“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
ANNOUNCEMENTS
(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)
The Savoy Pancake Breakfast will be held at the Savoy Baptist Church on Saturday, March 12. Tickets are just $5.00 for all you can eat pancakes and sausage.
PROGRAM
Ed first read about UIUC Professor Naira Hovakimyan in the NY Times when it was reported that she got a $1.5 million grant from the NSF to explore the use of drones for simple chores in elder care.
Professor Hovakimyan got her MA from Yerevan State University in Armenia and her PhD in Physics and Mathematics from the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, majoring in optimal control and differential games. She is currently W. Grafton and Lillian B. Wilkins Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering at UIUC. In 2015, she was named as inaugural director of the Intelligent Robotics Lab of CSL at UIUC. She is co-founder of IntelinAir, Inc., a company that commercializes data-drones for delivering actionable information from aerial imagery for various industries.
Professor Hovakimyan explained that although the iPhone was invented as a cell phone, it can be used for any purpose for which an app can be written. She talked about four applications for controlling drones.
Her NSF grant is being used to explore the use of drones with the elderly and disabled. Specifically, they are researching safety and “perceived safety” by using virtual reality simulation to determine how close and in what patterns a drone can fly around humans. Once the app is developed, an iPhone could be used to notify an elder that it was time to take his or her medications. Then the app would notify a drone to deliver the medications. Testing for “perceived safety” will also tell retailers what trajectory should be used when delivering packages by drones.
Professor Hovakimyan is also working with the U of I Fire Science Institute. On average, it takes four minutes from the time a 911 call is made to the time firefighters arrive at a fire or accident scene. An iPhone alerted and laptop controlled drone can arrive sooner and get closer to assess the situation. In a fire, a drone can inspect the roof and sides of a tall building to assess what is going on. In the case of a accident involving tanker trucks, drones can check for fuel or chemical leakage and read tag information. These applications will save the lives of many Fire/Safety personnel.
She also talked about her work at Edwards Air Force Base, where she has developed an application to monitor and control “lifting body” in aircrafts.
And at the Research Park, Dr. Hovakimyan has a digital agriculture/precision farming start up company. After planting, drones will be used to determine the number of seeds germinated vs. planted. Drones will also scan for 22 kinds of emergent weeds determining if those weeds are herbicide resistant or not.
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| Mar 10th | Mar 17th | Mar 24th | Mar 31st | |
| Introductions | Bob La Charite | Barb Lintner | BJ Lytle | Ben Mast |
| Invocation | Rod Roberts | Tod Satterthwaite | Jen Shelby | Billy Stull |
| Greeters | Bob La Charite | Barb Lintner | BJ Lytle | Ben Mast |
| Scott Paceley | Robb Patton | Allan Penwell | Ed Perry | |
| Song Leader | Phyllis Mischo | Gary Olsen | Scott Paceley | Robb Patton |
| Notetaker | Lintner | Conforti | Perry | Penwell |
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UPCOMING SCHEDULE
March 10th – Mary Butzow, Presence Health
March 17th – Steven Bentz, Director, Virginia Theater, will discuss upcoming shows
March 24th – Molly Delaney, Executive Director, C-U Schools Foundation, will discuss their first cross-district, collaborative grant
March 31st – Dee Brown, Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics, UIUC
April 7th – Laura Weis, Champaign County Chamber of Commerce
April 14th – TBD
April 21st – Megan McKisson, vice president of Illinois 2015-2016 Vis International Commercial Arbitration Team
April 28th – TBD
May 5th – TBD
May 12 – Prof. Christopher Barkan, Executive Director of the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center, UIUC, will discuss high speed rail travel and RailTec
May 19th – TBD
May 26th – TBD
June 2nd – TBD
June 9th – Megan Casey, Frances Nelson and SmileHealthy
