Scott Hirsch the Founder of AppsBar joins Craig to discuss the gap between over-simplified apps and costly, professionally-produced apps. appsbar is the first tool for any business, group or individual to create professional, personalized apps for use on mobile devices with no cost. . appsbar is one platform to create and submit apps to popular app stores. It presents myriad personalization opportunities with a unique interface that guides creators through the entire process – from creation, to editing, to publication – with visual and textual clues at each step.

Mahesh Makhija an Associate Vice President at Infosys joins Craig to discuss end to end business solutions that utilize the best of technology. Infosys provides solutions that span the entire software life cycle encompassing consulting, design, development, software re-engineering, maintenance, systems integration, package evaluation and implementation and infrastructure management services.

PV Kannan the CEO and 24/7 Customer joins Craig to discuss a simple and easy way for companies to acquire and retain their customers, and for customers to seek solutions to their queries, anytime and anywhere in the world.24/7 Customer, Inc. is a managed services provider of online predictive experience solutions.We transform and own the outcome of digital sales and service experiences for large enterprises with thousands of call center agents. We deliver the highest CSAT at the lowest cost, and eliminate calls.

Tom Jeineck the Founder and President of On Target Web Solutions joins Craig to discuss Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Solutions. At On Target Web Solutions, we are passionate about educating our clients about effective web design, effective and engaging social media campaigns, organic search engine marketing, the power of blogging, the power of permission based marketing and the power of ethical online business practices.

Jonathan Spira the CEO at Basex joins Craig to discuss collaborative Business Knowledge, which is the intersection of content management, portals, knowledge management, and collaboration. Information Overload is costing organizations billions of dollars annually as well as productivity time, which impacts the bottom line and revenue. When employees have to sort through a ton information and determine which of that data is correct, current and reliable. Searching for the correct answer or corroborating evidence can be time consuming and is no guarantee that the information is correct, which again costs organizations time and money.

Linda Rohrbough an Author and Consultant at Study by App joins Craig to talk about connecting students of all ages with bold and dynamic content. Study by App is an educational software development company that develops apps for the iPhone/iTouch/iPad. Our staff is a collective of teachers, authors, scholars, professors, and publishers from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds.

Sumeet Shrivastava the President at Array IT joins Craig to discuss how federal IT initiatives and impact the government and the private sector and how new and emerging technologies and leading-edge solutions can delivering best-of-the-best industry programs and practices.

Zack Urlocker the COO at ZenDesk joins Craig to discuss Cloud Based help desk software. Zendesk is the proven cloud-based help desk software that is the fastest way to enable great customer service in rapidly growing companies. Zendesk is so easy to use and their services are trusted by 10,000 organizations for their most valuable assets: customers, partners, and employees.

Thomas Swalla the COO at Savings.com joins Craig to discuss how to find the best deals on everything you want. Tell us what brands and categories you like to shop, where you live, and Savings.com will deliver the best deals for you handpicked by expert DealPros®. In addition to providing personalized recommendations, Savings.com has one of the most in-depth databases of coupons.

Dr. Rajiv Kumar the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Shape-up joins Craig to discuss the worst health problems we face as a nation–obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, hypertension, osteoarthritis, depression–are related to our collective unhealthy lifestyle. Founded initially on the basic premise that people are more likely to succeed at reaching their goals when they work together with the people they care about, ShapeUp continues to stay true to its original philosophy. The company has remained focused on uniting people to improve their health while at the same time expanding its vision for the future. ShapeUp aims to build the largest platform in the world that unites individuals with their entire health care ecosystem – including their friends, family, colleagues, employer, health plan, physicians, pharmacy, health coach, and more. By creating a simple, central place to connect with the activities, information, ideas, and people that can lead us to better health, ShapeUp is working toward improving the health of the entire world.

Brad Murdoch the Chief Marketing Officer at Visible World joins Craig to discuss how to transform your advertising production giving it more relevance and delivering it with greater effectiveness. Visible World is the leading provider of targeted television advertising solutions. The company’s suite of services enables advertisers, agencies, and media companies to deliver addressable, interactive, and measurable ads.

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We all agreed to a certain amount of tracking when we signed up for EZ-Pass service.  This service allows us to pass along toll roads without having to stop or even slow down in some areas.  The RFID technology embedded in the E-Z Pass transceiver provides the information necessary for E-Z Pass to bill our account and pay the government.

We’ve talked about problems with tracking using OnStar before, and they’ve decided to not be quite so intrusive to the benefit of all their current (and even former) subscribers.  Their ability to track and shut down GM vechicles, however, still remains.

In a bit of a twist for E-Z Pass, they’ve recently filed a patent for an RFID device which includes both forward and rear-facing cameras.  These cameras would be used to take pictures of the occupants of the vehicle along with pictures of the surroundings.  The reason?

It appears that Kapsch wants to be able to help States monitor their High-Occupancy-Vehicle (HOV) lanes.  They’re looking to use the technology in their new E-Z Pass transponders, combine it with facial recognition technology in an effort to be able to automatically identify and fine HOV-lane violators.

Remember that the existing E-Z Pass technology could readily be used to monitor our speed (and in fact is in New York State) and that information could be used to automatically issue “Speeding” tickets, additional transit tolls based upon time-of-day and much more.

Just because they filed the patent, doesn’t mean that we’ll have cameras on our E-Z Pass devices any time soon, but the prospect definitely raises some real concerns.

Kapsch signed a 10 year contract to provide transponders for 22 toll systems in the United States, and their transponders can be found in 41 countries and 64 million cars worldwide.

Maybe having your picture taken by your E-Z Pass will make you some sort of world-wide celebrity?

Related articles

• Big Brother in the Front Seat (reason.com)
• Kapsch TrafficCom Acquires MARK IV IVHS Creating Leadership in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) (prweb.com)

He’s designed and made a two-seat flying plane that looks a lot like two small submarines attached by a small wing.  So far, the plane has made some passes down the roadway but has yet to make it to the air.

She has a range of 760 miles in the air and 820 miles on the roadway, and it works a bit like a Chevrolet Volt.  She uses the batteries to help provide boost when taking off and uses gasoline motors to charge and power the electric drives.

Related articles

• Burt Rutan Designs Hybrid Flying Car (wired.com)
• The Model 367 “BiPod” hybrid flying car designed by Burt Rutan (gizmag.com)
• Two Flying Cars Seek Road Approval; Future Finally Here (pcworld.com)
• Burt Rutan designed roadable plane for Scaled Composites (nextbigfuture.com)

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Maybe it’s better put as “Your Vehicle Snitches on You More.”  The wonderful ODB-II port on our cars has gone beyond letting your car’s mechanic know which parts are bad or which pollution-control laws your car has been violating.  There are cases in Canada and now Michigan where the police have been extracting information from cars to issue tickets and to provide as evidence in court.  (Check out ODB-III, which makes things much worse.)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is expected to call for mandatory installation of “black boxes” in automobiles in June, and engineering groups are weighing in on which data the boxes should collect and who should access it.

“When the vehicle crashes, we want to make sure that the first person who gets access to the data is the owner,” says Tom Kowalick, chairman of IEEE Global Standards for Motor Vehicle EDRs, as well as an author of seven books on EDR technology. “Right now, no data is secure. There are 20,000 tow-aways in America every day, and none of them has secure data.”

Read the Full Story at Design News.

Related articles

• Automotive Black Boxes, Minus the Gray Area (wired.com)
• Report: NHTSA expected to mandate black boxes in all cars next month (autoblog.com)
• Transportation Department to propose mandatory black boxes in passenger vehicles? (engadget.com)
• Big Brother Wants To Get in Your Back Seat (lewrockwell.com)

Mark Phillips the COO at SeaSite a cruise portal dedicated to the meetings and events market. Cruising is ideal for business meetings and incentive trips because it offers greater value than a traditional land-based venue (providing savings of up to 40%) — all-inclusive dining and entertainment, state-of-the-art meeting facilities and function rooms, as well as the allure of travel to exotic destinations. Seasite.com is the first and only online cruise meeting planning tool that allows planners to submit an RFP online directly to the cruise lines to secure a competitive bid.

Gordon Roesler a Physicist from USC who studies the conversion of ocean wave to energy. He is working on how to integrate renewable sources of energy into the nation’s electric grid, as well as other challenges in keeping our growing, aging electric system reliable and secure.  Ocean waves are another source of non-polluting, renewable energy like wind and solar.  However, like everything the government controls, their regulations governing wave energy are in chaos, which is holding back the development of this important resource.

Roger Bason the President of Natural Currents Energy Services a leading U.S.-based green technology company producing revolutionary systems for emerging renewable energy markets with a primary focus on ocean tidal power generation. The company designs, manufactures and installs innovative hydro-turbine and wind-powered equipment that produces electricity from the movements of tides and water currents found in rivers, canals and industrial flows, as well as from the wind. With its proprietary technology, unmatched tidal project expertise, existing commercial hydro products and exclusive rights to an extensive portfolio of ocean tidal projects, Natural Currents Energy Services is positioned as one of the leading tidal energy companies addressing coastline tidal power generation opportunities.

Steve Williams the Chief Operating Officer at Itellicheck Mobilisa the maker of Intelligent Buoys that communicate wirelessly officially called the Littoral Sensor Grid (LSG) project is a buoy system that is capable of collecting environmental and security data and uses IDN’s Wireless Over Water (WOW) technology to transmit that data to a centralized section – called the shore Network Operations Center (NOC) for dissemination. The wireless buoys provide a high-capacity communications network grid to provide real-time monitoring for marine environments including sensors for both homeland security and
environmental purposes.  They are capable of detecting materials above, on or below the surface of the water, and can measure water temperature, pH balance, turbidity etc.

Craig McLean the Acting Administrator of Oceanic Reseach at NOAA. They are increasing Increasing our scientific knowledge and understanding about the ocean, including its Earth and atmospheric boundaries, its poorly known or unknown living and non-living resources, and its oceanic processes and identify how the ocean is changing in response to natural and anthropogenic changes in our planet. NOAA uses sensor technologies to analyze the ocean environment by collecting data from and around the ocean.  Sensors such as Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD), buoys, sondes, and drifters can target specific ocean and environmental characteristics.  Other instruments (such as satellites)  provide generalized data from which a wide range of observations can be made. The information gathered from these instruments helps NOAA learn more about the Earth‘s oceans. Through the use of human occupied submersibles, scientists can be physically transported to great depths of the oceans, far beyond the physiological restrictions of wet diving on the human body.Submersibles owned by NOAA include the Pisces IV and V, two of only nine submersibles in the world that can dive to depths of more than 6,562 feet. Both carry a pilot and two scientists.

Dick Fischer the founder of Speedbump the App that helps your child become a better driver. Speedbump is a mobile phone app. that harnesses the power of mobile technology to combat teen driving fatalities and serious injuries by providing real-time feedback on driving performance. The Speedbump app. is integrated with our web based user portal and provides parents with a better sense of how their teenagers are driving.

Jen Funkhouser the CEO at CarCheckup allows you to get the information you need by Taking advantage of a little-known diagnostic function present in every automobile sold in America since 1996, On-Board Diagnostics Version 2 (OBD II), when combined with our patented technology, CarCheckup services will provide peace of mind by providing instant and reliable diagnosis of automotive problems and the ability for drivers to get detailed information on their driving performance.
Russ Rader the Director of Communications at the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries, and property damage that result from crashes on the nation’s roads. Our research focuses on three main areas: human factors, or preventing crashes by changing driver behavior; vehicle factors, or reducing deaths and injuries by improving vehicle design; and environmental factors, or changing roadway design, signs, and signals to reduce crashes.

Kal Gyimesi the Automotive Lead at IBM Institute for Business Value has technology that could make driving safer. With the ubiquity of telecommunications and the ability to process data so quickly, our cars are becoming even more like computers. IBM Watson (the computer that beat the jeopardy champs), with its ability to parse natural language, could eliminate these dangerous instances of “searching while driving” so there isn’t a need to change navigation destinations or look up information manually, for example. It could also help with service diagnostics for your car.

Erik Kretschmar the CEO at WebVideoArticles. WebVideoArticles specializes writing, recording, producing, and distributing out relevant keyword enhanced video & text articles.  All of our videos are distributed out to our exclusive network that includes YouTube, Metacafe, plus several niche industry specific websites.  Think of us as your VideoSEO experts!

Congratulations to Bob G. of Chester, NH who was the first to correctly identify the reasons why everyone should own the CarMD diagnostic kit. Our thanks go out to CarMD for providing this great diagnostic tool to one of our listeners.

Congratulations to Tucker L. of Manchester NH.  He was the winner of the $100.00 Gift Certificate from Gladiator GarageWorks.  We hope you enjoy it and get your Garage perfectly organized.

Gladiator GarageWorks has a complete line of Garage Organization Modules so that you too can have the perfectly organized garage.  These products are available locally at Sears, Sears Essentials and Lowes.

So this week I decided to bring you some news on Technology that is being developed within and outside of the mainstream auto industry.  I interview CEO’s and even a professor about what they are doing and where they see the future of the American Auto industry.  Enjoy!

Following the EPA 511 Guideline test protocol, Blade underwent independent testing by the nation’s premier emissions testing lab, the Automotive Testing and Development Services, Inc. (ATDS).  ATDS is approved by the EPA and licensed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 

EPA guidelines for a fleet of five vehicles state that the fuel economy increase must average three percent to be considered a real effect. The fleet of five Bladed vehicles tested – including 4 cylinder, 6 cylinder, 8 cylinder, foreign, domestic and Hybrid vehicles – averaged a four percent increase.  This achievement is historic as it has never before been demonstrated by any aftermarket device.

TABLE 1: For each car tested, CO₂ reduction and fuel economy increases often exceeded expectations:

Vehicle Type CO₂ Emissions Reduction (up to … ) Fuel Economy Increase (up to…)

2004 Honda Civic 6% 6%

2008 Hyundai Sonata 12% 12%

2007 Ford E-250 6% 5%

2008 Pontiac G6 6% 4%

2007 Toyota Prius 6% 3%

William J. O’Brien CEO, Founder

In addition to leading Sabertec, Mr. O’Brien is a co-founder and general partner of Saber Capital. In this capacity, Mr. O’Brien oversees the selection and management of the investment firm’s portfolio companies. Mr. O’Brien served as Chairman and CEO of Octave Software, a provider of next-generation content management solutions. In addition to launching Octave’s product line, Mr. O’Brien developed its key partnerships, recruited its managers, and played an instrumental role in securing its major customers. He also led the company in a $4 million preferred round financing from Sigma Partners. Mr. O’Brien was also actively involved in the direction of Saber Capital’s Austin-based professional services firm, Neogent, Inc., which it funded in 2000 and sold to Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUN) in 2006. Mr. O’Brien also holds board seats at San Jose based, Jetalon Solutions, a maker of precision, liquid chemical sensor and control systems. Since the initiation of Mr. O’Brien’s involvement, the company has increased shareholder value nearly 17x. Before co-founding Saber Capital, Mr. O’Brien spent over 12-years in the high technology industry, most recently serving as Vice President of Sales for the Americas at Vignette Corporation (NASD: VIGN). Benefiting from Mr. O’Brien’s direction, Vignette became the fastest growing enterprise software company in industry history, with annual revenues growing from $3 million to over $500 million in a three-year period.

About Sabertec

Sabertec, based in Austin, Texas, is on the vanguard of solving environmental challenges through technology, education and the inspiration of behavioral change. Sabertec products reduce fossil fuel burning engine emissions that are known contributors to global warming, as well as health consequences including cancer, strokes and respiratory diseases. Launched in 2008, Blade, www.bladeyourride.com is the company’s first consumer product available in the United States. Blade was developed utilizing Sabertec’s patent-pending impact filtration method, which is the core technology in their IDPF product. IDPF has been reducing toxic diesel particulate matter emissions on commercial bus fleets in Sao Paulo, Brazil since 2005.  www.Sabertec.org

Sabertec’s product, Blade easily attaches to the tailpipe of a car to reduce CO2 emissions and toxic particulate matter – a type of pollution that includes dust, soot, and tiny bits of solid materials suspended in the air.

President Obama has spoken about the need to increase the production of sustainable energy here in the US and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.  Although his ideals may be laudable he does not understand the infrastructure to make it happen.  Congresses legislative push to make this happen has caused numerous problems around the world included massive food shortages and riots over food.  Although it is technologically possible to retrofit automobiles to accommodate sustainable fuels such as biodiesel there are significant stumbling blocks to making it work seamlessly.  Our entire infrastructure is based on petroleum distribution.  The cars were designed to run on petroleum and the government created laws and rules that all but eliminated diesel for passenger cars in favor of gasoline.  Going from petroleum diesel to bio-diesel is not a huge jump however going from gasoline to bio-diesel creates a technological and supply rift that must be overcome before it will be viable.  Bio-diesel needs to be made from sustainable crops such as algae and stink-weed that do not affect the world food supply.

There are many who are lamenting about the economy and the end of American manufacturing — but John Fox of Innovation Fuels has taken the bear by the scruff of the neck and now produces up 950,000 barrels of biodiesel a year.  They export over 80 percent of that to Europe because our automotive diesel industry dwindled due to a lack of understanding by congress who imposed legislation that favored gasoline over diesel.

Among alternative fuels, biodiesel is growing rapidly.  Made from vegetable oils and animal fats the biodiesel is being blended with petroleum diesel fuel by Innovation Fuels into the finished product which is being sold to power diesel engines and to heat homes.  The advantage of biodiesel over full petroleum diesel is that it produces 60 percent less greenhouse gases than diesel.  Biodiesel provides a substantial reduction in exhaust emissions, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, unburned hydrocarbons and black smoke.  It is safe to say then that using biodiesel helps to protect the environment and that is good for all our health.  John Fox puts his money where his mouth is and drives a car that runs on biodiesel.  He says there is no noticeable difference when driving this vehicle because biodiesel releases the same amount of power as petroleum diesel. It also provides the same lubricating function as petroleum diesel with low sulfur. Additional benefits of using biodiesel is that it is a renewable resource that can be produced here in the United States reducing our demand on imported oil and it is safer to transport than gasoline.  This cheaper alternative can be used in any diesel engine or home heating oil burner.  There are major technological hurdles required to change our infrastructure from petroleum based vehicles to electric vehicles including the development of a clean power grid.  The research and development will depend on huge outlays of private funds and protection of the private intellectual property.  The technological development of high mileage vehicles will make the US economically competitive for decades on the international marketplace.  The US is on the threshold of a vital and transformative change and getting biodiesel and other sustainably powered vehicles into production and then on the road is the future of the American Auto Industry.

About John:

John Fox is President and Chief Executive Officer of Innovation Fuels. He has been building businesses and product offerings for the past 15 years, seven years of which have been in US energy industry. Mr. Fox started a renewable energy project development company, Homeland Energy Resources Development, Inc. in 2001, and subsequently its biodiesel division in 2005, which was merged into Innovation Fuels. He led Homeland Energy to an average 50 percent year-over-year revenue growth and managed a team that developed more than $5 million alternative fuel projects. Prior to founding Homeland Energy, Mr. Fox led the business development of a biogas technology company, the financing of an independent oil and gas company, and the product development of a Lucent Technologies company. Since 1991, Mr. Fox has served as General Partner at Renard Properties, a Mid-Atlantic real-estate development and management company. He holds a BA from Syracuse University and an MBA from Columbia Business School and is currently a member of the National Biodiesel Board, American Council on Renewable Energy, Environmental Business Association of New York State, and U.S. Green Building Council. 

About Innovation Fuels:

As a leading biodiesel manufacturer, Innovation Fuels cares about making the world a better place to live today and tomorrow. But taking care of our customers is our number one business priority. Our goal is to help you choose biodiesel as a viable, sustainable, high-performance fuel. Let us put our extensive experience in the fuel industry to work for you.

Biodiesel is the fastest growing alternative fuel. It’s clean and non-toxic so it’s good for you. It’s high-quality and easy to integrate into your operation so it’s good for your business. And it’s biodegradable and renewable so it’s good for the world. Biodiesel contains no petroleum but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel and works in any diesel engine.

Innovation Fuels…Good for You, Good for Your Business, Good for the World.

Additionally, their Servace Alloy product is used by some of the most prestigious country clubs in the nation.  They are specialty small electric vehicles that brush and roll clay tennis courts and cause no noise pollution and cost only about seventy-five cents a night to charge.  They also build mini ambulances for use in production plants and large theme parks.  Due to their size they can be used in crowded areas where a full size unit cannot operate.

In 2009 they will introduce a new mini hybrid fire truck specifically designed for the forest industry.  They are the leader in the airline industry where they design an manufacture push back tractors, belt loaders, and high lifts on both their electric and hybrid chassis.

About John:

John graduated from Forest Hill High School in West Palm Beach, Florida and went right into running his own company. John’s company manufactures (and mainstreams) diesel-hybrid and electric vehicles. Their cars, trucks, etc. are pulling US Airways passenger jets on the tarmac at some of America’s busiest airports and are on the short list to save the U.S. military billions in fuel costs by supplying them with vehicles.

About Giliberti:

Giliberti is a research, development & manufacturing company for vehicles in the airline, golf, tennis, and emergency medical services (EMS) industries.

The quality of our vehicles is the highest priority for Giliberti. We work closely with our customers to insure our products are not only the finest built, but are also serve a variety of needs and purposes.

Giliberti’’s mission will always be to develop, design and manufacture efficient, affordable, and reliable electrically powered utility vehicles to meet our customers needs. We have never lost sight of this goal and keep it at the forefront of every project we undertake. Giliberti continues to be on the cutting edge by finding new opportunities to design and develop products to meet niche market needs.

The hardware in the vehicle opens the door for revolutionary new technologies services to be introduced such as voice-based email, vehicle control from an iPhone, real-time diagnostics and remote emissions inspections provide real benefits for the consumer.

Similar to cell phone application stores, HUGHES Telematics will provide drivers with the ability to add applications, content, functionality and services to their vehicles. These services may include traffic management tools, customized weather notices, social networking applications and other location based services instead of simply relying on product planners to predict what will be current in three years, five years, ten years.

In the near future drivers will have access to “virtual accessories” Hughes Telematics will provide drivers with the opportunity to purchase connected accessories such as navigation, satellite radio and Bluetooth at any time after purchasing the car. These accessories come built in to every car, and the drivers can choose how and when to activate such as for a one time use, one month, or lifetime.  This technology will do for the vehicle what USB did for the computer. Hughes Telematics is the first in the industry to achieve Next Generation Telematics Architecture, which is both flexible and open, allowing the ability to add services, content providers and applications long after the purchase of the vehicle.  This means that they are able to future-proof tomorrow’s cars with a combination of connectivity to the vehicle and their Next Generation Telematics Architecture gives them the ability to continually update the vehicle’s capabilities protect obsolescence as future services are introduced.

One of the core values of Hughes Telematics is simplicity.  The technology leverages natural voice recognition allowing drivers to speak naturally in their own words to activate services.  This eliminates the need to memorize key words and is as simple as having a conversation.

HUGHES Telematics is a tier-one supplier to Chrysler and Mercedes and will be launching “connected car” service with both companies in calendar year 2009.  While the initial service will be focused on safety and security, the company has developed an industry-first auto communications platform that includes:

About Eric:

Erik Goldman is President of HUGHES Telematics, a telematics service company that is majority owned by Apollo Management, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. He has served in this position since the company’s inception in 2006.

Prior to joining HUGHES Telematics, Goldman spent nearly 25 years in varied engineering, operations and business development roles in the telecom and telematics industries. Most recently, Goldman served as Vice President of SkyTerra Communications, where his responsibilities included acquisition, development and corporate oversight of the organization’s portfolio companies in the wireless and satellite services industry.

Prior to SkyTerra, Goldman served in leadership roles developing military communications networks with Raytheon and Mitre Corporation, commercial mobile wireless businesses with dbX Corporation, a holding company established to invest in, develop and operate new businesses in the telecom, paging and satellite communications industry and most recently was with Leo One Worldwide where as Vice President of Technology & Strategic Development he led the development of a global Telematics solution for the automotive industry.

Goldman earned his MBA from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois. He has written numerous white papers, and has published in the International Journal of Satellite Communications. In addition, he has held a number of government security clearances including Top Secret and holds a U.S. Patent, with several others pending.

About Hughes Telematics:

They are delivering the next generation of vehicle information-based technologies and services – today. Their patented systems allow complete connectivity to any make or model vehicle, but that is just the beginning. What really differentiates them from other companies is their broad portfolio of services. Each designed to significantly improve vehicle and customer relationship management potential while greatly reducing costs. Whether in the business of automotive manufacturing, dealer operations, fleet management or affiliated services such as insurance or car rental, we can help map out the fastest road to greater efficiency and revenue. They will also demonstrate solutions never thought practical.

About Jeff:

Dr. Naber joined MTU in August of 2004. Prior to joining MTU, he worked in the automotive industry on R&D of engine-management-systems for gasoline and diesel engines. He also worked at Sandia National Laboratories, CRF investigating sprays and combustion processes of diesel, natural gas, and hydrogen engines utilizing laser based diagnostics. He and fellow colleagues direct the Advanced Internal Combustion Laboratories (AICE) at the University. His research interests are in IC engines and after-treatment and the development and application of advanced experimental techniques, signal processing technologies, theoretical models, and embedded control to characterize the thermo-physical processes.

The areas under investigation include:

• Combustion processes and combustion control of hydrogen and hydrogen dual fuelled engines,

• Biofuels including ethanol with production from forest products and application in advanced combustion engines,

• Gasoline IC engine research and the development of physical based correlations and models,

Development of combustion measurement techniques for diesel, gasoline, and HCCI and PPCI engines.

About Michigan Tech University:

• The Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics at Michigan Tech is proud to have been selected as the THE FIRST MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM in the Peace Corps Masters International Program.

• Mechanical Engineering is the Top In-Demand Major according to the Yahoo Hot Jobs, and based on the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in the Spring 2008 Salary Survey. Mechanical engineering grads received a healthy 5.3 percent increase over 2007, boosting their average offer to $57,009. More about Engineering Jobs

• Michigan Tech ME Team wins Regional Student Design Competition
A ME Senior Design Team (Team 20) won the Regional Student Design Competition at the Student Professional Development Conference held in Columbia, Missouri on March 28-30, 2008.

• Our Graduate Program is ranked 48th nationally among the 165 doctoral granting Mechanical Engineering Departments in the U.S. by the 2009 U.S. News & World Report: America’s Best Graduate Schools

• NSF ranked the ME-EM Department 21st in Research Expenditures in FY2006 with $10.238 Million among all Mechanical Engineering Departments in the U.S.

Our Undergraduate Program is ranked 22nd nationally among doctoral-granting Mechanical Engineering Departments in the U.S. by the 2008 U.S. News & World Report: America’s Best Colleges

ME-EM Undergraduate Program is currently 9th in the U.S. in BSME degrees granted. We have been in the top 9 in this category for the past 24 consecutive years.

The Keweenaw Research Center and the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering at Michigan Tech will host the 2009 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge (CSC) during March 16-21, 2009 and has hosted it for the last 6 years.

In today’s economic climate, this ability to bring innovative technology to the masses is more important now than ever before. So at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, Ford announced the revolutionary Ford SYNC with Traffic, Directions and Information.

Beginning this Spring, drivers of Ford cars and trucks will be able to get personalized, real-time information by using simple voice commands.  Ford is able to bring these innovations to market quickly by partnering with INRIX and other best-in-class technology companies.

INRIX was selected to power the personalized traffic, directions, and alerts that are delivered to drivers via voice and SMS alerts on their phones. INRIX’s traffic, directions and alerting technologies transforms the in-car navigation experience into one as personal as the contact list on your phone. SYNC users can get answers to questions such as “Traffic Ahead,” “Fastest Route Home,” and “Traffic Around Me,” leveraging the integrated GPS feature in new vehicles shipping with Ford SYNC. That is the kind of personalized service consumers – and the marketplace – require right now in order to stay afloat and to thrive.

The technology in the new SYNC does not require a $2,000 navigation system with an in-car screen. All it requires is a cell phone with Bluetooth, which is why Ford expects to ship over 1 million vehicles with SYNC by this Fall. INRIX provides accurate real-time, historical and predictive traffic information in North America and Europe to over 65 customers including Ford, MapQuest, TomTom and the I-95 Corridor Coalition. INRIX delivers traffic reliably, quickly and better than anyone else.

About Scott

Scott Sedlik is responsible for the marketing of INRIX products and services. He has 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, product management, brand development and go-to-market strategies. He has a successful track record of building leadership positions with public and startup companies in emerging markets from early-stage to international presence. Sedlik’s domain expertise includes mobile and embedded devices, telematics, wireless, enterprise software, Internet services, and e-commerce.

Sedlik was most recently Vice President of Marketing at BSQUARE, the leading solutions provider for the smartphone and embedded device markets, where he was responsible for product management, marketing strategy, strategic planning and partnerships. He served as Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Sageport, an Internet services company acquired by BSQUARE in 2001. Sedlik also held Vice President of Marketing roles at InfoMove, USWeb/CKS, and at iCat Corporation, an e-commerce pioneer, where he led a large team during the rapid growth of the company and its acquisition by Intel.

Early in his career, Sedlik directed marketing and business development at Corbis Corporation and led OEM sales and product management at Reference Software International (acquired by WordPerfect). Sedlik holds a MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.S. from San Francisco State University.

About INRIX

INRIX is the leading provider of real-time, historical and predictive traffic information offering the broadest coverage, exceptional accuracy, innovative technologies and a unique approach to ensuring the success of our customers’ navigation and traffic-enabled solutions.

Building on a unparalleled technology portfolio and the industry’s broadest network of partnerships, INRIX’s traffic data saves businesses and consumers time and money by predicting the future – not only showing what traffic is like right now, but what it will be like an hour, a week or even a year from now. Device manufacturers, public sector agencies, Web sites and mobile solution providers are using INRIX’s technologies and services today to deliver richer, more useful traffic services that help their customers drive smarter.

About Rick Casper:

Richard J. Kasper is the President and Chief Operating Officer, Global Electric Motorcars, LLC (GEM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chrysler, LLC.  He was GEMs Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer until being named President and COO on December 1, 2002.

Prior to joining GEM in 1999, Richard spent 11 years with the Jack Kent Cooke organization, which included responsibilities as the Chief Financial Officer for the Los Angeles Daily News. 

Mr. Kasper received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting at Minnesota State University ñ Moorhead (MSUM) in Moorhead, Minnesota. He was named the MSUM Business and Industry Alumni of the Year in 2002.  He is also a member of the MSUM School of Business Advisory Board. 

Richard was the Chairperson for the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) Conference in December of 2006, the EVS-23 International Conference in December 2007 and was the Chairman of the World Electric Vehicle Association (WEVA) in 2006 and 2007.  Richard is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Fargo Moorhead.  He has also been involved in a number of community and charitable organizations including President of the West Valley Boys and Girls Club, Chairman of the Warner Center Association, Vice-President of the San Fernando Economic Alliance, and a volunteer for a number of philanthropic events.

He and his family live in Fargo, North Dakota, the headquarters for Global Electric Motorcars, LLC.

About Global Electric Motor Cars:

Global Electric Motorcars, a Chrysler company, has been in operation for ten years. Located in Fargo, North Dakota, Global Electric Motorcars manufactured its first vehicle in April 1998, a 48-volt GEM car that accommodated two passengers and had a top speed of 20 mph. Less than two months later, a significant breakthrough occurred in the market as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) designated a new class of motor vehicle, the low-speed vehicle, also known as the Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV). The low-speed vehicle class allowed GEM cars to be driven on public roads if they met certain safety criteria such as having safety belts, headlamps, windshield wipers, and safety glass. GEM cars always come equipped with these safety features making them a benchmark in the industry.

GEM battery-electric vehicles not only represent a relatively new vehicle in an emerging market segment, but also a new and growing brand within the Chrysler family. Just like Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep®, or many of the other well-established brands in the company’s portfolio, GEM stands for innovation and leadership.

Global Electric Motorcars aims to establish its brand presence both as the maker of the top-selling NEV in the market and the purveyor of one of the smartest solutions to traffic congestion and air quality problems yet to be introduced. The solution: zero-emissions personal transportation that is well integrated with traditional alternative transportation choices such as mass transit and carpooling.

GEM models are sophisticated yet simple. They represent a new kind of personal transportation, that expands the capacity to have fun. They represent a versatile and efficient way to get the job done, as well as a clean way to do everyday work. GEM cars harness and put to work the power of silence. 

Today, Global Electric Motorcars remains committed to maintaining its leadership position in the NEV market with product improvements, innovations, and offerings. Currently, GEM cars are available in six unique models and are seen in cities, master planned communities, universities and colleges, industrial complexes, security companies, airports, and resorts throughout the world. Looking to the future, Global Electric Motorcars is strategically positioned within the Chrysler family to aid in the company’s continuing efforts and commitment to developing, producing, and selling the world’s most environmentally-friendly vehicles.