight on the school’s academic theater program. The latest one-two punch of notoriety comes from OnStage, a Connecticut-based blog dedicated to “promoting theatre from Broadway to your hometown,” with the announcement that Western’s Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts program is one of the 10 best in the country in 2015.  In addition, the facility itself has been ranked at #9 among the Top-25 "Most Amazing" Campus Arts Centers by the website CollegeDegreesResearch.net.

The website commended the facility’s “three wings separated by a lobby featuring a bridge which appears to float above stunning maple floors. The studio theater has a flexible stage that can be set as an oval, or round shape, or as a square, while the main stage theater has more of a traditional setup, and both have the latest in audio/visual technology. This 130,000 square foot beauty was finished just a few months ago and quickly earned LEED silver certification.”

Joining WCSU in the top 10 were performing arts centers at: California Polytechnic State University, Emerson College, Sonoma State University, University of North Texas, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Emory University, Lynn University (FL), Soka University (CA), and University of Northern Iowa.  The institutions were praised for facilities that “possess great functional beauty and inspirational qualities.”

In naming WCSU’s theatre program to its Top-10 list, Chris Peterson, OnStage editor-in-chief, wrote:

“It’s very rare to find a state university commit as much to the theatre arts as WCSU has in the past couple years. This past fall they opened their brand new $97 million Visual and Performing Arts Center. This stunning new facility is home to a 350-seat theatre, a 125-seat studio theatre, a 350-seat concert hall, an art gallery, a recording studio and state-of-the-art rehearsal, classroom and studio art facilities.”

At number 10, WCSU rounds off a list that includes James Madison University, the University of Alabama, the Catholic University of America, Muhlenberg College, Drew University, Wesleyan University, Bennington College, Pepperdine University and Willamette University.

The comments aren’t limited to the facility, quickly moving on to the program offered by the state university, which maximizes its geographic proximity to New York City.

“The program at WCSU is also very strong. Students can receive their B.A. in Theatre Arts with concentrations in Performance, Design/Technology, Theatre Arts Management, Drama Studies or receive their B.A. in Musical Theatre. While learning from professional resident faculty, students will have the chance to participate in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and an annual New York City Showcase, ‘WCSU Off-Broadway.’ They also do a ton of community outreach by performing children’s productions throughout the year… The tuition is quite reasonable for a state institution and given the quality of the program and the facilities you can work in, I’d say this is a steal.”

The university points out that "graduates of the school’s programs in art, music and theatre have become successful within the creative sector of our economy as performers, educators, designers, artists, and entrepreneurs."

The criteria used to determine the top ten, according to the website, included tuition/value, faculty, facilities, productions and resources beyond campus. Colleges with “both B.A. and B.F.A. degrees have incredible facilities and faculty because they have both programs; this list only contains schools that have B.A.’s alone.”  WCSU is part of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universitys (CSCU) system, which includes four state universities, 12 community colleges and the on-line Charter Oak State College.

https://youtu.be/irCxZNZk9Rg

Questionable Patent Claims Push Small Businesses to Pay Rather Than Fight; Congress to Again Consider Reforms

The odyssey began with a letter.  The owner of an Old Lyme small business, providing employment services for people with disabilities, was told that by scanning documents into emails, she was violating a patent.  In fact, every scan meant a $1,000 fine.  Pay $75,000, she was told, or face legal action. She ignored the first letter, hoping it was junk mail.  When a second, “scarier, and more threatening” arrived, she contacted an attorney, who put her in touch with a patent attorney.

What was happening was a phenomenon described as patent trolling.  The New York Times has described patent trolls as “people who sue companies for infringement, often using patents of dubious value or questionable relevance, and then hold on like a terrier until they get license fees. In recent years, patent trolls — they prefer “patent assertion entities,” or P.A.E.’s — have gone from low-profile corporate migraine to mainstream scourge.”

Roberta Hurley, the small business owner in Connecticut, describes them as “creepy people,” intentionally frightening business owners with a “big scam.”  They depend on the unknowing to pay the outrageous demands, afraid of being taken to court.

The company making the demand could not be reached by phone, and the letter had nothing more than a Post Office box for an address.  But the tone was nonetheless daunting.

“If you’re scared, you don’t understand patent infringement, don’t have the funds to hire an attorney, which is true of many mom and pop businesses, it’s easier to write a check to stop them,” Hurley observed.

She couldn’t afford the $75,000 being demanded – “I would have had to close my doors” – and decided she would fight, and did.  “I wasn’t doing it,” she recalled.

It took time, effort and energy, and a bill from her attorney, but ultimately the demands stopped.  The entire process went on for nearly a year and a half, ending in 2013.  Along the way, she testified in Washington, went public to the news media, and told everyone she could what was happening.

Patent trolls may not have succeeded in this instance, but often do.  As The Atlantic pointed out in an article on the subject, “Given the cost, many defendants are willing to pay the troll to avoid a lawsuit even if the suit is not justified.”

In 2013, American courts saw six times as many patent lawsuits as in the 1980s, a Boston Globe op-ed by the authors of “Patent Failure” reported last fall.  “Over the past decade, there has been a 900 percent increase in the number of businesses facing patent litigation.”  They added that “recent research estimated that defendants spent at least $29 billion per year in out-of-pocket costs to defend or settle claims brought forth by patent trolls in 2011. Patent lawsuits by these entities drain an estimated $60 billion every year from the economy.”

Last month, a bipartisan group of 20 members of Congress reintroduced legislation aimed at reining in "patent trolls." A similar bill last year was approved by the House, but stalled in the Senate.  The legislation would express a sense of Congress that sending purposely evasive demand letters should be considered a fraudulent and deceptive practice, according to a published report in The Hill, a website that reports on Congress and the nation’s Capitol.

The Credit Union League of Connecticut is among the local and national consumer organizations urging approval of safeguards against patent trolls.  "Patent trolls often allege that the use of necessary everyday technology violates the patent holders' rights, state vague or hypothetical theories of infringement, often overstate or grossly reinterpret the patent in question, and make allegations of infringement of expired or previously licensed patents," the organization said in urging Congressional action.

The Connecticut Retail Merchant Association has also called for federal action, noting that “patent trolls are entities that threaten main street businesses with frivolous lawsuits over vaguely crafted or poorly worded patents. Usually, the patent troll wins a settlement because small businesses do not have the resources to fight it out in court. In fact, most trolls wouldn’t stand a chance to win and so they rely on scare tactics to extract a settlement, said Executive Director Tim Phelan in an op-ed published last year.  The National Retail Federation has pointed out that patent trolls "lose more than 90 percent of the cases that make it to trial. But the cost of defending companies against the claims is so high — the average case costs $2 million and can take 18 months — that many victims settle out of court. The cases cost legitimate businesses close to $30 billion a year in direct costs and $80 billion indirectly, amounting to $943 a year for the average household when passed on to consumers."

Authors Michael J. Meurer and James Bessen indicate, based on their research, that "there is no question that patent trolls cause immense harm. A recent survey of software startups found that nearly half reported “significant operational impacts” from patent troll lawsuits. These included a wholesale change of strategy or a shutdown of certain lines of business. Another survey found that roughly three of every four venture capitalists were adversely impacted by patent litigation."

Hurley, who has grown her Eastern Connecticut business (Southeastern Employment Services) from less than a handful of employees to 80 employees in just over a dozen years, says her advice to other small business owners is simple:  “don’t give them a penny.”  And she hopes that this will be the year that Congress approves patent reforms that will protect unsuspecting small business owners from “paying because they’re scared.”