The GSB Director of Academic Technology, Michael Chimes, offers commentary on technology in education. This blog also offers an opportunity for readers to stay appraised of technology uses and initiatives at GSB. Comments on postings are welcome.
On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, the GSB robotics team had an opportunity to tour the Landice assembly plant in Randolph, NJ. Landice makes fitness equipment (treadmills, ellipticals, step machines), and their products can rightly be described as "high-end." Each machine is thoroughly tested to meet exacting durability and performance standards.
The plant tour was conducted by Greg Savettiere, Landice's President. Greg is an electrical engineer by training and years back, after a stint in the aeronautics industry, he founded Landice because he had a dream of owning his own business. The business has flourished and that has allowed Greg to explore some other interests outside of business ownership. One of his interests in teaching and mentoring. And one of the ways he has developed this interest is to share his expertise with our robotics team. After meeting and working with our team at GSB, he wanted to host the students so they could see what a scaled up manufacturing concern looks like. I was lucky enough to be a part of the group.
Greg Savettiere, President of Landice
The plant tour reminded me of many school field trips I took as a student. Visiting local and regional businesses was not uncommon. Whether the visit was as local as the town's newspaper printing office or as notable as a Ford assembly plant, it was hard not to be more aware of how adults made a living and how economic forces shaped our lives. As we all know, these types of trips are all too uncommon now. Among other reasons, liability concerns have had a chilling effect on site visits to workplaces. But the trip to Landice reminded me that workplace visits have real educational value for students.
As we toured the plant floor, we saw treadmills in various stages of assembly. In this way, we were able to follow the construction of a treadmill from start to shipping dock.
A Landice employee begins the work of assembling a treadmill as GSB students look on.
Treadmills take shape.
Finished treadmills need to be carefully packaged.
Boxed Landice treadmills ready for shipment.
Electronics play a key role in the type of equipment being produced as Landice. Greg, with his electrical engineering background, was able to show students connections between the equipment dashboard and the electronic circuitry that underlies the machine's performance. What students learn theoretically in physics class becomes very real in an assembly plant. One example: how does the treadmill actually go faster or slower as the runner pushes the "speed up" or "speed down" buttons? Greg, with a combination of deep knowledge and a teacher's innate ability to communicate clearly, helped students through the underlying electrical and mathematical principles.
Circuit boards and motors are key electrical components in Landice fitness equipment.
Because Landice's products are appealing to a niche, high-end market, it is critical that equipment is well made and reliable. Testing is thorough. One example of the testing that we saw involved the tread on treadmills. It's tested with a machine designed to "run" thousands of simulated miles. This brief video clip shows the machine at work:
Though the engineering challenges inherent in his business were of particular interest to our robotics team, Greg also spent time talking about the difficulties of running a small business. To manage people or money or inventory would challenge most people; small business owners have to do all three. Students got a clear sense that entrepreneurship can be deeply satisfying but also can exact costs in terms of time and financial risk.
From engineering to final product...our tour was all-inclusive.
I'll end this post with some thanks. First, to Greg Savettiere for sharing his expertise and enthusiasm with our students. Next to Len Grabowski, Eileen Proccacino and Stuart Brown for their good work with our robotics team. And finally, a thanks to those GSB students who participate in robotics. Their interest was on full display during our visit to Landice.
On November 11, GSB and Blair students spent the day together at Blair Academy participating in a TEDx event. TEDx events mirror TED events. They are built around speeches, or talks, that typically explore big ideas and personal stories. At TEDx events, TED videos are shown to further expose participants to wide range of ideas. The Blair-GSB collaboration was very much a student affair. Four student hosts - two from each school - made introductions and kept the program moving along.
GSB hosting responsibilities were ably handled by Elisabeth Middleton and Kennedy Whitehead
Seven speakers - four from GSB and three from Blair - spoke on a wide variety of topics all connected to the conference theme: Innovation and Social Change. An eighth speaker, a doctoral candidate from the Rutgers University School of Public Health, provided the day's keynote talk. Students recorded the day's proceedings as photographers and videographers. And student moderators helped to keep conversations lively in the break-out sessions.
Students from GSB and Blair get ready to listen to a student speaker.
I've been involved in many student activities over the years. I don't remember any that were more intellectually grounded. A simple recital of the TEDx Talks we listened to gives you a good idea of the depth and breadth of the day. (Click on the speech title for a YouTube link to the speech.) Martine DiDomenico, GSB '17 - Isis and Twitter: An Uncomfortable Alliance
Martine discusses how ISIS uses social media to recruit new members, a topic that has taken on particular significance as we follow the news of the Paris attacks on the weekend of November 14.
Kaityn encourages participants to think about the relationship between social media and charitable giving.
Evan Druskin, GSB '17 - The Humanity of Machines(Please note: Due to technical difficulties, this link goes to a posted video of a practice speech Evan recorded a couple of weeks before the TEDx conference.)
Evan's talk explored how evolving technologies in machines will alter the economic landscape in the decades ahead.
TEDx speakers Back, L to R: Pia Bhatia, Yueqi Du, Dan Giovenco, Kaitlyn Sleyster, Martin DiDomenico Front, L to R: Evan Druskin, Max Bonzulak, Sanjay Paul
I'm certain the best way to learn about the day is to hear from the student presenters. Click on speech topics above for posted videos. Additionally, the two TED videos we saw are also posted below. They were selected by students from the two schools, and both are thought provoking.
