Compiled by Bill Beggs Jr. THE MONTHLY TECHNOLOGY COLUMN FEATURING TIMELY TECH TRENDS, TIPS AND UPDATES When you accept the Nobel Prize, allow us the honor of saying, “We knew him/her when...” Hired a new CIO? Let us know about it. Landed a research grant? Don’t keep it to yourself. Found a cure for the common cold? We’re all ears. w We’re looking for a few good bits, bytes and blurbs about technological developments for this new monthly column. Items need not be biotech-related, though we surmise that many will be, considering our region has been dubbed the BioBelt. Nearly 50 Blind Kids ‘See The Future’ Via High-Tech Learning Gear Pre-school student Maeghann Rader tries out her new brailler. Lighthouse for the Blind–St. Louis (LHB) is outfitting blind children throughout the region with advanced equipment to help them reach their academic potential. Since inception of the “See the Future” program in 2005, LHB has provided computer equipment and training to more than 45 children. This might mean a new Dell computer, adaptive technology programs like JAWS or Zoomtext, devices to assist with reading small print, as well as a user-friendly device called the Mountbatten Brailler. If you know a child LHB might help or would like more information on these programs visit www.lhbindustries.com. Westar Breaks Ground on New Corporate Headquarters Westar Aerospace & Defense Group Inc. officially broke ground for its new Corporate Headquarters and Research Technology Center in the Missouri Research Park. The $13 million, 81,000-square-foot facility is expected to bring an additional 240 jobs to the region. Scottrade Names Team for $6 Million National Data Center Leading online brokerage firm Scottrade Inc. has selected Ascent Corp. as program director/owner’s representative for the design, deployment, construction and commissioning of a new $6 million national data center. Joining Ascent on the project are general contractor Paric Corp. and project architect Arcturis. Ascent will deploy the data center in an existing building being renovated to best-of-class standards. The new 34,000-square-foot mission critical facility will feature: •fully redundant electrical, mechanical and cooling systems to ensure operations can be sustained for an extended period in the event of power loss; Workers retained by Ascent Corp. align electrical power whips and wire ways prior to installing the raised floor in the 10,000-square-foot server room at Scottrade’s new national data center in the St. Louis area. •exterior physical and electronic security that will pre-screen approaching visitors; •an elaborate interior screening system including security man-traps, card-key-enabled checkpoints and motion-activated surveillance cameras. Biometric components will control access to critical areas. Ascent also provides 24/7 staffing, monitoring and maintenance of mission-critical facilities, currently overseeing facilities totaling 3.5 million square feet in 23 North America and European cities. for inclusion in tech tidbits: Please e-mail your tech information as a press release to: meg@sggdesign.com

August 2006 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cover Story: Rich Malone, Ed Glotzbach and Mark Showers Jim Brasunas Day Veerlapati - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.stlrcga.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.technologygateway.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gregory Lanza, M.D. and Samuel Wickline, M.D. Mike Behr James Crane, M.D. Niche