Dream – Create – Go

Mario Armstrong rolled into the Hampton Roads Convention Center October 13 on his 15 MPH-maximum speed Segway to engage the 500-plus strong crowd of teachers, parents, students of all ages and budding entrepreneurs.

Take note educators:  obviously, popular music, games, sports, cool tech gear and prizes motivate today’s youth. Their combination may have created some new idols and new aspirations for those in attendance. To the beat of hip-hop group, The Black-Eyed Peas, and pop princess, Katie Perry, Mario disarmed – and charmed – the entire room.

By Missy Schmidt, Communication Manager for the Hampton Roads Partnership

As part of MODSIM World 2010, the “Dream, Create, Go!” program was a high energy STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education event with Mario starring as an uber-awesome teacher in an interactive class translating technology into something for everyone and the use of modeling, analysis and simulation was reinforced throughout.

According to his website, http://MarioArmstrong.com, Mario is a Digital Lifestyle Expert, talk show host, tech expert commentator, media personality, social entrepreneur, public speaker and on-air tech contributor for NPR’s Morning Edition.

Mario’s message of the night:  Ingrained in every part of our lives, technology does and will pervade everything you do today and tomorrow. Stay away from “dream killers” who keep you from your passion, for whatever your passion is, there is a career for that. Always ask and answer questions – always try. Even if you’re called a geek or nerd or accused of trying to be too smart, Mario was persuasive in his message to let those “dream killers” talk, “because you’re gonna invent the technology they want to use.”

Photo credit:  Tammy Van Dame, MODSIM World 2010

SCIENCE

Referencing the Segway on which he rode, Mario paid homage to its inventor, Dean Kamen who saw a problem, a person in a wheelchair having mobility difficulties, and worked to solve it. The basis of his invention is robotics, using five internal Gyroscopes, mini sensors that respond to body movement for steering. Note to audience: there will be a quiz later. And aspiring engineer/fifth grader answered correctly and won some very special Dr. Dre headphones.

Mario, assisted with prizes by his son, Christopher, inspired some great audience participation as he talked and rolled throughout the audience on his Segway. One young man, a middle school student treated to his first ever Segway ride, was a natural at the transportation device.

Connections in math and science were made to sports, citing the design of stadium domes, lighter and stronger helmets and the under garments athletes wear.

Under Armor is a “technology clothing” company, headquartered in Mario’s hometown of Baltimore. The founder was an athlete at the University of Maryland who saw a problem, the sweat soaked t-shirts his team endured at football practice. In his mom’s basement, he developed a special fabric that wicks away moisture and a company – and international sensation – was born. Another of Mario’s role models in science is Dr Bernard Harris, the first African-American to walk in space.

With excitement building in the room, other cool products under development by scientists were highlighted:  electric shirts using nanotechnology to charge our personal electronics with body movements or from solar power, electric shirts which read our body’s health statistics and transmit them to our personal healthcare professional.

TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING

A Nottoway High School student said she volunteered for Mario’s experiment because she was here “to find out how to make stuff.” With a Super Soaker water gun and a Panasonic Tough Book, donned with lab coats and safety goggles, Mario and the youngster tested the laptop’s water resistance claim.

The creator of the Super Soaker, NASA nuclear engineer Dr. Lonnie Johnson, needed to know math and design and use his engineering mentality to make himself a multi-millionaire. He made this one invention while tinkering with an idea to make an environmentally friendly heat pump that used water rather than Freon.

Dr. Lonnie Johnson Photo credit: Inventor Spot via Popular Mechanics

Attendees learned that the Tough Book also takes all types of punishment including being drop-proof and resistant to 100-degree temperatures, qualities that may come in handy for firefighters, military and police officers.

A video was shown of Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill who lost both legs from a car bomb, the first of only two patients in the U.S. military with Bluetooth prosthetic legs which work using transmitters, a technology typically used with wireless communication such as mobile phones.

Other “cool stuff” included the AcceleGlov, a glove technology that translates sign language into actual speech; headphones developed with cabling designed not to tangle; internet-connected mirrors where one could check the weather or the headlines while getting ready for work; and personal area network clothing serving as a computer network for communication among your computer devices. “To have quality music, you need sound engineers,” said Mario.

Fashionable computers are even showing up on high fashion runways. Fashion is no longer designed with paper and pencil but rather with AutoCAD software.

And what about gamers, kids who excel at video games? Good gamers have the ability to problem solve quickly, which is a highly desirable and transferable skill. Mario urged parents to harness the energy of the gamer in their houses, offering some free web resources:  http://scratch.mit.edu and http://alice.org. Espousing the huge educational potential of gaming, Mario offered everyone the use of the first STEM social network: http://TechTechBoom.com, a site created by 11 high school kids. Join a club or program with others of similar likes and aptitudes.

The remote used with the Nintendo Wii gaming system is the first of its kind to mimic real life body movements. “There is so much technology in the remote itself, Wii has changed the way games are played forever,” said Mario.

The yellow line seen on football fields on TV is computer-generated, inspired by a video game. It takes a tractor-trailer full of hi tech equipment, at least 10 computers and four to five people to make it happen. There are games that help doctors perform better surgery, games to aid patients in pain distraction, and training for a wide variety of jobs.

Bob Thurman, an aerospace engineer with a love for golf used his knowledge of physics to obtain two golf ball patents and now designs balls for Wilson Sporting Goods.

We saw the Livescribe, a smart pen similar to a DVR for the classroom, which captures audio, developed by a worker at LeapFrog who left to start his own company.

MATH

So THAT’s why we’re learning that in class! Motion capture, which translates physical movements into computer programs to create augmented reality and virtual worlds and even the Transformers, such as Bumble Bee, all need math to work.

In a region like Hampton Roads with some of the best technology organizations, companies and people, more kids need to be involved in STEM. There are jobs and they cannot be filled fast enough. Alternatively, create your own company and give people jobs.

Mario suggested everyone check out the personal learning edition (PLE) of http://alias.com.

A great way to reinforce math is the use of Dimencian by Tabula Digita http://dimensionu.com/math/ is an algebra game that looks a little like HALO, a science fiction video game.

Mario had some sage advice for attendees:  Think about what you love, what drives you. Look at the STEM that goes into it and get started. This is why you need to be tech savvy. Technology is not just about consumption but creation, too. How can you create the next cool thing? Impossible is nothing. Don’t be limited in thinking where you can have an impact. Get out of your comfort zone. Aspire and reach new goals. Don’t let anyone kill your imagination. Dream big and trampoline to your dreams. Learn what it’s like to work for companies like Microsoft and Google. Look for the positive in every situation. There is always more than one way out of every problem.

The ladder of success is “old school.” If you only take a step at a time, by the time you get to your next step, there will be three new companies called Google.

If you work hard, you can be where you want to be.

As he ended his program, Mario challenged the kids to “go out and change the world” and added:

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Let your thoughts become your destiny.