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Questions:

What is your job? What does your job involve? What do you like most about your job?
Has the field you're involved in expanded over the years? Do you think it will develop?
Are any aspects of your job related to our project?
What is your educational background?

Answers:

I, [Jes Barrett], have a degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University and an MBA from the university of Delaware. I am currently a project engineer at ATK, an aerospace company.

My job responsibility is to be the technical lead in building rocket motors. ATK in Elkton, MD is a leading supplier of solid propulsion. I work on two heritage programs that supply solid rocket motors for different military applications. Drawings have been generated to detail the parts, subassemblies, and final assemblies. It is my responsibility to make sure the parts and assemblies are being fabricated to these prints.

It is difficult to describe my job in a few words, so please let me know if you have other questions.

The industry is very dependent on the government's military budgets. A large portion of our work is missile defense. We fabricate several components in the SM-3 missile. This was the missile that shot down the satellite last year.

Conversation with Jes Barrett (Mentor) via Viewbook

Oct 27
Jes: Good afternoon everyone. My computer speakers are broken, so we'll have to do a chat if that is ok.
Katie: Hello
Olivia: Hi Jes, don't worry, we can't because we're at school
Jes: OK, how are things coming along?
Katie: we finished problem, our mentor's info, and some of the solutions and we've started on the website
Jes: Good job... What can I help you guys with?
Katie: i think... we still need another solution that we're not going to use, right olivia?
Olivia: yeah, and then we have to put a lot of details in it for the website
Jes: Remind me, which solution did you chose? Indefinete permit and speed restrictor are listed online.
Olivia: For the last solution we need to validate it and make sure it works and makes sense. We saw that a person watching may not be necessary and just have a speaker with a reminder.
Katie: however, if you just ave this constant reminder, you may eventually tune it out
Jes: Very good point. I think the camera idea w/someone watching would be very expensive. You'd need someone to be there, memory to record and transfer the film, etc. Maybe there is a compromise to keep things fresh
Olivia: if it was someone just speaking, would that be less expensive?
Katie: you would have to pay that person
Olivia: can't we make it so you pay a certain amount each month or something?
Katie: this would have to be their job and we'd have to pay them by the hour i think
Jes: You could record different voices and different sayings and program this into a computer. Then there is variety without having a live person and associated costs.
Katie: a variety of sayings and voices
Olivia: what if it was the reminder and a control on the steering wheel? like if it turns too much something else would be said like "are you okay?"
Katie: you could drive off the road without turning too much
Jes: you could have the reminders at different intervals so it's not every 10 minutes or something
Katie: thats a good idea. so this recording thing would kind of be lilke an ipod on shuffle, but played randomly and not at a distinct pattern of time
Jes: Great idea... The initial cost could be minimized so parents would buy them.
Olivia: should we do like a speaker that you charge, and skip batteries or whatever
Jes: It could be linked into a car just like an iPod w/an FM transmitter on older cars or MP3 jack in newer cars. Or lusing bluetooth technology.
Katie: that sounds good
Olivia: the problem with a bluetooth is that the person may forget to turn it on. with the radio, it can be turned on whenever the car starts
Jes: I'd suggest something that plugs into a cig lighter outlet. very true. I'm new to bluetooth stuff. You are doing a great job of brainstorming your idea and all of the +/-'s associated with it.
Katie: thanks :)
Jes: I think it's a good idea to nail down your main idea w/all of the details. You can easily fill in the ideas that you didn't choose. Most might even be the negatives you are avoiding in your main idea. The best option should be something that is put into the car permanently. If it can be linked in electronically, that is even better.
Olivia: that sounds good. and it can charge when the car is on so that it isn't taken out
Jes: Something else to consider is when a parent is driving. can the system be turned off? Maybe with a parent's password so the teen can't turn it off.
Olivia: but the teen can always figure it out
Katie: true...
Jes: I guess it would just be something the parent did to be a good role model. I apologize, but I'm going to have to sign off early. I will continue to brainstorm and email some ideas later today. Do you want to meet again next Monday?
Olivia: sure that sounds great thanks
Katie: thank you so much

Oct 30
Olivia: uhm what do we need to work on?
Katie: power source for the speaker and location and what not
Olivia: i thought we're using the cigarette lighter outlet
Katie: ok i wasnt sure i just thought we were thinking about it but that works
Olivia: well the only problem would be that it can be removed easily
Katie: that's true we could do it like an ipod or somethig right? but that's still easily removed
Olivia: it would be too expensive to install it in the car and on an ipod it would cost a lot just to put that voice on there
Katie: not an ipod just something like it. our only options are the cig lighter/mp3 type thing and intalling it into the car. the con are: too expensive and easily removed. which is worse?
Olivia: expensive. no one will want to use it if they have to pay that much
Katie: true

Nov 20
Jes: Good afternoon.
Olivia: hi jes
Jes: How are you gals? Can you give me a status of where things stand?
Olivia: we have the design for our project solution
Jes: Great. Do you have the alternate ideas, too?
Katie: we have the alternate ideas, but we only have to mention them, not design them
Jes: Good. what is left to do?
Olivia: we need to elaborate on the solutions, do the team profiles, and the assessment
Jes: Do you need help with the solution?
Olivia: can we e-mail you what we have and see what you think we should do?
Jes: Sure. I will review the email and provide comments. I just got it.
Olivia: thanks so much
Jes: I have to run, but I hope to be able to review it later today and provide comments.
Katie: thanks
Jes: Next week is Thanksgiving and I return to work the following week. Do you want to schedule another talk?
Katie: yea is monday ok?

Conversation with Jes Barrett (Mentor) via email

Hi Ms. Barrett,

My name is Olivia, and my teammates are Katie and Wesley. As you know, you are our mentor for the TechXplore project. I just wanted to take the time to explain to you what the idea of my team's project is. We found out that teen ADHD drivers are causing a scare to many people. We want to create a system to help prevent accidents by a distracted teen ADHD driver. For the system, there will be an ear piece that the driver would wear, which can connect to their "extra pair of eyes." There will also be video cameras in the car. The "eyes", which is another person, would watch over the video while the person is driving and help them concentrate on the road. Just simple phrases like "pay attention to the road" or "focus" may help decrease the number of accidents caused by teen ADHD drivers. If there is an accident, the person watching the video can immediately call for help. We do realize that many ADHD drivers have never been in an accident and have seen statements of them saying how careful and safe of a driver they are, but it is also proven that a teen driver with ADHD is three times more likely to cause an accident than a teen driver without the condition. Our goal is not only to create the system, but to promote it and convince the drivers and their parents to use the system to keep everyone safe. If you have any ideas or can critic this, that would be great. We hope to hear from you soon. Thanks.

- Olivia

Oct. 3, 2008 (from Jes)

Olivia , Katie, and Wesley,

I'm happy to hear from you and you have a great idea for your project. You seem to have done a great job with the initial research for the project. Please let me do a little research this weekend and I promise to respond before Monday.

Thank you,
Jes

Oct. 6, 2008 (from our team)

We understand that we need two other initial solutions for the project. One of them was to have the ADHD drivers keep a permit permanently. If you have any other thoughts about what another solution would be, please let us know. Thank you for taking the time to research and help us. We appreciate it.

-Olivia, Katie & Wesley

Oct. 6, 2008 (from Jes)

I was trying to read all of the rules for the competition, but was having issues with the techxplorer website. I'll keep trying tommorow to work out the bugs.

A few ideas that come to mind are variaions on your first idea.

A sensor on the steering wheel to know if the driver has both hands on the wheel.
An auditory reminder through the speaker system rather than an earpiece. This might better guarantee the driver uses the system.
A speed restrictor linked to GPS to prevent speeding. (A little far-fetched).
Volvo now offers a feature to stay within the lines. This could be modified to record driving habits relative to position in the lane and other cars.

Please review these suggestions. I will continue to think of others.

Thanks,
Jes

Oct. 7, 2008 (from Jes)

I have just looked on the Techxplore website. Is anything posted yet? I tried to browse around, but only found the standard things. Please let me know if you have posted anything and I will review it.

Thanks!

Oct. 13, 2008 (from our team)

I think we'll defiantely use the speaker system. The idea with the steering wheel is creative too. What other kind of information should we get together to improve our project? Are there any questions that we should start answering or is that on the website?

Oct. 15, 2008 (from Jes)

I think you've made a good choice.

I've put together some questions to consider on power point. See attached. I've also posted it to the website, but wanted to make sure you were able to review it.

Please provide me with more details and I will keep providing suggestions.

Thanks...

Oct. 16, 2008 (from our team)

Thank you for the powerpoint. It was very helpful. We have a few questions about you:

What is your job? What does your job involve? What do you like most about your job?
Has the field you're involved in expanded over the years? Do you think it will develop?
Are any aspects of your job related to our project?
What is your educational background?

Oct. 20, 2008 (from our team)

The team was wondering if we could talk to you on the vyew-book. If you could let us know when you would be online, that would be great.

Oct. 20, 2008 (from Jes)

I am currently at home on maternity leave, so my schedule is pretty open. Please let me know a time to log-on, and I will be there.

Oct. 27, 2008 (from our team)

Hey Jes,
We were wondering if we can use the logo of your job on our website. If not it's fine, but we wanted to make sure that it is not a problem.

Thanks

Oct. 28, 2008 (from Jes)

Yes, that would be fine.

Nov. 3, 2008 (from Jes)

Sorry for the last minute notice, but I have to take my son to the Dr today for a check-up.

Can we meet later this week? How is the website coming along?

Nov. 3, 2008 (from our team)

Don't worry about it. We usually have class on Thursday, but we don't have school. Next Monday is fine. The website is coming along well, we just need to finish our information.

Nov. 12, 2008 (from Jes)

I apologize for missing 2 mondays in a row. I'm not doing well as a mentor. Did you meet? I looked at the website, but didn't see too many changes. I have some comments to the last discussion that I will post.

Please let me know if you'd like to meet later this week.

Nov. 17, 2008 (from our team)

don't worry about it. Last week we studied and didn't do much work.
If it is not a problem, can we meet Thursday?

Nov. 17, 2008 (from Jes)

Thur should be fine. 12:20?

Nov. 21, 2008 (from Jes)

I think your ideas are good. You have reviewed the limitations of the solution and have included potential fixes. At this point, I really don't see too much to add. We can talk Monday if you have other questions or concerns. I'll also think about the idea over the weekend and see if anything is missing.

When you present the other 2 solutions, it would be good to include why they weren't chosen. You did this with the speed restrictor. Also, when does the permit expire? 18? 21? A small detail, but you can just arbitrarily choose an age to expand the idea without too much effort.

TechXplore 2008-2009, sponsored by the National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP).

www.TechXplore.org

We are extremely grateful to Ms. Jes Barrett for

helping us tremendously during this project.