September 2012 archive

Technology and Environmental Sustainability

There is simply too much going on. There have been several days of back to back meetings, some exciting software development and some minor crisis management and course corrections to a major project – the usual stuff that a CIO has to deal with. Talking about course correction, we had installed a SMART board in one of our classrooms (we planned four this semester) which was interfering with the use of the chalk board. This was not caught earlier because of some minor communications issues. We needed to do something quick, so we scrambled to move it to a mobile stand. One of our staff found a stand available in eBay, bid and won the bid. Of course, not many all over the world are waiting in line for a Mobile stand for a SMART Board, but still, it was fun. As a backup we also ordered the “real thing”, which apparently is manufactured or assembled only on demand. In the end, the eBay version had some missing parts and could not be used and the “real thing” came, but scheduling human resources to put it together took time, but finally it is done. The board itself weighs about 500 pounds and the stand another 200. I am being told that it was manageable to move short distances. The board’s movement up and down is done with a switch. Though this has been delayed, the faculty who were planning on using it have been very understanding, so all is well.

Professor Jay Turner from Environmental Studies asked if I would like to join a reading group of students and faculty (Jay, Kristina Jones and Alden Griffith) discussing Technology and Environmental Sustainability this semester. This week’s topic of life-cycle of digital electronics and solar panels was interesting, so I decided to go. I took some time to read through the assigned readings – Paper vs Digital, Solar Panels, and Chapter 2 from the book “High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health” by Elizabeth Grossman. They are all excellent reads and I especially recommend the last one. I think many of us who are technologists have no clue about what is the real environmental cost of making digital devices. We all know that it is pretty high, but I doubt very much that anyone knows that mining for 1 ton of copper results in 310 tons of waste in terms of rocks and ore. This is huge. But like everything else, there is a lot more to it. For example, base metals like copper are also easily recyclable – whether they get recycled at a rate that is high and desirable is a whole another question. What follows is a short collection of a wide ranging set of topics discussed  during the class without particular attribution to who said what.

Disclaimer: It is highly possible that my interpretations of a few things discussed may not be accurate, so feel free to comment on them or send me the corrections!

(more…)

Wireless is our Future

The new academic year began last week and the College is full of activity. The Clapp Library is looking busy and alive. One knows how busy the Library is just as you enter – the exterior door has some issue (wear and tear) and the next set of doors are typically left open (patrons are too busy to close them; they really think that they are swing doors that should close automatically, but they don’t!). Sorry, the doors are my pet peeve and my attempts to get them fixed permanently have always resulted in the answer of how costly it would be! I even suggested an old style cord of sorts for the interior door that the student or the staff at the service desk can pull to shut them. But then we have insurance liability to worry about because some may trip over the cord. All kidding aside, we are on a mission to get these fixed soon (Hope is everything)!

There are some days that you never forget – the landing on the moon (I was here listening to tamil translation of a BBC broadcast on radio), the Challenger disaster (Watching TV here ) and of course 9/11 (I was at work at Wesleyan where we all gathered to watch the horrible scenes on TV). I found this op-ed in NY Times on 9/11/2012 to be interesting (though we have heard many of these before, when you look at it collectively, it sheds a different light on the problem). Of course, this is just one version of the events preceding the horrible tragedy. Hearing some of the survivors of the tragedy recount their loved ones even now makes one feel so sad. On to other things.

We are in the process of developing a short term strategic plan. One question we are interested in the question is the future of networking. It is the most fundamental technology we rely on 24/7/365 (or 366 every four years) and take for granted. Whether it is cloud computing or Mobile First, all of which we will incorporate, having a reliable and fast network infrastructure is critical. Note that I said reliable first! (more…)