Measuring Environmental Performance
Software developed at Georgia Tech is assessing regulatory compliance.
Environmental management software developed at Georgia Tech has been deployed statewide and nationally.
|
Called EcoDiagnosis, the self-assessment tool was previously test marketed nationwide, and 75 percent of companies involved rated it "good" or "excellent." Seventeen Georgia firms participated in testing the tool.
As currently available, EcoDiagnosis covers more regulatory categories — such as stormwater permitting and spill prevention, control and countermeasures — in addition to the original 10 topic areas.
Development of the software was sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which wanted a useful and affordable environmental performance measure for the country's numerous small manufacturers. EcoDiagnosis, says Georgia Tech project manager Roc Tschirhart, is now widely available through NIST's Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers. Cost is in the $250 range.
Adapted to the American business and regulatory environment from a successful French model, EcoDiagnosis allows manufacturers to see what regulations apply to their facilities and gives them a European perspective on labeling, product lifecycle and ongoing environmental management, Tschirhart notes. It also contains a benchmarking component to track levels of performance (see accompanying chart) and it provides guidance on remedying deficiencies.
— Lincoln Bates
For more information, contact Roc Tschirhart, Electro-Optics, Environment and Materials Laboratory, Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta, GA 30332-0837. (Telephone: 404-894-8045) (E-mail: roc.tschirhart@gtri.gatech.edu) For more information on EcoDiagnosis, see a previous Research Horizons article at http://www.gtri.gatech.edu/rh-spr98/rnotS98.html#rnote4.
Smarter Web Browsing
Researcher develops tools for building artificial intelligence in software.
Using the latest techniques in artificial intelligence — which include human memory algorithms and machine learning — a team of Georgia Institute of Technology researchers has created EnkiaGuide, a personal recommendation engine for Internet portals.
EnkiaGuide enhances a surfer's Web experience by suggesting Web sites based on the user's preferences and current browsing patterns. For example, the system can suggest Web content based on a specific geographic location.
The developer, College of Computing Associate Professor Dr. Ashwin Ram, and several colleagues founded Enkia Corporation in November 1998 to commercialize the technology. The company is a member of the Advanced Technology Development Center, Georgia Tech's incubator for advanced technology companies.
The new product also has benefits for operators of Web portals.
"A big selling point for portals is stickiness," explains Dr. Ram, Enkia's CEO. "Portals can use the EnkiaGuide to extend the time the user spends associated with the portal's site."
To stay competitive in the portal business, companies need to add features that create new ways to retain users and attract advertising revenue, he says. Currently, the problem for Web portals is that many users search for keywords and immediately leave the portal to look at the Web addresses that the portal finds.
"EnkiaGuide helps anyone find their 'needles' in haystacks of data on and off the Internet," Dr. Ram adds. "It can help users find their way through technical support libraries or large e-commerce sites, and allow corporations to organize pathways through their large proprietary databases. The EnkiaGuide can make sense out of information chaos."
The EnkiaGuide will help make the next generation of information browsers smarter and more effective, reducing the complexity of web information and helping Web surfers find relevant answers to their questions.
Co-founders Anthony Francis, Enkia's vice president of research & development, and Mark Devaney, vice president of product development, developed the AI technology now used at Enkia while earning their doctoral degrees in intelligent systems at Georgia Tech. Bob Kinnett, vice president of marketing and business development, brings 15 years of entrepreneurial management and marketing experience to Enkia.
— Amanda Allen
For more information, contact Dr. Ashwin Ram, Enkia Corporation, 430 Tenth Street NW, ATDC Suite N107, Atlanta, Georgia 30318. (Telephone: 404-874-8882) (Email:ashwin@enkia.com)
Mammograms at Internet Speed
Advanced Internet technology makes mammography more efficient; adds computerized
What's next on the Internet? How about using it as an electronic intermediary for mammography image data and diagnostic reports, speeding the flow of information between mammography clinics, radiologists, referring physicians and patients?
|
The idea originated with a Georgia Institute of Technology professor who last fall launched Medizeus, a company that aims to improve the speed and efficiency of mammography testing. Medizeus is a new member company in Georgia Tech's Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC).
Using advanced Internet technology, the company transforms a multi-step paper-based process into a more efficient and faster electronic one. Medizeus could reduce the time required for mammography results from a week to as little as a few hours.
While speeding up the flow of information, Medizeus also boosts accuracy by offering medical personnel a computerized "second opinion" from an advanced artificial intelligence system.
"There are multiple advantages for each person in the healthcare sector," says mechanical engineering professor Dr. David Ku, president and CEO of the company. "For the doctors — both referring physicians and radiologists — we increase the accuracy so they are practicing better medicine, and we increase their efficiency, so they can get more reports out in less time. By using an electronic system, there are also savings in recordkeeping and report writing."
Patients will also be able to access their medical records from anywhere in the world. Archiving this data will make baseline reports readily available even when patients change physicians. Its archived mammogram data will also allow Medizeus to support research studies on test frequency and benefits.
The Medizeus system is now in beta testing. Mammogram images produced in clinics scattered around the area are sent to Medizeus electronically. The company forwards them to participating radiologists, who analyze the images and attach their diagnostic reports to the image file. Physicians then use a Web-based interface to view the images and reports. The information can be sent electronically to billers, and also becomes available to patients using the same Web-based interface.
— John Toon
The full-text news release version of this article is available at www.atdc.org/companies/november191999.html. For more information, you may contact Dr. David Ku, School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332-0405. (Telephone: 404-894-6827) (E-mail: david.ku@me.gatech.edu)
Endowing Research
Tech's analog engineering program receives $1.5 million gift from ON Semiconductor.
ON Semiconductor, formerly a division of Motorola, is providing $1.5 million to Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) to endow the ON Semiconductor Professorship in Analog Integrated Circuit Design and the ON Semiconductor Graduate Fellows Program.
To strengthen the analog programs, the endowment will be used to support two junior faculty members for three years each, and then the endowment will support a senior endowed chair.
The gift will help support the Yamacraw Mission, a year-old effort to develop high-bandwidth communications businesses by the University System of Georgia; the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism; and the Georgia Research Alliance. The first of the two ON Semiconductor junior faculty to be hired, J. Stevenson Kenney, will be involved in the Yamacraw Mission.
"The research agenda of Yamacraw extends from basic 'system-on-a-chip' electronics through design of wireless and broadband communications systems," says ECE chair Dr. Roger P. Webb. "Steve Kenney's expertise and experience in electronic design for wireless systems places him exactly at the intersection of the interests of ON Semiconductor and the Yamacraw Mission."
With this donation, ON Semiconductor, a supplier of analog, logic and discrete semiconductor components, continues its longstanding association with ECE. The first ON Semiconductor program will support two assistant professors with proven skills in analog IC design and who exhibit exceptional promise for future program growth and development. Recruiting is complete for one position, and the second will be staffed in 2001, says J. Alvin Connelly, professor and associate chair in ECE. Funding for each position will last three years.
Funds from this gift will establish the ON Semiconductor Graduate Fellows Program. These monies will assist the two new junior faculty members with immediate support of graduate students and will enable them to jump start their research programs in directions of critical interest and importance to ON Semiconductor. Each faculty member will be able to support three M.S. students and one Ph.D. student.
— Jackie Nemeth
For more information, contact Dr. Roger Webb, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332-0250. (Telephone: 404-894-2902) (E-mail: roger.webb@ee.gatech.edu)
Awards and Honors
Georgia Tech faculty receive recognition.
Dr. Krishan Ahuja was recently named American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Region II Engineer of the Year and is being considered for national honors. Ahuja is a Regents' researcher and professor of aerospace engineering. He conducts research in the Georgia Tech Research Institute's Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems Laboratory.
Dr. Mark Guzdial, an associate professor in the College of Computing, led a research team that received one of two national awards in the AIA Honors Awards Competition for their research project "CoOL Studio: Expanding the Discursive Space of the Design Studio with Educational Technology." The project is an Internet-based studio environment that allows participants in disparate geographical areas to discuss and critique projects. His colleagues were College of Architecture Assistant Professor Dr. Sabir Khan and Associate Professor Dr. Craig Zimring.
Dr. Christopher Hertzog, a professor in the School of Psychology, received a Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award from the National Institute on Aging. MERIT awards are given to exceptional senior scientists with outstanding proposals. Hertzog's research combines differential psychology and experimental cognitive psychology to better understand age changes in cognitive processes.
The School of Chemistry and Biochemistry's new Assistant Professor Dr. C. David Sherrill received one of 13 Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Awards. The program is designed to provide external research support to new faculty members at the start of their research and teaching careers. Sherrill's research focuses on the applications of the principles of quantum mechanics and electronic structure theory to address problems in physical, organic, inorganic and biological chemistry.
Dr. Charles Ume, a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, received the 1999 E.G. Bailey Award from the Instrument Society of America in recognition of the design and development of a novel automated online flatness measurement and analysis instrument.
Also see Research Notes news stories.
Contents
Research Horizons GT
Research News GTRI
Georgia Tech
Send questions and comments regarding these pages to
Webmaster@gtri.gatech.edu