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Modular Data Centers

 

Mr. John Fitzgerald

Account CTO (Chief Technology Officer) DoD (Department of Defense) and Federal

Enterprise Business, Americas Hewlett Packard Enterprise spoke at the September AFCEA NC Chapter luncheon. Mr. Fitzgerald gave an overview of modular data centers. He spoke in very non vendor specific terms since multiple companies have capabilities in this field. Modular data centers are usually prefab units that are hyper scalable and portable.

The units are built with power, HVAC, fire suppression and meant to be very serviceable and manageable. Customized to meet the customer needs, they can be built with thermal (Tempest standard), and ballistic shielding. Level 3 Seismic standards are incorporated to allow for shipping by various methods, including shipboard, air freight, helicopter and truck. These mobility requirements can also be engineered into the final product to meet the user needs. Power can be external or self contained.

An interesting feature of his presentation was the potential use of Hydrogen fuel cells to power 65KW generators for DC/or inverted AC power. Since the only by product of hydrogen fuel is water, this can also be used to aid in cooling. Further advances in technology are being studied to use solar energy to power and electrolyzer to produce Hydrogen fuel.

The key benefits of modular data centers are: Portable, Modular, and Scalable.

AFCEA NC Chapter would like to thank Mr. Fitzgerald for his time and expertise

 

Mr. Reimers also was able to present a $1000 STEM Grant from the chapter to Kelly Osornio of Eastover Central Elementary School to be used for their participation in the Science Olympiad.

Local Schools Receive STEM Grants

 

The NC Chapter of AFCEA presented 11 STEM Grants to local teachers and educators at our August 19 Chapter Luncheon. Each recipient was given the opportunity to describe their projects to the attendees. These are the recipients

Campbell University and Harnett County High Schools. Teacher: Lynn Albers. Project: FIRST Robotics Team

Pender High School. Teacher: Jared Pinkson.
Project: FIRST Robotics Team

Van Story Hills. Teacher: Alison Hurley.
Project: Sphero Robotics.

Pine Forest High School. Teacher: Michelle Quinn, RN.
Project: Chromebooks for online demonstrations.

Stoney Point Elementary School. Teacher: Cynthia Chisholm. Project: 3D Printing.

Cleveland Community College and Cleveland Early College High School. Teacher: Rodney Cobb. Project: FIRST Robotics Team

Eastover-Central Elementary School of Arts. Teacher: Kelly Osornio. Project: Science Olympiad Team.

Rockfish Elementary School. Teacher: Rachel Andress.
Project: Sphero Robotics.

NC School of Science and Mathematics.
Teacher: Joe LoBuglio. Project: FIRST Robotics Team.

Howard Hall Elementary. Teacher: Natasha McKoy.
Project: Sphero Robotics.

Lillian Black Elementary. Teacher: Jenni Clark.
Project: Sphero Robotics.

Heavy emphasis this year on robotics at the high school and elementary school levels. We had grants for 3D printers, laptops for online demo’s / instructions for EMT (emergency medical tech classes at high school level), and a grant for Science Olympiad Team (STEM competition at high school level). We also had two of the FIRST robotics teams bring in their robots for our AFCEA members to see and even test drive.

Our chapter is proud to support our local educators and future technology leaders under their guidance.

AFCEA Scholarship Presentation

 

Paul Reimers, President of the North Carolina Chapter of AFCEA presented a scholarship check to Jacob Lamia at the July Chapter luncheon.

Jacob Lamia

• Graduated from CAPE Fear HS, Fayetteville NC with a 3.9 GPA.
• During his senior year, he also took college classes at Fayetteville Tech Community College;
• Career Degree Pursuit – Robotics Engineering in medicine; he designed a robotic hand prosthetic;
• Eagle Scout, National Honor Society, Civil Air Patrol Cadet program, Boy Scouts of America award, Varsity track, Cross country, swim team,
• College: considering Methodist University or Fayetteville State University
• Jacob’s dad is an AFCEA member.

July 2017 AFCEA Luncheon-Scott Rich, Chief Technology Officer, NetApp

The North Carolina Chapter of AFCEA welcomed Mr. Scott Rich to our monthly luncheon to talk about the relevant trends in data management that will help the DoD leverage their data to make better decisions. Mr. Rich provided an excellent overview of the value of data and how it is being used in the commercial and private sectors to establish a better “machine learning” capability. In an example with the company, Tesla, he provided some examples of how these cars are collecting driver data and integrating routes, stops, and dwell times to capture consumer habits and then use targeted marketing to influence behavior and decisions. He also discussed a topic call “Data Fabric” and harnessing the power of the hybrid cloud, building of next generation data centers, and modernizing storage through data management. Mr. Rich also discussed about how the DoD can continue its efforts to move to the cloud at the NIPR, SBU, and SIPR levels. Commercial cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services are already providing support in handling Level 5 government data. We sincerely appreciate Mr. Rich coming to talk to us and provide an excellent presentation. On behalf of Mr. Paul Reimers, President of the NC AFCEA Chapter, Mr. Rich was presented with a small token of our appreciation.

Lt. Gen. Mike Basla, (ret) USAF praises AFCEA

Lt. Gen. Mike Basla, (ret) USAF spoke at the NC AFCEA chapter luncheon on June 14, 2017. Mr. Basla, now an Executive Vice President at CACI, which sponsored the luncheon, praised AFCEA as a professional organization and strongly encouraged anyone who isn’t a member to join right away. In fact he made a generous personal donation to pay for any non members present at the luncheon to join. He thanked the local community of soldiers, DOD employees, contractors and their families for the sacrifices they make in the fight against our adversaries.

General Basla not only gave a history of AFCEA as an organization but explained how the collaboration between the government, industry and academia have contributed to more effective methods, technology, and weaponry to prosecute the many conflicts we have faced in the 70 years since AFCEA was first stood up. AFCEA is crucial to the development of technologies including cyber. Through coursework, training, and networking the brightest and best share ideas and collaborate to keep our nation safe.

 

Mission Accomplished

TechNet Ft. Bragg 2017 was a resounding success thanks to the participation of the US Army, DOD, Industry, and our AFCEA volunteers.

Highlights:

• 761 Attendees
• 261 Luncheon attendees
• 61 vendor booths in our Technology Show
• Our first-ever Emerging Leaders Pavilion
• Practical agenda with 39 speakers (leaders and experts from the Army, DoD and Industry) across general sessions and three tracks
• Very good conversations and professional networking
• Scholarship presentations (to 3 of our 7 scholarship winners)

The theme of this year’s conference was Enabling Mission Command In A Mulit-Domain Operating Environment which was well represented by the featured speakers and in the panel discussions. This is the main event for fund raising for our chapter which provides money for our scholarship program and STEM teaching grant activity. The AFCEA NC Chapter would like to extend our appreciation to all who participated. Without you, it wouldn’t be possible.

 

For more photos click here

 

Young AFCEANS Host Emerging Leaders Pavilion at TechNet Ft. Bragg

Josh Estes and Kayla Murphy, AFCEA NC Chapter Young AFCEANs hosted an Emerging Leaders Pavilion at TechNet Ft. Bragg on April 25, 2017. This event attracted entrants from several area schools who displayed and explained their projects in a science fair setting. Kayla and Josh judged the entrants and selected first, second, and third place winners along with two random winners. The following industry partners donated prizes:

Dell- 3-XPS15 laptop computers

Microsoft-Microsoft SurfacePro4

Ntt Data-Apple iPad Mini 4 and $100

AFCEA NC added $1000 to the prizes.

 

The event was sponsored by CACI Internationl Inc.

Our chapter and our industry partners are committed to encouraging, recognizing, and mentoring our future science and technology leaders.

Janice Suggs Memorial Scholarship Winners Recognized at TechNet Ft. Bragg 2017

The 2017 Janice Suggs Memorial Scholarship winners were recognized at the AFCEA NC Chapter luncheon on April 26 during TechNet Ft. Bragg 2017. These young people have attained academic excellence and are set to become the next generation of science and technology leaders. This is just one small way in which AFCEA gives back to the local community. Please congratulate these when you see them.

- Major General Peter Gallagher Director of Architecture, Operations, Networks and Space, HQ DA CIO/G-6)

- Paul Reimers, President, AFCEA NC Chapter

- William Clark, Jack Britt High School, Fayetteville, NC

- Hannah Glave, Cross Creek Early College High School, Fayetteville, NC

- Angelina Nieberger, Saint Thomas More Academy, Raleigh NC

- Brigadier General David Isaacson Deputy Chief of Staff, CIO/G6, U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM)

Not able to attend were:

Emily Van Hoozer, Grays Creek High School, Hope Mills, NC

Jarred Lobo, UNC Chapel Hill

Jacob Lamia, Cape Fear High School, Fayetteville Tech, Fayetteville, NC

Hannah Stanton, Union Pines High School, Cameron NC