Today we interviewed 2011 Spirit Of Endeavor Award Winners: Dr. Yi Sun with OFS, Stewart Rodeheaver with Vizitech USA, and Darnell Washington with Secure Xperts.
Dr. Yi Sun, lead engineer for Enterprise Local Area Network Lab for OFS, received the TAG-Ed Workforce Readiness Award in recognition of her mentoring work this summer, best preparing her student for a future career in the technology field.
Robert Lingle, Jr., Ph.D. who serves as OFSÂ Director, Fiber Design and Systems Research joined the conversation as well, sharing his perspective on everything from the future of fiber, to preparing today’s youth for tomorrow’s world.
OFS’ corporate lineage dates back to 1876 and includes technology powerhouses such as AT&T (NYSE: T) and Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel-Lucent, NYSE: ALU). Today, OFS is owned by Furukawa Electric, a multi-billion dollar global leader in optical communications.
Headquartered in Norcross (near Atlanta) Georgia, U.S., OFS is a global provider with facilities in Avon, Connecticut; Carrollton, Georgia; Somerset, New Jersey; and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, as well as in Denmark, Germany and Russia.
Brigadier General (Ret) Stewart Rodeheaver is President of ViziTech USA.
ViziTech USA bested the Cool Technology category, and Mr. Rodeheaver won the Technology Entrepreneur Award.
The core focus of Vizitech USA’s technology is in training/education, but also provides for several key applications for operational needs.  By experiencing subject matter in an enhanced 3D environment, trainees and operators will absorb information faster, increase their comprehension, and retain matter more effectively, thereby reducing class time and cost, and reducing operational “lag†time.
Products can be tailored and produced to address specific needs, and can be delivered either by a platform instructor and 3D image combination, by recored 3D “stand alone†lessons, or as distance learning through remote, interactive 3D holo-conferencing.
Mr. Darnell Washington, President/CEO of SecureXperts is a developer of secure technology solutions that mitigate advanced persistent cyber security threats from foreign and domestic sources that have become a continual problem faced by the government and military for the protection of key critical infrastructure, executive protection, and counter-surveillance activities.
He was the recipient for the Technology Innovation Award for his patented video surveillance solution which makes use of digital certificates and encryption to protect live and archived video streams from interception from unauthorized sources, and can be deployed in law enforcement, public safety, and military applications over the public internet.
The video cameras and archiving systems are cryptographically secure using a security technique known as public key infrastructure (PKI), which is only accessible by authorized individuals with strong auditing and permission revocation capability. His technology solution has a global impact and revolutionizes the way surveillance cameras can be deployed cost effectively and efficiently utilized.
About The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)
The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is the leading technology industry association in the state, serving more than 14,000 members and hosting over 170 events each year. TAG serves as an umbrella organization for 30 industry societies, each of which provides rich content for TAG constituents. TAG’s mission is to educate, promote, and unite Georgia’s technology community to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates and enhances a tech-based economy.
The association provides members with access to networking and educational programs; recognizes and promotes Georgia’s technology leaders and companies; and advocates for legislative action that enhances the state’s economic climate for technology. Additionally, the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG’s charitable arm) focuses on helping science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives thrive. For more information visit the TAG website at www.tagonline.org or TAG’s community website at www.TAGthink.com. To learn about the TAG-Ed Collaborative visit http://www.tagedonline.org/.
