Buying Columbus Foreclosed Homes - What Are the Advantages and Important Considerations?

Columbus is the capital and the largest city in the U.S State of Ohio. If you are on the lookout for a property, buying a home in this friendly city would be an ideal option and now with Columbus foreclosed homes available at nearly half of the market rates there has never been a better opportunity to buy a home in one of the county's best residential cities at a great bargain deal.

Advantages of Columbus foreclosed homes

o Planned city - Buying a property in this city would be an ideal choice as the area has been beautifully planned with its residential communities in scenic locations and segregated industrial areas.

o Distinctive neighborhoods - Homebuyers have a wide range of options with the city's distinctive neighborhoods like the Short North area, rich with art galleries, dining, pubs, and specialty shops, Victorian Village with ornate homes and the scenic area of Grandview Heights.

o Wide employment options - The city has a diverse economy based on education, insurance, banking, fashion, defense, aviation, food, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology which has resulted in a wide employment options for its residents.

o Vibrant art and cultural scene - With the city's long rich history residents enjoy a wide variety of cultural and area attractions, such as Callaway Gardens, Chattahoochee River Walk, Coca-Cola Space Science Center, city museum, Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain and Wild Animal Safari just to name a few.

o Geographical proximity - One of the major benefits of buying a property through Columbus foreclosed homes is the geographical proximity of the city to many major cities with a driving distance of less than four hours from Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, , Indianapolis, Louisville and other cities like Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia being all within a day's drive from the city.

Important considerations

Searching suitable Columbus foreclosed homes by subscribing to online listing services and doing an in depth property research keeping the infrastructure of the neighborhood in mind are vital in finding a suitable property.

Before zeroing in on a property through Columbus foreclosed homes it is very important to get a pre-approved loan.

Properties available through Columbus foreclosed homes are negotiable and one can always get a higher discount on the asking price with better discussions with the sellers.

Career in Food and Beverage Industry

In the later years a career in the food and beverage industry was a big No! No! Times have changed and people find the Food Industry more exploring, interesting and interactive, apart from the excellent salary package. If you hold an inclination to do something big in the Food Industry, initially you will have to start with little things. A skilled worker has more openings in this industry. A degree in culinary arts, nutrition & dietetics, food and beverage operations will do the magic. The Food and Beverage industry is all about Serving. The more you serve, the more you earn.

The Food and Beverage Industry is a huge industry, not limiting the job opportunities to specific openings. Food Service management requirements are similar to those of any other management position in the service industry. Any person, who is willing to work hard, enjoys dealing with people and supervising others can enter in the management level jobs.

Highlights on the various Divisions of Food and Beverage Industry

Bakery Industry

This sector is doing brisk business. Stiff competition in the global bakery market is a driving force for growth potential. The mindsets of people are changing, now people just don't want a round cake but designer cakes. The Job is not just limited to Baker and a Helper, it has moved on from just a "Bakery" to a giant size Bakery Industry. There are top level job positions namely Vice President, General Manager, Chief Financial Officer to name a few.

Hotel Industry

This is yet another section doing overwhelming business. Huge number of Job Vacancies lies in this area. Beginning from a Bartender, Chef and Room Service Boy right up to top managerial level jobs. This industry is also known as the "Hospitality Industry". This industry is directly associated with Free Time. The Hotels in Exotic Holiday Destinations are striving towards having brisk business. They try to reduce rates, brush up the facilities available and try to see that none of the rooms are empty.

Beverage Industry

When it comes to wine, drinks, the Beverage Industry rushes into action. The Key positions for this industry are Quality Analyst. People are so particular about food; there is a need for a Quality assurance manager in the Beverage Industry as here is it more dealing with drinks. Apart from this there are various other Jobs available here.

Bright Career Prospects

The career opportunities are brighter in the Food and Beverage Industry. Here you could choose the area of your interest. If you are a foodie and love to cook you could opt for the Hotel Industry and if you love to meet people and move to places the Hospitality Industry is calling you. Variations in Job profile is what the Industry offers. All you need to do is to slog it out and excel in your work.

Conclusion

From the industry analysis we can conclude that the Food Industry progressed in leaps and bounds. There are openings in various sectors namely Food Science, Food Technology, Food Machinery to name a few. It has become a field of variety wherein you could explore your potentials and work within the areas of your interest.

Tom Justa is the author of this quality article as he loves to write on different topics and especially on jobs in different industries. You can check his quality work and more jobs in different industries at Tag44.

Chemistry and Technology

Chemistry can and does find widespread use in technology. Most of the time, the materials employed are used on a day-to-day basis and have been perfected through myriad chemical techniques.

There are over 100 chemical elements known to date, and almost all of them can form multiple compounds. Chemistry is the science of combining these elements in order to form new materials that have an ever wider use.

One of the most far-reaching chemical discoveries was the invention of plastics and other synthetic materials. There are a number of different types of plastics and other synthetic materials, each with its own different properties. Many react as temperature changes. Some, however, are able to withstand changes in temperature.

These find use in situations when a material must be exposed to very high or very low temperature, for example in a heat insulator.

Nature has also been a reliable supplier of the basic materials that we human beings take for granted. In nature, calcium is one of the basic raw materials. From it, lime and limestones in their various forms can be produced, these often being used in the construction industry. Lime is also an ingredient in cements and cement mortar.

With the addition of certain molecules, the colour of numerous materials can be changed. Glass, for example, can be turned brown if a certain concentration of barium carbonate is added to it. It can be turned green if an iron oxide is mixed in.

The colour of foods and foodstuffs is also the domain of chemistry. At the same time, this area of the natural sciences is living proof of the numerous uses and many-sided nature of many of the compounds that make up certain materials.

And who would have thought that our bodies, the coal and other fuels we use to heat our homes, and the bubbles in many of our drinks, are all composed of one and the same element, carbon?

Today's wide variety of cleaning products were without exception tested in laboratories around the world. This is how we keep things clean: by using chemicals which can quickly and effectively remove stains, and make our world a brighter place to live in.

And what about transportation? Flying, either by airplane or by the precursors of what will one day be spaceships, is the result of long years of chemistry (and physics) research. This brings up a scientific truth: Chemistry, including the chemical industry, is closely related to other natural science branches, such as physics, biology and even mathematics. In many cases, these sciences are so closely related that it is impossible to separate them. That is why, together, they are called the natural sciences.

It is beyond the scope of this document to name all of the things that chemistry has done to improve our world. We can, of course, try to show some of the advances that have been made in the wonderful world of chemistry with the help of a few examples. It is, however, like the view through a narrow keyhole into a large room. It is possible to see a few of the larger features, such as where some of the furniture is placed. But the real content of the room, down to its intricate details - that is impossible to see without much closer examination. So are many of the discoveries made, thanks to chemistry, that we tend to take for granted.

Sulphur, sulphuric acid and its salts

Sulphur is a member of the sixth main group of the periodic table, Group VIA. It is a yellow solid which is not soluble in water. It is not a metal. In nature, it occurs in two crystalline structures:

monoclinic and hexagonal.

Sulphur burns in air as a blue flame, producing sulphur oxide (SO2). It forms sulphides with a number of metals. It is used in the production of some medicines, rubbers and fungicidal products.

Sulphur is found on Earth in what are called sulphur beds, or deposits. Besides being found in its pure form, sulphur-containing compounds are found in oil, natural gas and in some rock formations which contain carbon and other materials (for example in iron sulphides chemical formula FeS).

Sulphur oxide (SO2)

Sulphur oxide is a colourless, suffocatingly toxic and poisonous gas. When it is dissolved in water, it forms sulphuric acid. Sulphur oxide is used in the production of sulphuric acid, as a bleach and as a preservative in some foods.

Sulphurous acid (H2SO3)

Sulphurous acid is a weak acid which is found in solution only. It is a product of the dissolving of sulphur oxide in water.

Sulphuric acid (H2SO4)

Sulphuric acid is a viscous, colourless, very corrosive acid. Concentrated sulphuric acid contains 2% water. It is a very strong oxidising agent and is often used to rid a system of water (it is very hygroscopic). Sulphuric acid is a strong acid. More negative metals than hydrogen dissolve in it, forming a salt and water. A dilute solution will not dissolve copper. A more concentrated solution, however, will dissolve copper, oxidising it at the same time.

Chemists come across two terms which are oft-used in the field: sulphates and sulphides. As one might guess, both terms have something to do with sulphur. Sulphates and sulphides are the salts of sulphuric acid, derived from sulphur hydrides. Sulphates are salts which arise from the reaction between a metal and sulphuric acid. Sulphides are compounds which are the product of the reaction of a metal with sulphurous acid. Sulphates have one sulphur atom bonded to four atoms of oxygen. Sulphides have sulphur atoms which are not attached to any oxygen atoms.

Sulphates are solid materials composed of sulphur and metal atoms which contain the sulphate ion, chemical formula (SO4- ) and one metal cation. These types of compounds are widespread in nature (for example CaSO4 - calcium sulphate, also known as gypsum).

Sulphides contain a sulphur anion and the cation of a metal (for example iron sulphide, FeS).

Sulphuric acid is produced through a process known as contact oxidation. The reaction mechanism has pure SO2 oxidising at 500° C under the influence of a vanadium catalyst. The cooled gas is led through a 98% solution of sulphur acid. The compound SO3 is absorbed, to create H2S2O7. By diluting with water, sulphuric acid of the desired concentration is produced.

Sulphuric acid is used in the production of some fertilisers and nitrogen-containing compounds, as well as some phosphoric compounds and the salts of acids. It is also used in the production of storage and other batteries.

Phosphorus, phosporic acid and its salts

Besides nitrogen, phosphorus is the most important element found in the fifth main group of the period table (Group VA). It has five electrons in its outermost shell. Phosphorus is a solid at room temperature. It is found in a number of what are called alotropic modifications: For example, there is red phosphorous and white phosphorous. It is also found in the bodies of both animal and human hosts, in the compound calcium phosphate.

White phosphate is an oily, poisonous substance which has a characteristic odour. It burns in air, so it has to be stored under water. When heated in the presence of oxygen, it changes into the less reactive red phosphorous. Red phosphorous forms 4-atom molecules and is soluble in fats and oils.

When heated, it reacts slowly to form phosphorous oxide. In so doing, energy is released which radiates in the presence of light. This is the characteristic gleam of white phosphorous in the dark, which has led to glowing materials being called phosphorous. The name phosphorous, then, derives its original meaning from the Latin root which means 'carrier of light'.

Red phosphorous is a red, soft crystal. It is not poisonous. It does not burn in air. It is composed of an unending chain of phosphorus atoms. It is completely and totally insoluble. Red phosphorus is used in the production of matches.

When red or white phosphorous is burned, a white solid material is formed. This is phosphoric oxide, a strongly hygroscopic reagent which reacts strongly with water and can produce phosphoric acid, which is used to protect some materials from corrosion.

Phosphoric acids are those which come from phosphorus derived from oxygen-containing acids. Phosporic acids are relatively strong and non-volatile. They have a pleasant-smelling odour and are non-toxic. When added to some drinks, they are taste boosters, making these drinks have more intensive tastes. They are produced by dissolving phosphoric oxide in water.

Phosphoric acid (H3PO4) is the most important of all of the phosphorous-containing acids. It is found in numerous physiologically important compounds (for example in DNS). Besides the better-known H3PO4, there are other phosphorous-containing acids such as H3PO3 which is produced as an intermediate in the dissociation reaction with water at a temperature of over 200° C.

Phosphates

Phosphates are salts of the phosphoric acid family, especially those of the ortho phosphorous acids. Because these have three hydrogens included, they can be replaced. There are, therefore, three degrees of phosphates which can be derived from this group of phosphoric acid.

Primary phosphates have just one atom of hydrogen replaced by a metal, giving the chemical formula

MH2PO4. Secondary phosphates have two atoms of hydrogen replaced by two atoms of metal, giving the chemical formula M2HPO4. Tertiary phosphates have all three of their hydrogens replaced, resulting in the chemical formula M3PO4.

Heating results in primary and secondary phosphates being transformed into metaphosphates (with rings in the molecules) or to high molecular polyphosphates. These phosphates are most often used in the production of wash powders or as water softeners.

There are relatively large beds of phosphates found in nature. These are often transformed into fertilisers.

The esters of acidic orthophosphates are also called phosphates. These are often used to repel pests. They can also, however, be used as intermediates in the material transport of some organisms.

Ammonia and ammonium-containing compounds

Ammonia (NH3) is one of the most important and most fundamental chemical compounds. There are three atoms of hydrogen bonded to one atom of nitrogen in a molecule of ammonia. The three bonds are all polar in nature, thanks to the differing electronegativities of N and H. The ammonia molecule has a pyramidal structure.

Ammonia, a colourless gas, has a repellent stench. It can be dissolved in water to a great degree. At room temperature, one litre of water can dissolve 700 litres of ammonia. Ammonia corrodes and is poisonous. Ammonia can be liquified rather easily. Liquid ammonia is colourless and behaves similarly to water, because molecules of ammonia create dipoles thanks to their polar bonds. With acids, ammonia forms ammonium salts.

In the laboratory, ammonia can be produced by the reaction of a concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide and ammonium chloride.

NH4 + CL + Na + OH ® NH3 + H2O + Na + Cl

Ammonia is easy to recognise in its gaseous state because of its distinctive odour. An indicator can be used to determine whether ammonia is present in an aqueous solution. If so, the paper indicates base. We get the same alkaline reaction when indicator paper is subjected to the effects of an ammonia pair. When reacted with hydrogen chloride, ammonium chloride is formed. This reaction can be recognised because of the formation of white smoke.

NH3 + HCl ® NH4Cl

Synthesis of ammonia

Ammonia can be synthesised from the elements nitrogen and hydrogen in what is known as the Haber-Bosch reaction. After years of experimentation, the technology finally developed, and in 1909, F. Haber and C. Bosch started getting close to their dream. A few years later, the synthesis had been performed successfully (F. Haber won the Nobel Prize in 1918 for the feat). An equilibrium reaction, in the presence of a catalyst, resulted in the formation of ammonia. In order to make the reaction work effectively, high temperature and high pressure are needed.

3H2 + N2 ® 2NH3

The opposite reaction is highly exothermic. When it is carried out, there is a significant loss of volume as a result. According to Le Chatelier's principle, when a force or outside variable in introduced into a system in equilibrium, that system will act to create a new equilibrium under the new conditions. The least boost to the above reaction, therefore, leads to an increase in the product side of a synthetic reaction. With the help of a catalyst, the activation energy of the reaction is greatly reduced. Still, the hydrogen present only begins to react with nitrogen at any significant rate at temperatures of 450 - 500° C. And in the end, the mixture of products formed contains only up to 20% ammonia. This is separated out from the rest of the liquids, and the unused gases can be reused. Iron, and some of its various oxides, are used as a catalyst.

Production of the ammonium ion

Ammonia reacts with water to produce the ammonium ion and a hydroxide ion. In this reaction, one atom of hydrogen bonds to the lone electron pair of the original ammonia compound NH3. A proton, then, is transferred.

NH3 + H2O ® NH4 + OH

Because this is also an equilibrium reaction, besides molecules of water and ammonia which were in the solution to begin with, there are ammonium ions and hydroxide ions present, too. The solution behaves in an acidic manner. It is called a solution of ammonium water.

Ammonium salts

The reaction of ammonia or a solution containing ammonium ions with an acid results in the formation of a salt, which can be called an ammonium salt. These have an ionic lattice.

Ammonia plus hydrogen chloride ® ammonium chloride

NH3 + HCl ® NH4Cl

Ammonia plus sulfuric acid ® ammonium sulphide

2NH3 + H2SO4 ® (NH4)2SO4

Ammonia plus nitric acid ® ammonium nitride

NH3 + HNO3 ® NH4NO3

Ammonia and hydrogen chloride are dissociated from ammonium chloride, the reverse of the first reaction above, which is the synthesis of ammonium chloride. The hydroxide compounds of alkaline metals and alkaline earth metals and ammonium salts break down, or dissociate, into free ammonia.

Ammonium salts are used in nitrogen and other mineral fertilisers.

Nitric acid

Nitric acid is a an oxygen-containing acid composed of nitrogen. Pure nitric acid is a colourless liquid. It forms an azeotropic mixture with water. This type of azeotropic mixture should have the same boiling point if it is mixed in the same relative mixture in both mixed fractions. For this reason, the mixture cannot be separated by distillation. In the presence of light, the compound breaks down into oxygen and nitric oxide. Nitric acid was earlier called aqua regia, something similar to the king of the solvents, because all of the metals besides gold dissolve in it. Nitric acid is produced using the Oswald process: Ammonia reduces in air at a temperature of 780-940° C with the help of a platinum catalyst to produce nitric oxide. This compound gradually breaks down to NO2. When water is allowed to react with this compound, nitric acid (HNO3) is the result.

Nitric acid is used in the production of nitric fertilisers and as a nitric and oxidation agent in the chemical industry.

In nature, the nitric group is found exclusively in the form of salts, or nitrates. Nitrates are salts of nitric acid which contain the NO3 group. They are found most often in the form of ionic crystals which are water soluble. As a matter of fact, all nitric salts are water soluble - without exception. Besides fertiliser, they are used for their explosive character in fireworks.

Nitrogen and its compounds

Nitrogen (Latin nitrogenium) is the first element of Group V main group elements, a group that is called the nitrogen group. The nitrogen atom has five electrons in its outermost electron shell. Nitrogen is a colourless, odourless gas which is found as a two-atom molecule in nature (N2). The two nitrogen atoms are joined by a triple bond. Each nitrogen atom has one unbonded electron pair.

Nitrogen was recognised as one component of air in 1777 by C.W. Scheele. At the time, it was found not to be essential for either combustion processes or organism respiratory functions. It is almost completely insoluble in water. It does make up around 78.1% of the Earth's atmosphere. Besides being part of the air that we breathe, nitrogen is found in various other compounds, as nitrates bonded with, among others, sodium and potassium, as in the molecule potassium nitrate (KNO). Nitrogen, however, is generally not very reactive.

Pure nitrogen is produced by the liquification of air (Lindeo process). Air is compressed and the heat which results is removed from the system. If the air is to expand again, the gas molecules present need to be supplied with energy, to get them moving again. Instead, the heat of the system is removed. The gas cools down gradually, finally changing into a liquid. Nitrogen can be separated from the liquid air mixture using fractional distillation. Nitrogen can also be won when the oxygen component of air is removed through reaction with some other material.

Because nitrogen is not very reactive, it is often used as a protective, non-interfering gas in industry. In its liquid form, it is used as a cooling agent in the freezing of some dried, processed foods, often when those foods are canned. As a gas, nitrogen is a raw material in the production of nitrogen-based compounds like ammonia and nitric acid. Nitrogen is one of the most important components of both

plants and animals, because it is included in all protein molecules. Molecular nitrogen which is found in the atmosphere cannot, however, be used as a foodstuff. Plants, then, must take nitrogen in through its salts, through plants' roots. For this reason, the production of nitrogen-based fertilisers is extremely important for a plant's health and well-being.

Nitrogen-containing compounds which appear in nature

In the Earth's atmospheric system, 90% of the nitrogen present is in the gaseous state. Just one percent is found in bonded, compound form on the Earth's surface, or in the bodies of living organisms. When it is found on the Earth's surface, nitrogen is mostly in the form of the ammonium and nitrate ions. Living organisms contain nitrogen mostly in the form of amino acids, peptides and proteins. There is also nitrogen to be found in the form of sodium nitrate, so-called Chile saltpetre, or in potassium nitrate, also called Indian saltpetre, the latter in large quantity.

The nitrogen-containing salts found in the Earth's crust are taken in by plants through their roots and are later used in the production of amino acids, proteins and other compounds. Plants are primary producers of organic nitrogen compounds. All animals, including the human animal, must meet their nutritional needs, in a direct or indirect way, by ingesting some form of plant material. Once used, nitrogen is freed from the compound it was included in, often when that organism's organic material begins to decay, in the form of ammonia. Nitrifying bacteria then change ammonia to nitrates which can be reingested by plants.

The nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen is a vital raw material in the lives of all living organisms, if only in small doses. Animals and human beings get their nitrogen from plants, not being capable of taking it in directly from the atmosphere. Most plants take in nitrogen in the form of the ammonium ion or in nitrate ions from the ground. The nitrogen which occurs in the atmosphere is bonded by several symbiotic microorganisms (nitrogenous bacteria of legumes, fungi in the root systems of alders) and transferred into the host plant. The nitrogen dioxide which is formed in thunderstorms also makes its way into the ground. This is how nitrogen, in the form of ammonium and nitrate ions, makes its way into the food chain: through the root systems of plants. After the microorganisms that brought it into those root systems die, and nitrogen is freed from the proteins which contained it in the form of ammonia, again by the actions of microorganisms. Part of this is then once again changed by bacteria to ammonium and nitrate ions... These are once again taken in by plants... Other ammonium is used by the denitrifying bacteria, changing it to molecular nitrogen, which is then returned to the atmosphere.

The compounds of nitrogen which do reach humans and other animals are later broken back down and released as decomposed matter which returns to the Earth. There, plants and microorganisms take over once again.

The effect of human beings on the natural nitrogen cycle

The necessity of feeding the world's growing population has led to more intensive agricultural practices in recent years, and the depletion of a great amount of farmland. The harvests of some plants have shown them to be low in nitrogen, as well as other phosphorous and potassium-containing compounds. In order to produce enough high-quality food for the world, the foods that are grown need to be supplied with enough fertiliser. In the past, manure, compost and even peat were used. Now, artificial fertilisers have come into fashion, because of the fact that they do contain the nutrients that crops need - and in sufficient concentration.

Yet plants cannot take in too much of this artificial fertiliser. A significant amount of it, therefore, gets into underground water supplies, which increases the amount of ions, or the hardness, in our drinking water. The materials contained in fertilisers are dangerous for human health. Unused fertiliser gets into our seas and rivers, causing the eutrophisation of the water (water plants grow too quickly and use all of the oxygen available in the water, leading to water animals and plants dying for a lack of oxygen). With more and more traffic on the freeways, more and more carbon dioxide is being pumped into the atmosphere. This makes breathing more difficult and is causing the extinction of the rain forests, as well as increased pollution and the harming of trees. In addition, nitrogen concentration in the atmosphere is decreasing, thanks to the synthesis of ammonia.

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Computer Information Science Career Preparation

Preparing for a career is just as important as becoming a professional of a chosen field. Students that seek to enter the industry of computer information science will discover a constant need to learn and prepare for their career. The work done before working inside a career is vital. Colleges provide the proper education needed for the field by offering degree programs. Computer information science career preparation can be completed by following three guideline steps.

Students need to first know their educational options before setting out to enter a career. Learning what programs are available helps students determine the correct path to take and what level degree their desired career requires. Educational options include:

Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Doctorate Degree

These programs offer students an in depth look at how to work with computers and the technology that makes it run. These aspects of the field are covered at each educational level. The more advanced a degree program is the more specialized learning becomes. Students learn to work inside the industry of computer information science in precise ways that helps them transition into the workplace.

Successfully completing a degree program is the second guideline step that prepares students for a career. This is the most significant step because students learn to fully understand all aspects of the career. Education teaches students skills in areas that include:

Computer Programming
Computer Design
Software Engineering
Computer Applications
Database Management
Computer Logic

Programs teach students to manage a network by implementing the correct procedures to diagnose and fix a problem. This is crucial because businesses need to retrieve stored data on their network so their operations function properly. Other focal points of education train students to create business applications by utilizing a variety of computer programs to help manage computer information. Students can expect to learn to work on design projects and study information technologies inside a degree program. Inside bachelor's degree programs students work through courses that develop their knowledge of advanced concepts. Students learn to operate a system to solve and prevent future problems. Graduate degree programs increase student's knowledge about model designs and database technology. Having an education considerably opens up career opportunities. The more education students complete the better their chances will be for entering a career.

Finding a job in this career field makes up the last step. Students will exit educational training knowing how to correctly work within the industry of computer information science. Becoming a network administrator or computer programmer are two possible career options.

Training in the industry is available to students through numerous computer information science schools and colleges. Students can learn to work with the continually expanding computer technology and provide specialized work by completing the preparation steps. Without knowing what degree programs are available, without completing a program, and without finding a job a career in the field will likely not happen. Complete the first step today by learning about the options available at different accredited schools. The Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training ( http://www.accet.org/ ) approves programs that offer the best training, for full accreditation.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERIC OUTLINE and may or may not depict precise methods, courses and/or focuses related to ANY ONE specific school(s) that may or may not be advertised at PETAP.org.

Copyright 2010 - All rights reserved by PETAP.org.

Renata McGee is a staff writer for PETAP.org. Locate Computer Information Science Schools and Colleges as well as Online Computer Information Science Schools at PETAP.org, your Partners in Education and Tuition Assistance Programs.

Computer Science And Information Technology Is A Booming Business

Anyone who pays attention to the job market knows that computer science and information technology has one of the most in demand occupations in the U.S. After the recent recession, the demand is still as strong as ever, but there has been a prominent shift as to where these professionals are working.

A recent study conducted in New York City reports that prior to the economic meltdown that Wall Street and the financial industry as a whole was the largest employer of MIS personnel in the country. They would hire as much as 37% of all college graduates entering the job market. After the economic meltdown, it's now shifted to Silicon Valley and the computer industry.

The key reasons are very basic; job security and work load. Many who are starting to think about what they will be doing after they graduate are talking to their former classmates who-or were-gainfully employed. What they discovered is if their colleagues weren't laid off outright, they are now working in departments that are seriously understaffed; doing much longer hours than they had ever bargained for.

As it stands, the need for more computer professionals is still intense. While there is still no hard evidence of hiring practices for all industries, the evidence is starting to truly pile up. For instance, in 2008 the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that there were nearly 300,000 computer network, systems and database administrators employed in the U.S. alone. At that time, they predicted there will be a need for an additional 30% by 2018.

It also stated that there were 1.35 million software programmers and engineers and there will be equal growth for the engineers. As one can see, even with these incredible numbers, the need for more information technology professions is acute indeed.

Another industry that is coping with exponential growth is the health care industry. The job market report states many hospitals and other health care institutions are becoming another targeted location for professional computer employment; from medical coding to software and network engineering.

What it all comes down to is while Wall Street may be suffering, the computer science and information technology profession isn't going to take the hit. The best thing college upper classmen can do for themselves is to size up the national economy as it currently stands and plan to work for industries that are showing strong growth.

As for those professionals now working in the financial world, the best advice is to do enough time to show job stability and then start shopping for a new job. Many people may decide to further their education by getting an online degree in computer science. Yes, this is a hard lesson, but one has to admit the recession took a lot more people by surprise than a pack of kids just out of college trying to land their first jobs. If anything, what everyone should learn is from all this is to do as much careful planning for when you do graduate as when you decided what career to pursue before going to college. Obtaining an online IT degree may be a very smart move.

Current Affairs: The Next American Economy by William Holstein Technology Clusters and Ecosystems

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an unemployment rate of 9.2 percent in June 2011. That number remains frustratingly consistent each month as millions of Americans struggle to find work.

It's clear that many of the jobs lost over the last several decades, and during the Great Recession of 2008, are extinct. It's said that the definition of insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing, yet hoping for different results.

Government stimulus packages and extended unemployment benefits are Band-aids for what, William Holstein, author of the new book, "The Next American Economy-A Blueprint for a Real Recovery," identifies as structural challenges in America's economy. Holstein has traveled the United States writing about globalization and economics for major business publications.

How will our country reinvent its workforce for the 21st century, and in what industries? Holstein believes our economic rebirth lies in technology clusters and ecosystems.

Following is a cross-sectional synopsis of America and how it's revitalizing itself with technology clusters and ecosystems. Discussed too, are lessons for all Americans Holstein addresses regarding the country's current economic challenges.

Technology Clusters
Clusters promote knowledge-sharing and product innovation. They also champion technical and business processes by providing thick networks of formal and informal relationships across organizations. Clusters tend to happen by accident and are difficult to create.

Orlando's technology cluster is based on computer simulation and modeling; and is rooted in part by U.S. military and major defense contractors' decision in the 1950s to locate operations in the Orlando area. Disney's influence in computer gaming and entertainment is also influential. Every cluster needs an idea factory and Orlando has approximately 140 research and development companies located near universities. "Cross-pollination" of ideas is easily promoted. Simulation and modeling are being used in multiple industries. Healthcare is included, as it uses virtual reality to help rehabilitate stroke victims.

Pittsburgh is reinventing itself from a city of steel (the mills are non-existent today), to one of advanced robotics dominance. Making advanced robotics systems is complex and challenging. They surpass performing repetitive tasks in an auto factory, which is simple, closed loop automation. The nascent industry lacks a Google or Apple presence in the city. But, area universities, engineers and government are among its collaborating cluster, committed to seeing the industry thrive and create new jobs.

San Diego is home to over 600 life science companies and 700 wireless communication companies. In the 1970s, science and medicine seldom collaborated. Today, the blend of biotech know-how and massive computing power helps San Diego dominate in medical research and development, including Genomics. The opportunity is great for "creative collisions" among university students and faculty, business leaders and area government. San Diego boasts a high percentage of risk-taking entrepreneurs and venture capital funding, which is continually pursued to spark further technological advancements.

Ecosystems
Technology ecosystems are idea factories that embody different scientific and academic disciplines located in close proximity. They include a presence of large, established companies that often invest in start-ups, license their technology, and/or sit on their board of directors. CEOs mentor less experienced leaders of small companies. Government agencies are partners but companies don't depend on them solely. Angel investors and private sector investors are key players too. There are no guarantees in any ecosystem.

North Carolina has shed its furniture, textiles and tobacco industries. Today it's a state whose small and medium-sized companies are committed to exporting, which is key to creating economic growth, wealth, and jobs. Companies that export typically pay higher wages and stay in business longer. Holstein says exporting is a huge untapped economic potential. America's export promotion and finance system is fragmented and ineffectual. North Carolina triumphs, as agencies from the local, state and federal levels are collaborating to promote exporting. They provide information to small business CEOs about trade shows in foreign capitals. They also play matchmaker with potential distributors and customers, and help companies translate their sales materials into local languages, among other things.

Atlanta, like many U.S towns dependant on manufacturing for economic viability, in the past decades, relied heavily on offshoring and outsourcing to cut costs. Today, the city exemplifies companies that are returning operations to U.S. soil, a trend known, as "backshoring." It's especially true of high-end technology, telecommunications and healthcare organizations. Jetting around the world to tweak production and design changes is both costly and time-consuming. Shipping expenses, complicated logistics, political unrest and the threat of intellectual property theft are also motivators. Atlanta's ecosystem of regional government, universities and supplier and logistics experts is among those committed to revitalizing the area's job market.

Cleveland is at the forefront of America's twelve hundred community colleges for workforce retraining. Cleveland's strength is retraining displaced workers in their forties and fifties, a demographic hit hard by global employment trends. Current and future workers need a higher set of knowledge-based skills to be competitive; and Cleveland delivers. The city's community colleges treat education less as a business, and more as schooling, enabling the unemployed to quickly transition into new viable careers. Cleveland's educational ecosystem includes local business leaders, and government officials. Community colleges can often be more flexible than four-year academia. Funding flows from federal, state and local government, and private foundations too.

Lessons for All Americans
Holstein concludes that America is the center of a global economy and the competitive pressure is permanent. He believes we're a culture of creativity, innovation and freedom. Our comparative advantage is our ability to leapfrog over existing technologies by being disruptive. To maximize that advantage, future generations will need to master math and science-based skills. It's the only way to thrive in a knowledge-based economy. "This is a defining moment for America, similar to the Great Depression, when we had to summon forth a new vision of our future," he says. "I truly believe that we can recover the optimism many seem to have lost."

 

Customer Service in the Food and Restaurant Industry

Customer service goes a long way

In a tough economy, people are thinking twice about whether to eat out or cook at home. Don't let bad customer service be the reason they decide on the latter. Customer service provides a quick and lasting impression of your business, and in a competitive industry like the food and restaurant business, first impressions can be everything. Give your customers a reason to stay loyal to your business by providing excellent customer service in addition to excellent cuisine.

Why is good customer service so important?

Customer retention is one of the biggest goals for any company, and quality customer service is an easy and effective way to achieve this goal. According to the Institute of Food Technologists, a nonprofit scientific society whose members work in food science and technology, a customer will tell five to seven other people when they experience an unpleasant incident. Poor customer service can result in not only losing the customer who experienced it forever, but it can also deter potential customers from considering your restaurant the next time they are craving a double cheeseburger.

Tips for creating a positive customer experience

Customers know that their business is vital to your success, and they also know that they have the power to take it elsewhere if they do not receive the service they deserve. Fortunately, it's the little things that make a customer feel their visit was worthwhile. A genuine greeting and a smile when they walk in is a good start. The appearance of both the store and employees should be neat and clean. For regular customers, try to remember their names and orders if they always get the same thing. You can even use customer service as a means to increase your profit. Politely offer to up-sale a meal, or offer a suggestion to complement an entrée, such as a bottle of wine.

What if the damage has already been done?

If you have a customer who is unsatisfied, do not get frustrated. Exercise patience, listen to their problem, and apologize for any mistakes on your part. If there was a relatively small mistake, offer a discount off their meal. For larger mistakes, consider giving them their meal at no charge. In addition, a good way to convince a customer to come back after a bad experience is to offer them a free or discounted meal on their next visit.

Encouraging employees to comply

Because your employees have the most contact with the customer, it is important to have a clear set of expectations for customer satisfaction, and make sure every employee is aware of it. A rewards program or bonus program can help to boost employee enthusiasm. Consider throwing a staff party if a month passes without any customer complaints. Likewise, if a customer compliments one of your employees for providing an exceptional experience, see that they receive some sort of bonus or recognition.

Service your way to success

Providing excellent customer service has always been an important ingredient for success, especially in the food and restaurant business. Eating out has become more of an unnecessary luxury than it was considered even a few years ago, so it is more important than ever to let your customers know that you appreciate their business. Provide your customers with exemplary customer service to keep them coming back for seconds.

Linda Hansen has over six years of journalism experience and currently markets promotional products at Absorbent, Ink -- the promotional products people.

Different Kinds of Scholarships for Women in Science and Engineering

With the ever rising cost of education these days, it is then no wonder that a lot of people try to find ways to get their higher education for free. Women, in particular, are rather lucky in this regard since there are quite a few different scholarships that can be had for women who wish to pursue certain degrees in many different fields. Some of these scholarships for women are geared at those who want to pursue careers that have very little women in them, like the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. While there are more women these days entering these industries, these areas of study are still pretty much dominated by men.

This kind of a trend has a lot of women contemplating going into courses that will give them degrees in what is collectively called STEM subjects. A lot of organizations actually offer women scholarships that range from $2000 to $20,000 for these subjects. There are also a few government organizations that focus a number of their grants and scholarships for women on subjects that very few women are known to try and get into. There are even universities and colleges that also offer the same thing to the fairer sex so as to increase the number of women in these industries.

These subject-specific scholarships usually include many different branches a student can choose to enroll in. For example, if you are thinking of looking for an engineering scholarship for women online, you will be able to find a number of scholarship sites with links to engineering sub-specialties like aerospace engineering scholarships, chemical engineering scholarships and even naval engineering scholarships. You will also notice that these scholarships are categorized according to degree which means that you can find scholarships for women who want to finish a college degree as well as scholarships for those who want to pursue post-graduate degrees in these fields too.

There are also engineering organizations that award scholarships to women. Some of the organizations that sponsor engineering scholarships for women include the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the American Radio Relay League Foundation, the American Society of Naval Engineers and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Each of these engineering organizations offers scholarships to women who are looking to pursue careers in these fields of engineering. The scholarships that these organizations give out come in different denominations with the lowest being $1000 and the highest often being $10,000.

Also included in the list of organizations that support scholarships for both the engineering and science fields are women's organizations like the SWE and the AAUW or the Society of Women in Engineering and American Association of University Women. These two women's organizations also hand out a number of scholarships every year to women who show some promise of excelling in these fields. The scholarships that come from these two women's organizations vary in amount as well and can range from $5,000 to $20,000. These amounts go out to scholars who wish to study engineering courses or science courses in both under-graduate and graduate choices.

To learn more about the various scholarships for women available, please visit http://scholarshipsforwomenguide.com.

Food Science Technicians - Career, Education & Earning

The profession of food science technicians involves research and development to help improve the qualities of food and beverage products. The job happens to be a highly responsible one. These professionals work in close contact with scientists and conduct various kinds of tests on food and agricultural products. Whatever research and tests on food products are performed, food technicians need to comply with the rules and guidelines set by the Food and Drug Administration. The field of food and science technology also includes professionals like biological technicians, chemical technicians, environmental science and technicians. The food technician, therefore, would be working in close touch with these professionals, according to the requirement. These professionals do not only perform food and agricultural products test, but they also analyze the end result and maintain a record of these tests. In addition, food and science technology professionals also look after the requirements of the laboratory like ordering supplies, maintenance of inventory and sterilization of laboratory equipment.

Science technician professionals may be required to work in different weather conditions. Mostly, food technicians perform their work in laboratories. Agricultural technicians and environmental science technology professionals spend most of their time working in remote locations. With the advent of advanced technology, food and science technicians need to be quite well versed with the operation of laboratory equipment. Besides traditional and electronic equipment, the field of food and science technology also involves extensive use of computers for the research and development work.

Education & Training of Science Technicians

A 2-year associate's degree in applied science or other science related technology is what most of the employers look for while hiring science technicians. However, the requirements of employers vary depending on the industry there hire professionals for. A bachelor's degree in chemistry or biology can also land you jobs as science technicians. Apart from having a degree in science related technology, candidates also need to possess some on-the-job training, an essential criteria to get most of the jobs in the field of food and science technology. These trainings are given either at the school or from the employer where you join to make your career as food and science technicians. There are a number of graduate degree programs and associate degree programs available for candidates to become food and science technicians.

Laboratory based courses, summer jobs in laboratories and internships are essentially required to kick start your career. Science technician should possess excellent communication skills both in terms of speaking and writing, as they would need to produce their research findings in both the forms. Computer skills, an eye for detail and good analytical skills are the other requirements for the job.

Employment & Earning of Food Science Technicians

Careers opportunities are abundant for graduates in applied science technology, along with laboratory based training. The median hourly earning of food science technicians is around $15.26. More job opportunities will be created in the food processing industry. With the advancement in experience, these technicians will be promoted to supervisory or other managerial positions. Mean annual salary for food science technicians in US is $42,270.

Log on to JobDiagnosis and take a Free Career Test now.

Gender Differences In Learning Style Specific To Science, Technology, Engineering And Math - Stem

There are gender differences in learning styles specific to science, math, engineering and technology (STEM) that teachers of these subjects should keep in mind when developing lesson plans and teaching in the classroom. First, overall, girls have much less experience in the hands-on application of learning principles in lab settings than boys. This could occur in the computer lab, the science lab, or the auto lab – the principle is the same for all of these settings – it requires an overall technology problem-solving schema, accompanied by use and manipulation of tools, and spatial relation skills that very few girls bring with them to the classroom on day one in comparison to boys.

Let’s look at some of the reasons why girls come to the STEM classroom with less of the core skills needed for success in this subject area. Overall, girls and boys play with different kinds of games in early childhood that provide different types of learning experiences. Most girls play games that emphasize relationships (i.e., playing house, playing with dolls) or creativity (i.e., drawing, painting). In contrast, boys play computer and video games or games that emphasize building (i.e., LEGO®), both of which develop problem-solving, spatial-relationship and hands-on skills.

A study of gender differences in spatial relations skills of engineering students in the U.S. and Brazil found that there was a large disparity between the skills of female and male students. These studies attributed female student’s lesser skills set to two statistically significant factors: 1) less experience playing with building toys and 2) having taken less drafting courses prior to the engineering program. Spatial relations skills are critical to engineering. A gender study of computer science majors at Carnegie-Mellon University (one of the preeminent computer science programs in the country) found that, overall, male students come equipped with much better computer skills than female students. This equips male students with a considerable advantage in the classroom and could impact the confidence of female students.

Are these gender differences nature or nurture? There is considerable evidence that they are nurture. Studies show that most leading computer and video games appeal to male interests and have predominantly male characters and themes, thus it is not surprising that girls are much less interested in playing them. A study of computer games by Children Now found that 17% of the games have female characters and of these, 50% are either props, they tend to faint, have high-pitched voices, and are highly sexualized.

There are a number of studies that suggest that when girls and women are provided with the building blocks they need to succeed in STEM they will do as well if not better than their male counterparts. An Introductory Engineering Robotics class found that while males did somewhat better on the pre-test than females, females did as well as the males on the post-test following the class’s completion.

Another critical area of gender difference that teachers of STEM should keep in mind has less to do with actual skills and experience and more to do with perceptions and confidence. For females, confidence is a predictor of success in the STEM classroom. They are much less likely to retain interest if they feel they are incapable of mastering the material. Unfortunately, two factors work against female confidence level: 1) most girls will actually have less experience with STEM course content than their male counterparts and 2) males tend to overplay their accomplishments while females minimize their own. A study done of Carnegie Mellon Computer Science PhD students found that even when male and female students were doing equally well grade wise, female students reported feeling less comfortable. Fifty-three percent of males rated themselves as “highly prepared” in contrast to 0% of females.

It is important to note that many of the learning style differences described above are not strictly gender-based. They are instead based on differences of students with a background in STEM, problem-solving, and hands-on skills learned from childhood play and life experience and those who haven’t had the same type of exposure. A review of the literature on minority students and STEM finds that students of color are less likely to have the STEM background experiences and thus are missing many of the same STEM building blocks as girls and have the same lack of confidence. Many of the STEM curriculum and pedagogy solutions that work for female students will also work for students of color for this reason.

Bridge Classes/Modules to Ensure Core Skills

Teachers will likely see a gap in the core STEM skills of female and minority students for the reasons described above. Below are some solutions applied elsewhere to ensure that girls and women (and students of color) will get the building block STEM skills that many will be missing.

Teachers in the Cisco Academy Gender Initiative study assessed the skill levels of each of their students and then provided them with individualized lesson plans to ensure their success that ran parallel to the class assignments. Other teachers taught key skills not included in the curriculum at the beginning of the course, such as calculating math integers and tool identification and use. Students were provided with additional lab time, staffed by a female teaching assistant, knowing that the female students would disproportionately benefit from additional hands-on experience.

Carnegie-Mellon University came to view their curriculum as a continuum, with students entering at different points based on their background and experience. Carnegie-Mellon’s new frame of a “continuum” is purposefully different than the traditional negative model in which classes start with a high bar that necessitates “remedial” tutoring for students with less experience, stigmatizing them and undermining their confidence. Below is a list of ideas and suggestions that will help ALL students to succeed in the STEM classroom.

1. Building Confidence

How do teachers build confidence in female students who often have less experience than their male counterparts and perceive they are behind even when they are not?

1) Practice-based experience and research has shown that ensuring female students have the opportunity to gain experience with STEM, in a supportive environment, will increase their confidence level.

2) Bringing in female role models that have been successful in the STEM field is another important parallel strategy that should be used to assist your female students in seeing themselves as capable of mastering STEM classes: if she could do it, then I can too!

3) Consistent positive reinforcement by STEM teachers of their female students, with a positive expectation of outcome, will assist them in hanging in there during those difficult beginning weeks when they have not yet developed a technology schema or hands-on proficiency and everything they undertake seems like a huge challenge.

2. Appealing to Female Interests

Many of the typical STEM activities for the classroom appeal to male interests and turn off girls. For example, curriculum in robots often involves monsters that explode or cars that go fast. “Roboeducators” observed that robots involved in performance art or are characterized as animals are more appealing to girls. Engineering activities can be about how a hair dryer works or designing a playground for those with disabilities as well as about building bridges. Teachers should consider using all types of examples when they are teaching and incorporating activities in efforts to appeal female and male interests. Teachers can also direct students to come up with their own projects as a way of ensuring girls can work in an area of significance to them.

Research also shows that there are Mars/Venus differences between the genders and how each engages in technology. Overall, girls and women are excited by how the technology will be used – its application and context. Men will discuss how big the hard drive or engine is, how fast the processor runs, and debate the merits of one motherboard or engine versus another. These are topics that are, overall, of less interest to most females.

The Carnegie-Mellon Study took into account the differences of what engages female students and modified the Computer Science programs’ curriculum so that the context for the program was taught much earlier on in the semester and moved some of the more technical aspects of the curriculum (such as coding) to later in the semester. Authors observed that the female students were much more positive about getting through the tedious coding classes when they understood the purpose of it. Teachers should ensure that the context for the technology they are teaching is addressed early on in the semester by using real world stories and case studies to capture the interest of all of their students.

3. Group Dynamics in the Classroom

Research studies by American Association of University Women and Children Now have found that most females prefer collaboration and not competition in the classroom. Conversely, most males greatly enjoy competition as a method of learning and play. Many hands-on activities in technology classes are set up as competitions. Robotics for example, regularly uses competitiveness as a methodology of teaching. Teachers should

be cognizant of the preference of many girls for collaborative work and should add-in these types of exercises to their classes. Some ways to do this are by having students work in assigned pairs or teams and having a team grade as well as an individual grade. (See Reading 2 on Cooperative Learning.)

Another Mars/Venus dynamic that STEM teachers should be aware of occurs in the lab there male students will usually dominate the equipment and females will take notes or simply watch. Overall, male students have more experience and thus confidence with hands-on lab equipment than their female counterparts. Teachers should create situations to ensure that their female students are spending an equal amount of time in hands-on activities. Some approaches have been: 1) to pair the female students only with each other during labs in the beginning of the class semester so that they get the hands-on time and their confidence increases, putting them in a better position to work effectively with the male students later on, 2) allot a specific time for each student in pair to use the lab equipment and announce when it’s time to switch and monitor this, and 3) provide feedback to male students who are taking over by letting them know that their partner needs to do the activity as well.

4. Moving Female Students from Passive Learners to Proactive Problem Solvers

The main skill in STEM is problem solving in hands-on lab situations. For reasons already discussed regarding a lack of experience, most girls don’t come to STEM classes with these problem-solving skills. Instead, girls often want to be shown how to do things, repeatedly, rather than experimenting in a lab setting to get to the answer. Adding to this issue, many girls fear that they will break the equipment. In contrast, male students will often jump in and manipulate the equipment before being given any instructions by their teacher. Teachers can address this by such activities as: 1) having them take apart old equipment and put it together again, 2) creating “scavenger hunt” exercises that force them to navigate through menus, and 3) emphasizing that they are learning the problem solving process and that this is equally important to learning the content of the lesson and insisting that they figure out hands-on exercises on their own.

Research has also shown that females tend to engage in STEM activities in a rote, smaller picture way while males use higher order thinking skills to understand the bigger picture and the relationship between the parts. Again, moving female students (and the non-techsavvy student in general) to become problem solvers (versus just understanding the content piece of the STEM puzzle) will move them to use higher order thinking skills in STEM.

Finally, many teachers have reported that many female students will often want to understand how everything relates to each other before they move into action in the lab or move through a lesson plan to complete a specific activity. The female students try to avoid making mistakes along the way and will not only want to read the documentation needed for the lesson, they will often want to read the entire manual before taking any action. In contrast, the male student often needs to be convinced to look at the documentation at all. Boys are not as concerned with making a mistake a long the way as long as what they do ultimately works. The disadvantage for female students is that they often are so worried about understanding the whole picture that they don’t move onto the hands-on activity or they don’t do it in a timely fashion, so that they are consistently the last ones in the class to finish. Teachers can assist female (and non-tech-savvy) students to move through class material more quickly by providing instruction on how to quickly scan for only the necessary information needed to complete an assignment.

5. Role Models

Since the numbers of women in STEM are still small, girls have very few opportunities to see female role models solving science, technology, engineering or math problems. Teachers should bring female role models into the classroom as guest speakers or teachers, or visit them on industry tours, to send the message to girls that they can succeed in the STEM classroom and careers.

Bibliography

Medina, Afonso, Celso, Helena B.P. Gerson, and Sheryl A. Sorby. “Identifying Gender Differences in the 3-D Visualization Skills of Engineering Students in Brazil and in the United States”. International Network for Engineering Eucation and Research page. 2 August 2004: [http://www.ineer.org/Events/ICEE/papers/193.pdf].

Milto, Elissa, Chris Rogers, and Merredith Portsmore. “Gender Differences in Confidence Levels, Group Interactions, and Feelings about Competition in an Introductory Robotics Course”. American Society for Engineering Education page. 8 July 2004: [http://fie.engrng.pitt.edu/fie2002/papers/1597.pdf].

“Fair Play: Violence, Gender and Race in Video Games 2001”. Children Now page. 19 August 2004: [http://www.childrennow.org/media/video-games/2001/].

“Girls and Gaming: Gender and Video Game Marketing, 2000”. Children Now page. 17 June 2004: [http://www.childrennow.org/media/medianow/mnwinter2001.html].

Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age. District of Columbia: American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, 2000.

Margolis, Jane and Allan Fisher. Unlocking the Computer Clubhouse: Women in Computer. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.

Taglia, Dan and Kenneth Berry. “Girls in Robotics”. Online Posting. 16 September 2004: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/roboeducators/.

“Cisco Gender Initiative”. Cisco Learning Institute. 30 July 2004: [http://gender.ciscolearning.org/Strategies/Strategies_by_Type/Index.html].

Donna Milgram is founder and Executive Director of the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology & Science (IWITTS). She is currently the Principal Investigator of the CalWomenTech Project, a $2 million National Science Foundation grant awarded in April 2006. She was also the Principal Investigator of the WomenTech Project, funded by the National Science Foundation, which had a goal of increasing the number of women enrolled and retained in technology education in three national community college demonstration sites. She led IWITTS's partnership with the Cisco Learning Institute (CLI)/Cisco Gender Initiative. Ms. Milgram produced the interactive teacher training video "School-to-Work: Preparing Young Women for High Skill, High Wage Careers."

Ms. Milgram's recent conference presentations include: the NSF ATE Conference "Recruiting Women to Science, Technology, Engineering & Math" (2004) and California Educating for Careers Conference in 2003.

Additional Resources:

http://www.iwitts.com/

http://www.womentechworld.org/

http://www.womentechstore.com/

Get To Know What is Forensic Science

Most people got to know about forensic science due to the very famous television program, shown throughout the world - Crime Scene Investigation (CSI). This series have somehow given viewers an in-depth exposure in the forensic industry. In the show, there are several teams comprised of young investigators or probers equipped with vast forensic skills to crack and disclose the most mysterious and complicated criminal cases. Most of the time, the analysis of such evidences will lead to very unpredictable results. In reality, there are few areas that live under the field of forensic.

There is forensic anthropology. These forensic experts will search, recover and analyze dead bodies with the intention of disclosing the real identities of those unidentified victims. They can deal with a wide array of corpses; mummified, skeletons or decomposed, burned or also unrecognizable bodies to determine their height, age at death, pathology, ancestry and sex. Other evaluations such as time and manner of death can also be estimated. They also encompass cases where deaths are caused by accident, suicide, mass disasters or even the violations of human rights.

Another forensic field operating under forensic science is the forensic pathology. These experts are also known as medical examiners where they perform autopsies onto corpses to determine the cause of death and their identities. Autopsies are usually carried out if the death was sudden or unexpected, particularly cases like suicides, accidents, tragedies or homicides.

There are also minor islands in the sea of forensic. The forensic dentistry or odontology is the specialized experts in using dental proofs to determine the identity. During tragedies where plenty of deaths occur, dental remains would be very helpful. Besides, these forensic experts can also analyze bite marks and make comparisons to the dental features of a suspect. Forensic nurses will handle the recognition affairs of abuse cases, either physical, sexual or child abuse as well as criminal cases involving sexual abuse and adult violence.

Forensic technology and forensic chemistry are responsible for chemical analysis such as drugs or poisons that are present in the corpses or crime scenes. Molecular biology and DNA analysis are also getting popular in the field of forensic science as they are really useful in corpse identification.

 

If You Are Good at Science and Want Good Money Consider a Patent Law Degree

What is Patent Law - Intellectual Property Law?

There are four main types of intellectual property: patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets. The patent system exists in most industrialized countries and is designed to reward inventors and authors. Patents are granted by the US patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where patents are carefully examined and protection granted for those that meet legal standards.

Copyright protection is governed by federal law and applies to literary, musical and dramatic works, to name a few. The owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute copies of their work. Limited use of the copyright work is allowed for education and research purposes without the permission of the copyright owner.

Trademarks can be a single word, or a group of words or a logo that is used for sale of goods. The owner of a trademark can exclude others from using it in the sales of their goods. It not only protects the trademark owner but the public as well as it minimizes confusion, and buying something that is in fact something else.

Required Education and Coursework

Patent law is a specialized field within the practice of law. To enter into this profession, you will need to accomplish a number of things. First you will have to obtain a college degree. Then you will have to enter and finish law school as well as pass the bar exam. Once you pass the bar exam, you then become licensed to practice law.

If you are thinking about specializing in patent law, it is best if you obtain a college degree in engineering, physics or natural sciences such as chemistry and biochemistry. To succeed in this profession a general knowledge, understanding and liking of science is a must.

Patent law degree programs cover courses such as intellectual property, copyright law, patent law and policy, trademark law and unfair competition, antitrust, bioethics, genetics and the law, international intellectual property, international trade law as well as patent claim drafting. This list is in no way exhaustive but it does give you an idea of the curriculum and skills targeted and developed within this profession.

Careers with Patent Law Degree

Patent lawyers work in a variety of settings, from corporations and law firms to universities and government agencies. In corporations, you would work as an in-house counsel. You would have expertise in the technology of your corporations and your main task would be driven by the business of the corporation. In law firms, you would have a wide variety of clients and would practice patent law across a wide spectrum of technologies. At universities, you could work as a law professor. In these types of positions, you would not only teach but have the time to do research and write articles and presentations on intellectual property law. The federal government employs a large number of patent lawyers. In this role you would represent the government and litigate on behalf of government agencies.

A Day in the Life of a Patent Lawyer

Patent lawyers spend most of their time in procurement and licensing of patents. Procurement of a patent begins with the inventor describing his/her invention to the lawyer. You would then have to evaluate your client's description and think about its utility, novelty and obviousness of invention. Your job at this stage is to evaluate if your client's idea can be labeled a valuable patent and if a patent application should be filed. In order to accomplish this task successfully you will have to have great mastery of law but also the technical field involved.

Let's say a decision is based to apply for a patent. Your job then is to draft a patent application and file it with USPTO. The application is rather elaborate and includes a detailed description of the patent, how it is made and how it will be used. A significant portion of the application defines the inventor's patent rights. Once filed, the application is assigned to an examiner. As a patent lawyer, you would be the main contact person for the examiner and would need to spend many hours in correspondents with the goal of getting a favorable final action for your client.

If the patent application is not approve, you would be responsible for filling appeals to the decision to the USPTO's Board of Appeals or even to the US Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit. However, if the patent application is approved, you will then develop and investigate licensing and filing corresponding patent applications in other countries.

Patent Lawyer Salary - How much could you make?

If you like what you read about patent law so far, you are going to love what comes next! According to PayScale.com, in 2005 the average patent lawyer salary was $115,000. The American Intellectual Property Law Association reports the average salary to be over $180,000. If this surprises you, it should not. Keep in mind that you must have a strong science or engineering background in order to become a patent attorney. Due to such high education demands, this specialization of law is more in-demand that other legal areas of practice. As a result, salaries are high.

 

Industrial Compliance - How to Improve Dust Management in the Workplace

HSE 07/08 statistics highlight that there are currently 2.1 million people suffering from work related illnesses in the UK. Among the myriad of health issues experienced by employees is the threat of long term respiratory health problems caused by inhalation of harmful dust and other particulates.

Effective management of these problems has never been more important as the HSE announces plans to clamp down on those failing to adhere to H and S legislation.

The issues associated with poor extraction of contaminated air in working environments are echoed in a number of wide ranging sectors. Despite regular updates to HSE guidelines/COSHH regulations, many businesses are failing to recognise what constitutes a risk and are subsequently not addressing these issues.

Widespread Solutions has specialised in the design, manufacture and supply of at source air filtration and extraction systems for more than 25 years. Its products are a fully COSHH compliant solution to the issues posed by dust and other harmful particulates and chemical agents.

The range incorporates simple, portable 'plug and play' systems as well as larger bench top products to suit a host of working environments.

A major factor in the decision of what to market within the WS range was the scope of sectors in which dust and fume inhalation can be problematic.

Under the umbrella of WS there are a series of brands including TechFlo and GraphicAir which supply variations of this expertly designed extraction and filtration equipment to sectors within which a need has been identified. These include education (specifically Design and Technology, Science and Art departments), the hobby, model, craft and medical sectors.

Selecting the correct method of extraction/filtration to manage dust issues is paramount. In some instances where the hazard is minimal, a simple stand alone unit which offers immediate operator protection will suffice. However, where there is a greater potential problem it may be more suitable to install a unit which completely removes the hazard from the working environment using a ducted system.

CASE STUDY: Metrodent

Metrodent is a manufacturer and distributor of dental supplies and laboratory equipment.

The issue:

Metrodent required a highly efficient system which could remove the monomers and particulates generated within the development and production of acrylic teeth and plates. Understanding that these particular kinds of dust can be especially harmful if inhaled over long periods of time, it was essential that the chosen system could cope with high output without compromise on air quality if used over long periods.

Metrodent selected the WS TechFlo range. TechFlo is specifically designed to deal with the kinds of issues faced by those working with grinding dust, acrylic powders and adhesives - perfect for the dental market.

The result

Delighted with the effectiveness and consistently high performance of its TechFlo unit Metrodent became an ambassador for WS and has been appointed sole distributor of the WS range to the dental market. A series of Widespread Solutions products are now available through Metrodent.

Ongoing compliance

Businesses have a wealth of resources available to them in selecting the size and type of Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) equipment to suit their needs.

Investment in LEV equipment to manage the potential risks to health is a vital step in making a business environment COSHH compliant, but the ongoing responsibility of a workplace also involves the appropriate maintenance of the system to ensure continuous high performance.

Part of the WS package is a full after sales and maintenance programme through which any WS products sold are maintained, examined and tested on site within the legal time periods, the purpose being to ensure that all customers carry out essential works on time and in full as required under the COSHH Regulations. This avoids missed maintenance checks and guarantees the unit's long-term optimum performance.

 

Latest and Most Advanced Technology Applied to Health Care

I would like to speak tonight about a new application of existing technology that could very soon have an almost unbelievable impact on your life.

Most health books are referred to as "How To" type of books because they are basically designed to help you help yourself. This book is different; it's about a major change in the health care system, a change that would provide breakthroughs in human health and life style, far beyond anything we have ever seen.

The current health care system is outstanding in many respects, in fact it’s known world wide for its expertise in trauma care, surgery capabilities, and many other forms of emergency care along with the numerous other areas of expertise. It’s something that is very valuable to all of us, and will no doubt continue to be a very important part of our life. Unfortunately, however, as outstanding as the health care system is in these critical areas, it also has a major weakness that causes an enormous amount of unnecessary physical suffering and medical expense. That weakness is the failure of the medical system to prevent the continuing existence of very high levels of chronic disease. The changes in the medical system being proposed here tonight would dramatically change that.

Over a 100 million people in this country are suffering with chronic disease--that is more than one out of every three of us. Furthermore, many of these diseases are of a very serious nature, including the major terminal and crippling diseases that we are all too familiar with and too often a witness to within our own family, circle of friends and neighbors.

Millions are truly suffering—and with some of these diseases, to often terribly.

And, it doesn't end there, even those of us that are fortunate enough to avoid the diseases still have to live with the continual threat, along with the excessively high cost of health care that such high levels of disease creates.

There are those that believe that because many of these diseases have been around forever, that maybe we just have to live with them. Until now that may well have been the case. Fortunately, however, technology has now caught up to this segment of the health care system as well. It can now bring disease prevention and wellness levels of expertise not only up to, but even exceed, the high level of perfection that most of the rest of the health care system presently enjoys.

Usually any form of successful entry into the health care field is introduced directly through the medical profession itself, whether it involves the introduction of new equipment, new tools, new systems, or new concepts. Furthermore, those additions are usually carefully designed around supporting the current medical system. The system being proposed here is designed to bring more balance into the overall health care system with far more emphasis on the individual’s and public’s best interest. This would be accomplished by introducing into the health care system an effective preventive and wellness program, basically in the form of an addition to the current medical system.

The proposed system involves the addition of a highly sophisticated national medical information system, very unique for a number of reasons. First, not only is it designed to more fully accommodate the needs of the patient and the public, but it’s also a system that would be legislated into existence and controlled by the public through a public commission.

Another logical question that comes up is, how can an electronic engineer with no medical background, possibly hope to accomplish anything like this in health care?

The answer to that is very simple, because primarily what is required here is a special electronic processing system that has the capacity to capture key health data already established by the medical experts and correlate that data to human health in an effective, thorough and efficient manner. As mentioned, it involves a highly advanced national medical information system, completely new to the health care industry.

There are basically two technologies involved here. They include highly advanced clinical laboratory science--a branch of the current medical system--and advanced computer technology, including supercomputers.

With most of us, our knowledge of clinical laboratory science is limited to what we are exposed to through our physician. Whenever we have a questionable health problem our physician will usually "run" some lab tests. Most of these tests involve clinical laboratory science.

What most of us don't know is that CLS is sort of a separate branch of the current medical system, and is a very rapidly advancing science, in fact so much so that it is far exceeding the capability of the present medical system to fully utilize all of its latest developments. In recent years, the industry has become highly computerized both in its laboratories and research.

Lets read a couple of paragraphs from the book that I believe you will find very interesting, one involves the bio-chemical make-up of the human body (primarily what CLS is based on) and the second discusses major progress recently made in clinical laboratory science and what this progress could mean to us.

First, let's take a look at the bio-chemical aspects of the human body. These statements I will be reading from the book are opinions and statement by experts in the clinical laboratory science field. Most of them are referenced from text books located In the University of Michigan Medical Library. For the purpose of this reading I'll skip their names. This is on page 18 in my book. To view this page click here www.vibranthealthplus.com/page18 [http://www.vibranthealthplus.com/page18/]

Basis for the changes in the new medical system. Article one of seven.

 

Looking at Brainwave Technology

There are many kinds of brainwave technology out there that you can look at. If you notice one thing and one thing only, the whole concept of the personal development industry and mental power is that the industry has really grown over the last few decades, and we are in a good position to take advantage of the latest developments of the brain improvement industry. One look at the internet will reveal the massive amount of products and technologies that you are able to choose from, and in this article we will be looking at the whole concept of the brainwave entrainment technology and what you can do to understand how it functions and how you can best benefit from it.

The true amusing affair about psychological maturation engineering sciences like brainwave entrainment is that increasingly people are winning admittance to this form of applied science.

For one affair cortical potential entrainment is the function of nominal, organized measures that have been acquired in the laboratory for the exercise to ameliorate the posit of the thinker. Of course, this has been organised from the very fact that the head habits nerve cells in proper frequencies at unique times of the day.

What happens is that the nerve cells in the psyche in reality commune with some others to achieve the construction of electromagnetic pulses, which show up as relative frequency versions on responsive machineries. One of the things that you necessitate to do is to actually figure that the brain actually exists in certain grand states that you can actually make understand the function of the psyche wave engineering science. One of the things that is fascinating about the whole technology is that you are able to find and download the sound files from the internet.

Their simple availableness on the internet affects it one of the premier consumer personal ontogeny applied sciences that you can exercise. Insight entrainment is something that has really taken over; applying extended absolute frequency audios that have been embedded into specific comfortable auditory sensations that can be responded to by the cortical of the brain.

Brainstorm entrainment can make the different relative frequencies in the mind that are affiliated to high isometric and low isometric great states, which are identical structural for you gaining sprightliness. Of course what this means is that we actually use science to reverse engineer the processes of the mind and from there, induce the cortical of the mind to actually emulate the actual frequencies that are needed to actually be able to emit the kind of states that you need.

At the end of the day, brainwave entrainment is one of the most powerful and easily accessible technologies in the world today, and from there, you would be able to make some headway into whatever you are doing. There are plenty of things that you need to actually do to access this kind of brainwave technology. We will look at other technologies in other articles.

Click Here to get your Free "Success Accelerator" Brainwave Cd today! Unleash your Mind Power potential to attain the lifestyle that you want. Go claim your Free CD today!

Nigeria and Its Short Lived Satellite

Barely eighteen months after the Nigeria communication satellite (NigComSat1) was launched from the Sichuan province of China on may 2007, it was observed that the satellite which allegedly gulped a whooping sum of forty billion naira ($256 billion) has malfunctioned and had to be packed in orbit in order to avoid damage to other satellites.

The major concern about the NigComSat1 is its negative impacts on the Nigeria economy and perhaps other African countries on its bands; This is because the NigComSat1, a so called super - hybrid geographical - stationary satellite was designed to operate in Africa, middle east and southern Europe.

It has been tradition in Nigeria that whenever something of technological and economical importance is done, one must wonder whether it was that sane thing some people somewhere did long ago without a rat in the nest aftermath.

We'll keep on asking that is it not a satellite like that of Russia and the United States since 1960s, that stood the test of time? This NigComSat1 which was supposed to span about 15years hardly lasts a year plus! Maybe we should call this another putrid political plan to enrich the pocket of some people!

 

Plugging the Skills Gap Within the Manufacturing and Engineering Industry

2009 was an interesting year in the British economy, especially for businesses in the Manufacturing and Engineering industry, who suffered significant job losses in the wake of the recession. Despite the slowdown and casualties there was much debate about how the UK could secure a future for the industry in Britain through addressing the evident skills gap. The topic was one that was hotly debated at the Manufacturing Director's conference in November, and on many other occasions. There were 3 clear and agreed objectives and priorities: the need for greater support of science and maths subjects in schools and colleges, a methodology guaranteeing a balance between vocational and academic training, and a revitalisation of the industry image to attract the best talent into the sector.

So what will 2010 bring in terms of action to overcome these issues?

There has been a wave of new activity with government, academia and industry pulling together to launch a number of initiatives. Amongst them is 'The Big Bang Young Scientists' and Engineers' Fair, which will include the National Science and Engineering competition for young enthusiasts and is supported by industry leaders such as BAE, Shell and Siemens.

Also of note is that the University of Lincoln is to establish a dedicated school of engineering, the first in the UK for some 20 years. The school's aim is to address the future challenges for the industry and will focus on fundamentals such as energy production and distribution and low carbon technologies.

These initiatives are commendable and will no doubt start to address the worrying gap in industry, however I feel that there is something missing, something that would make all the finance, resource and investment worthwhile and could deliver more tangible results. One of my concerns is that all these initiatives are based around secondary schools, colleges and universities. There appears to be little in the way of educating at primary level and also educating parents. My perspective is that many of the young individuals that will be engaged by these schemes will already be considering their future in engineering and may not need the encouragement that will be provided. What about those that do not know which direction their career will go in? There can be a high degree of inertia in adolescents and despite the best efforts of government, academia and industry if they are not inspired and motivated then these schemes may not engage them. My belief is that we need respected and inspirational individuals to spear head the campaigns, high profile individuals that young people can relate to. We also need to consider the soft skills required to make a success of their career; all these schemes are based on positive reactions from young people and don't consider what happens if they aren't engaged or how to generate their interest in the first place.

Speaking from experience, before I worked in the ManEng market I had no interest or desire to know anything about the industry, however I am now amazed and mystified on a daily basis and this is how our young people should perceive the industry. Some of my points may already have been addressed, and if so I apologise, however if that is the case I would ask why these initiatives are not better publicised.

Lee Child is joint Managing Director and co-founder of Dudley Child Executive Recruitment Ltd and has in excess of 10 years experience recruiting, specifically within the Manufacturing and Engineering sectors.

Lee was educated at Huddersfield University where he read Molecular Biology, whilst also playing professional rugby league for a number of clubs including Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Wildcats. During this time Lee gained International Honours with the Irish Rugby League team.

Dudley Child Executive Recruitment Ltd is a professional supplier of recruitment solutions and search and selection services to the global manufacturing and engineering markets.

The ethos of Dudley Child Ltd is to provide a service that values and champions quality in the recruitment process and one that mirrors the quality requirements of its target markets, namely manufacturing and engineering. The business was founded to exploit a niche in the current market for a purely quality focussed search firm that challenges the normal industry practices.

Rejuvenating Science Majors

Recently, the number of graduates holding science related majors decreased about 27% according to a survey done by the National Science Board. We're seeing this as the trend in science related subjects such as computer science, technology, math, engineering, and laboratory science. We sought out to find out why.

It's an inspirational thought. The harder you work, the greater rewards you receive. For many, science is fun, but for the majority of us right brain-ers, science involves a lot of hard work and analysis. Educators and politicians have been up in arms about educational reform. Well, here's a thought. How do we rejuvenate science as not only a discipline and industry, but attract more engineers, programmers, mathematicians, chemists, analysts? What kind of impact will a slowed technology and science industry have on the global race? Surely, it won't do America any good seeing to as how Asia and Russia's science industries are booming with innovation and technological advances as we speak. To make things worse, America isn't looking to great compared to its global rivals when our students are performing poorly in schools when it comes to math and science.

Recently, Obama called to industry groups and college students to encourage more growth in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) industries. But we think the way to really rejuvenate the science system is start from the bottom and build up. Science and math must be built upon information learned in previous education. One doesn't just become a science nerd in a year. So we propose classrooms from kindergarten through high school level a crucial time period to build a foundation for strong STEM skills. If students during this time period receive a solid basis in science and math they may feel greater compelled and encouraged to stick with it during college and onwards.

Making science and math fun to learn is the only way to keep innovation alive. We must educate the upcoming generation so that great changes may occur. Let's face it, no one likes to balance equations, they want hands on learning and real world applications to science and math. Middle and high school students have reported that they are learning the most and having the most fun with it-while actively testing out Newton's first law of motion, or being able to apply chemistry and math to something relevant to their lives. These subjects just aren't appealing if learnt through textbooks only. In college it is different. Not only are these classes dry, but overpacked, and very difficult to get an A. Turns out, calculus, and science classes are usually the "weed-out" classes and rather than encouraging students to enter the medical or science field, these weed-out classes are designed to keep students away. Low grades are the #1 cause in deterring students from pursuing a STEM related career.

So, how can reinvigorate the science discipline? Another way is to offer accredited online courses in which students can better their understanding of difficult science and math courses that would otherwise scare them away from pursuing engineering or pre-medical careers. On their own time and online is a much more supportive and relaxed way of learning an otherwise very difficult subject. Online science degrees may very well make a large influence and impact on science and the way we learn scientific concepts.

Free-lance writer with a passion for Writing and Research.
Amanda Rodriguez
Accredited Science Courses Online