January 12th, 2015: Pedaling to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond - The NASA Human Powered Rover Team

We are pleased to welcome The Academy of Arts, Careers & Technology (AACT) Faculty Advisors from the NASA Human Powered Rover Team to present: “Pedaling to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond.” 

The faculty advisors will present an overview of the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge, which is an engineering contest to design, fabricate, and race a human powered vehicle on a half mile course, over rough terrain that simulates the surface of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  It is part of NASA’s directive to use educational resources to further research and development.

They will highlight the AACT Rover Team, which won 1st place, Best Rookie Team, Featherweight Award, and the Neil Armstrong Best Design Award. During the competition, students were required to assemble their rovers, and then race them on the course with the fewest on-course penalties.

They will also discuss how in this public education setting, students from various academies (engineering, communication arts, business and finance) collaborated in this hands-on educational program, designed to meet the challenges of our 21st century science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) needs.

The meeting will be on Monday, January 12th, 6-8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. A $5 fee includes pizza and salad. Before and after the presentation, there will be time for networking with other technology professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee region.

This month’s event is sponsored by New Leaders and Freeside.

You can find us on LinkedIn and Facebook, or sign up for email meeting announcements here: http://bit.ly/14XGofL.

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Sponsor An Event! Tahoe Silicon Mountain is made possible by our generous sponsors!  If you are interested in sponsoring an event (or many), you can find all of the details here. Here are just some of the benefits: You'll be highlighted at our live event and will have the opportunity to speak about your business.  Bring brochures and signage too! You'll be mentioned in our event press release that is carried by the Sierra Sun and other media outlets. Your logo will be on our website and your company will be included in social media and email event announcements.  Learn more here.

December 8, 2014: Matt Peterson will Present "Internet on the Playa: Building an Extreme Temporary Network at Burning Man"

We are pleased to welcome Matt Peterson, Network Engineer at Burning Man, to present: Internet and Communication on the Playa: Building an Extreme Temporary Network at Burning Man.

While the Burning Man event is well-known in the region, much of the behind-the-scenes mastery for this 70,000 participant rural desert gathering is not. Matt will discuss the unique deployment and operational components that bring internet infrastructure and service to Black Rock City, before, during and after Burning Man.

Matt will share the journey that the all-volunteer “Playa Tech” team has taken over the past several years to arrive at the highly automated system that is used today. By refining operation, procedures and defining best practices, the team has been able to bring internet to the desert that some say is more reliable than that which can be found in San Francisco.

The meeting will be on Monday, December 8th, 6-8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. A $5 fee includes pizza and salad. Before and after the presentation, there will be time for networking with other technology professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee region.

This month’s event is sponsored by New Leaders.

You can find us on LinkedIn and Facebook  or sign up for email meeting announcements here: http://bit.ly/14XGofL.

November 10, 2014: Mark McLaughlin on "Taming the Beast: A Snapshot History of Snow Surveying & Truckee-Tahoe Water Management"

We are pleased to welcome Mark McLaughlin to present: “Taming the Beast: A Snapshot History of Snow Surveying & Truckee-Tahoe Water Management.”

The Truckee River is prone to a damaging flood every decade.  Understanding how to predict floods and anticipate river flow when the snow melts is crucial for downstream communities. Mark will talk about the history of snow surveying over the past century. He will cover everything from the pioneering research of a UNR professor with his simple snow sampler to the establishment of the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory near Donner Pass. 

Mark McLaughlin, Tahoe historian, and award-winning, nationally published author and professional speaker, has written six books and more than 800 articles. He has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio and has appeared on CNN, The History Channel and The Weather Channel. Mark is currently consulting for The Weather Channel on a new Donner Party documentary.

You can learn more about Mark at: http://www.thestormking.com/

The meeting will be on Monday, November 10th, 6-8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. A $5 fee includes pizza and salad. Before and after the presentation, there will be time for networking with other technology professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee region.

This month’s event is sponsored by New Leaders and Snohoe.

You can find us on LinkedIn and Facebook and at TahoeSiliconMountain.com or sign up for email meeting announcements here: http://bit.ly/14XGofL.

Oct 13, 2014: Overcoming College Application Challenges Faced by Low Income Students with Emily Wexler

We're pleased to welcome Emily Wexler to present: “Overcoming Challenges Faced by Low Income Students in the College Application Process.”

Applying to college is tough enough. But, the process doesn’t end after applying and being admitted. Low income students are highly susceptible to "summer melt" (getting admitted then failing to attend). Learn about the additional hurdles that low income, first generation and rural students need to clear to get into and then attend college, and what can be done to help them overcome these challenges.

Emily Wexler, Executive Director of Learning Bridge of the Sierra, a local non-profit that helps students with their college and financial aid applications, will also talk about identifying challenges in the Western Association of College Admission Counselors (WACAC) Code of Ethics that adversely affects low socioeconomic and first-in-family students.

You can learn more about Learning Bridge of the Sierra at: http://www.learningbridgesierra.org/

The meeting will be on Monday, October 13th, 6-8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. A $5 fee includes pizza and salad. Before and after the presentation, there will be time for networking with other technology professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee region.

This month’s event is sponsored by New Leaders and the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce.

You can find us on LinkedIn and Facebook or sign up for email meeting announcements here: http://bit.ly/14XGofL.

September 8, 2014: How Drone Technology Is Revolutionizing the Marketplace (with a demo), presented by Lloyd Garden and Brad Flora

We are pleased to welcome Lloyd Garden and Brad Flora to present: “How Drone Technology Is Revolutionizing the Marketplace.”

Aerial videography and photography, traffic reporting, environmental surveys, and product delivery are just some of the ways the now widely-available drone technology can be used.  Despite controversy over the personal and commercial use of drones and a lack of proper FAA regulation, companies are racing to take advantage of opportunities made possible by drone equipment that has become available to the mass market over the past few years.

Lloyd Garden and Brad Flora, co-owners of Drone Promotions LLC, a local company that 

provides aerial photography and videography, will talk about drone technology, FAA rules, and how drones can be used in a variety of markets.  They will also discuss Drone Promotions’ quest for innovative ways of using their drone outside the video production realm and will have their drone on hand for a demonstration (weather dependent).

You can learn more about Drone Promotions at: http://www.drone-promotions.com/.

The meeting will be on Monday, September 8th, 6-8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. A $5 fee includes pizza and salad. Before and after the presentation, there will be time for networking with other technology professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee region.

This month’s event is sponsored by New Leaders and the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce.

You can find us on LinkedIn and Facebook, or sign up for email meeting announcements here: http://bit.ly/14XGofL.

Next event: August 11, 2014: Eric Jennings to present “A Complete Ecosystem for Building the Internet of Things.”

We are pleased to welcome Eric Jennings to present: “A Complete Ecosystem for Building the Internet of Things.”

Until now, it's been very difficult to connect the physical world to the web.  Ever want to get an alert every time a chipmunk is in your vegetable garden, control your TV through the internet, or drive a robot from 10,000 miles away? Eric will describe how these projects and many more are possible with Pinoccio, a hardware, software, and API, for the Internet of Things revolution.

Eric Jennings, CTO of Pinoccio, will explain Pinoccio’s hardware and software product and he’ll show us how software, web, and mobile developers can now extend their expertise into the physical world, using the same tools and methods they're familiar with.

You can learn more about Pinoccio at: https://pinocc.io

The meeting will be on Monday, Aug 11th, 6-8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. A $5 fee includes pizza and salad. Before and after the presentation, there will be time for networking with other technology professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee region.

This month’s event is sponsored by New Leaders and the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce.

You can find us on LinkedIn and Facebook, or sign up for email meeting announcements here: http://bit.ly/14XGofL.

July 14, 2014: Truckee-Tahoe Internet Connectivity: Randy Wagner, SEDcorp, and Bev Ducey, Tahoe Prosperity Center

We are pleased to welcome Randy Wagner and Bev Ducey to facilitate a Gold Country Broadband Consortium (GCBC) Community Meeting.

Residential and business internet connectivity and speed are a vital component of continued economic development in the Tahoe-Truckee area.

Randy Wagner, CEO of SEDCorp, and Bev Ducey, the Tahoe Prosperity Center Program Manager, will provide the community with an overview of the SEDCorp and GCBC 2014/2015 goal to identify opportunities to serve local residents and businesses without sufficient internet access using fixed Wireless Internet Service Providers. We will also hear about the Tahoe Prosperity Center Tahoe Basin Broadband Project.

GCBC is in its third year of a 3-year California Public Utility Commission Award to identify populations to be served, link them with willing internet service providers and develop a solution within 3-4 months of contact. The Tahoe Prosperity Center is working on a more strategic, longer lead time project designed to take the Tahoe Basin communities and businesses to the next service level.

The meeting will be on Monday, July 14th, 6-8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. A $5 fee includes pizza and salad. Before and after the discussion, there will be time for networking with other technology professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee region.

This month’s event is sponsored by New Leaders and the Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce.

Next Meeting: June 9, 2014, Jay Yerxa to present: “Bitcoin: Understanding the Hype”

We are pleased to welcome Jay Yerxa to present: “Bitcoin: Understanding the Hype.”

Jay Yerxa, a Bitcoin investor and developer, will explain in layman’s terms how there is much more to Bitcoin than its well-known use as a virtual currency. This new technology, which has never existed before in computer science, has received worldwide attention and is often misunderstood.

Jay will explain how its use as a currency for the Internet is merely the first application of the Bitcoin technology and how the underlying block chain technology and decentralized nature of Bitcoin will form our future.  In addition to speaking about the core technology of Bitcoin, Jay will discuss financial and legal matters related to Bitcoin, as well as regulations.

You can learn more about Jay and Bitcoin at jasonyerxa.com.

The meeting will be on Monday, June 9, 6 pm - 8 pm at Pizza on the Hill, in Tahoe Donner at 11509 Northwoods Blvd., Truckee. A $5 fee includes pizza and salad. Before and after the discussion, there will be time for networking with other technology professionals who live and work in the Tahoe-Truckee region.

This meeting is sponsored by New Leaders. 

You can find us on LinkedIn and Facebook and at TahoeSiliconMountain.com or sign up for email meeting announcements here: http://bit.ly/14XGofL.