Friday, August 14, 2009

Tech Citizenship

Local techs lending a hand

By Mass High Tech staff

Video Gallery

MHT's Galen Moore: New 'hyperlocal' web trend

MHT's Efrain Viscarolasaga: Tech companies may have to wait for stimulus funds

MHT managing editor Rodney Brown on NECN: 22 tech companies give back to community

Related News

Staples Foundation awards $2.5M to nonprofits [December 27, 2011]

Blog: STEM needs to branch out [December 14, 2011]

Google to give $6M in STEM grants to Boston groups [December 14, 2011]

BiddingForGood brings in $2.2M in new fundraise [December 8, 2011]

PTC supports high school engineering design challenge [October 12, 2011]

Conn. companies donate computers

Northeast Utilities and Hamilton Sundstrand, a United Technologies Corp. company — together with Computer Sciences Corp. — have donated more than 50 computers to the Academy of Engineering and Green Technology at Hartford Public High School. As members of the academy’s advisory board, they are helping prepare Connecticut students for the demands of higher education and today’s high-tech workplace through partnerships between Connecticut Business & Industry Association member companies and urban schools.

The Academy of Engineering and Green Technology, which CBIA helped design with a startup grant of $89,900 from UTC, offers integrated academic and career training in engineering, environmental science and advanced manufacturing for 400 students. The school combines a rigorous college prep curriculum with courses targeted to engineering, sustainable development, and manufacturing careers. It also focuses on developing students’ interpersonal and job readiness skills.

Connecticut Light & Power, a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, donated 28 laptops to the academy in time for students to use before the end of the 2008-2009 school year. Representatives of Hamilton Sundstrand, together with CSC, delivered an additional 25 Dell laptops and fabric cases to the academy, touring classrooms and labs and meeting with some of the school’s engineering students and faculty.

Fairchild named green energy sponsor of Maine charity race

Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. became the first Green Energy Sponsor of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K. The 12th annual road race was held Saturday, Aug. 1, and took runners along a 6.2 mile course through Cape Elizabeth from Crescent Beach along Route 77 to Fort Williams at the Portland Head lighthouse.

Fairchild’s sponsorship enables the race to expand its “green program,” which will include recycling and composting, using eco-friendly portable toilets, recycling shoes and paperless communications for the race. Maine native and Olympic marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, the race’s founder, said that the Beach to Beacon race can showcase what can be done at running events and in people’s daily lives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

South Portland, Maine-based Fairchild says it is helping reduce carbon footprints by designing and developing integrated circuits that enable longer talk time on cell phones, more efficient motors in dozens of end applications, longer battery life in computers and more efficient lights. Participants and spectators who visited Fairchild Semiconductor at the Beach to Beacon 10K had the opportunity to charge their cell phones by riding a bicycle, see the integrated circuit components of a compact fluorescent light and LED lighting, and other electronic demonstrations.

Every year the Beach to Beacon race provides a cash donation of $30,000 to a different children’s charity. This year’s race beneficiary is Maine Handicapped Skiing.

Fresenius Medical Care hosts free dialysis classes

Fresenius Medical Care North America, a Waltham-based operator of dialysis facilities, hosted more than 100 free education classes about chronic kidney disease this week in observation of the American Nephrology Nurses’ Association’s (ANNA) Kidney Disease Awareness and Education Week, Aug. 10 -14. The sessions will be held in locations across the country, including major cities such as Atlanta, Houston, Miami and Pittsburgh.

Chronic kidney disease is a progressive, usually permanent, loss of kidney function that affects more than 20 million Americans. Fresenius Medical Care’s program provides information free to the public about kidney disease management and the treatments available when chronic kidney disease leads to kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The classes are especially targeted to late-stage chronic kidney disease patients and their families. The information helps patients actively participate with their physician in preparing for the progression of the disease and selecting a type of treatment.

Motorola helps Science Club for Girls expand with grant

Science Club for Girls, a Cambridge-based nonprofit that provides free programs in science and engineering to girls, has received a $25,000 grant from the Motorola Foundation to expand its after school science clubs and to host hands-on science fairs. This is the third year that the Science Club for Girls has received funding from the Motorola Foundation.

According to Executive Director Connie Chow, the grant will allow Science Club for Girls to bring its programs to at least two additional sites in Boston and Lawrence. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs requiring science, engineering or technical training will increase 24 percent to 6.3 million between 2004 and 2014, creating greater demand for critical thinkers fluent in science and technology.

Science Club for Girls provides programs in science and engineering to girls, especially those from underrepresented groups. In 2008-09, Science Club for Girls served nearly 850 youth in Cambridge, Boston, Newton and Lawrence through its after school science clubs, Junior Mentor program, Career Exploration, Leadership and Life Skills (CELLS) workshops, Rocket and Media Teams, summer programs, and “Show me the Science” fairs.