texture, vol 4 issue 1

TEXTUREO R L A N D O ’ S T E C H N O L O G Y L A N D S C A P E

V O L 4 I S S U E 1

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ONE COOL

DUDEDan Rini & team's cool techcould save lives

A MAJORPLAYEROrlando's fast becoming video-gaming industry hub

Central Florida biomed cluster takes hold

SCIENCE, NOTFICTION

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Innovation is in our blood

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c o n t e n t s

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Metro Orlando EconomicDevelopment Commission

President & CEOTexture Executive Publisher

Raymond Gilley

Vice President, MarketingTexture Associate Publisher

Maureen Brockman

Vice President, Tech Industry DevelopmentTexture EditorJohn Fremstad

Director, Business DevelopmentTexture Project Support

Amy Edge

Director, Public RelationsTexture Project Support

Jennifer Wakefield

Director, Publications & Web DesignTexture Project Support

Lisa Addy

Orlando/Orange County Convention& Visitors Bureau, Inc.

PresidentTexture PublisherWilliam C. Peeper

Vice President of PublicationsTexture Associate Publisher

Deborah Kicklighter Henrichs

Managing EditorConnie Sue White

Publication ArtistLaura Bluhm

Production CoordinatorsShelley Hampton and Dennis Lessard

Senior Director of Advertising SalesSheryl Taylor 407.354.5568

Contributing WritersSteve Blount, Michael Candelaria,

Jessica Chapman, Nancy Christianson Curry,Rafaela Ellis, Jackie Kelvington, Scott Leon,

G.K. Sharman, Jennifer Wakefield and C.S. White

Contributing PhotographerPhelan Ebenhack

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TEXTUREO R L A N D O ’ S T E C H N O L O G Y L A N D S C A P E

This publication is sponsored in part by the Orange CountyGovernment’s Economic Stimulus Package 2.0 and theUniversity of Central Florida. Texture magazine is producedby everything ink, a division of the Orlando/Orange CountyConvention & Visitors Bureau, Inc.® (Orlando CVB), for theMetro Orlando Economic Development Commission.Orlando CVB: 6700 Forum Drive, Suite 100, Orlando, FL32821, Phone 407.363.5841, Fax 407.370.5021. Texturemagazine assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, negatives or transparencies. Metro Orlando Economic DevelopmentCommission 301 East Pine Street, Suite 900 Orlando, Fla32801. Phone: 407.422.7159 or 888.TOP.CITY. Fax:407.425.6428. E-mail: [email protected]. Advertisinginformation: 407.354.5512. Copyright 2007 Metro OrlandoEDC. All rights reserved. Any reproduction in whole or inpart without the express written consent of Orlando CVB, onbehalf of the EDC, is prohibited. Printed in the U.S.A.

TEXTURE WINTER/SPRING 2007 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1

DepartmentsFROM THE EDITOR 5

INTERFACE 6

PEAK PERFORMER 8

OFF THE WIRE 10

SPECIAL FX 12

TECH TRENDS 14

INNOVATION ALLEY 34

NEW COs 36

INTELLIGENT FORMS OF LIFESTYLE 38

Features

SCIENCE, NOT FICTION 18Central Florida biomed cluster takes hold.

A MAJOR PLAYER 24Orlando is becoming a hub for the video-gaming industry.

A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN 28Orlando’s growth of women-led businesses among tops in the nation.

On the Cover: Photo courtesy of The Burnham Institute for Medical Research.

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t e x t u r e W i n t e r / S p r i n g 2 0 0 75

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AIRMagic is in theinnovation-based economy. In less than50 years, we’ve moved from a sleepytown without a university to a top 20metro that is home to America’s sixthlargest university and a top 10 researchpark.

But don’t take my word for it, here’swhat others are saying:>> Wired magazine names Orlando

one of the nation’s “Best GeekCities,” citing the area as a top techtown.

>> BusinessWeek magazine recentlyfeatured Metro Orlando among itspicks of “global hot spots.”Orlando is one of three communi-ties in the world to be selected.

>> Metro Orlando was named one often “Blooming U.S. Cities for Tech”according to eWEEK.com.

>> Forbes.com ranks Metro Orlandosecond on their annual list of “MostWired Communities.”

>> Expansion Management ranksMetro Orlando as one of “America’sHottest Cities.”

>> Metro Orlando ranks 3rd amongInc. magazine’s “Hottest LargeCities for Doing Business.”

>> The region ranks 6th among MilkenInstitute’s 2006 “Best PerformingCities.”

>> And, we’ve been named the“Number One City for Entrepreneurs”by Entrepreneur Magazine.This issue of TEXTURE provides a

closer look at some of our recent suc-cesses and what they mean to a youngcommunity committed to enhancingour competitive advantage.

John S. FremstadMetro Orlando EDC

vice president, Tech Industry Development & Texture editor

By all accounts, 2006 was a banner yearfor the Metro Orlando region. In fact, itwas Magic-al. Sincere congratulationsand thanks to ALL involved. Without col-laboration from both the private andpublic sectors, and the “can do” tonethat was set, this year’s achievementswould not have been possible.

What we have accomplishedtogether in the last 12 months is trulyastounding. To mention a few sucesses... The Burnham Institute for MedicalResearch announced it would establishits East coast operations in Orlando;UCF Medical School is slated to open by Fall 2009; Progress was made in final-izing plans to build a Performing ArtsCenter and a new arena, while also renovating our Citrus Bowl Stadium;Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and

Babies and Nicholson Center for Surgi-cal Advancement both opened; SAICand Lockheed Martin both expanded ...and the list goes on!

Add to this new regional residentialdevelopment and the skyline change in our downtown core — including amixed use of commercial, residential andretail — and we’re becoming one of thetop destinations in which to live, work and play.

With this growth, Metro Orlandooffers exciting, challenging work with asecure future in a city with abundant nat-ural beauty, affordable housing and anoutstanding quality of life for people ofnearly every income bracket.

We’ve used our imaginations andinventiveness to grow from a citrus-based to a hospitality-based to an

Grant Hill, John Fremstad and Dwight Howard

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i n t e r f a c e

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Many may see the resemblance of Iake Eissinmann (originally Ike Eisen-mann) in ‘Tony’, the young “alien” in Disney’s popular classic family films

Escape to Witch Mountain and Return From Witch Mountain, or from the shortTV series The Fantastic Journey, among other roles before he moved behind thecamera. In his latest adventure, Iake, along with his actress/writer wife Alexi,escaped from L.A. to Orlando four years ago for a less hectic lifestyle, with “nobusiness plan” in hand. In late 2005, the creative duo formed Mighty Mojo Studios, a digital animation company based in Celebration. The Eissinmanns andteam of artists are working on the studio’s first project, The Mystery of?, a half animation/half live action children’s production that seeks to inspire learning inkids through the “mysteries” of the natural world. The title is already under con-tract for distribution on DVD this summer. It seems they have found their mojo.Eissinman, fresh off the set from a weekend shoot of live action scenes for theproduction, took some time to talk with Texture about Mighty Mojo.

MIGHTY MOJO STUDIOS’ IAKE EISSINMANNBy C.S.White

>>

FINDING MOJO

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Texture: What is the story behindthe Studio’s name?

Iake Eissinmann: We wanted some-thing fun that identified us as an ani-mation studio and the word ‘mojo’ keptcropping up. ‘Mojo’ means ‘magicpower’ or ‘charm’ and that seemed agood connotation for what we wantedto create.

What role does The Mystery of?play in Mighty Mojo’s progression?

It is a perfect project at a perfecttime for us. We didn’t anticipate bring-ing in an original project for at leastanother year while we built the studio’sassets, let alone one with 50 percentlive action. Chap Chappell of ChappellEntertainment [in Casselberry] broughtthe project to us last August. He waslooking for an animation partner to helphim produce this clever idea created bywriter Troy Eggleston. We liked it somuch that we decided to take the jump.


Troy had a vision of this character calledTol Stilts and his eccentric world thatjust translated perfectly into a digitalanimation environment. Alexi and mypersonal backgrounds in live action production made it fairly simple to keepthe entire production under one roof.With the growing demand for educa-tional-oriented entertainment, we feltthat this would have considerable commercial appeal. For us to have our first co-production under contractfor distribution before we even finishproduction is almost unheard of.

Drawing and animation have beena passion for you since your teens —and you had success as a fine artist— but it all seemed to take a back-seat to acting and production work.Do you miss acting or do you see itas a stepping-stone?

I actually see the grand sum total ofall my professional experiences comingtogether for this effort. Yes, I am pas-sionate about animation, I deeply loveart, photography, storytelling and film-making. All of these passions come tobear when working on these projectsand I get to dip into each discipline ata different time through the process.

Your next project, Finders, Keep-ers, focuses on providing secularmorality lessons for adolescents, aswell as promoting reading, throughaction adventures. Much of yourcareer has been involved with fam-ily/children-oriented projects … isthat by chance or by intention?

I think it has to do with both chanceand intention. Having been a major par-ticipant in a classic family film that hastouched so many young people, I haveseen how powerful the impact can befor children who grow up with some-thing special that was made just forthem. I personally feel a great deal ofsatisfaction in being able to create forchildren. A large part of that effort goestoward making a product that we as astudio like and want to see.

Do you actually get a chance to doany of the art/animation or do youleave it up to your production team?

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I rely completely on our team. I’mbasically a huge fan of their work and Iget to be around it every day. My per-sonal dream is to learn the animationsoftware well enough to be able to ani-mate at least one shot before I retire.It’s dense, complicated stuff but I figurewith that generous timeline I should beable to achieve my goal.

What would you say are the keylifestyle differences between L.A.and Orlando?

Alexi and I spent a lot of years fight-ing the congestion and chaos of LosAngeles, so we don’t miss that townvery much. A major attraction aboutOrlando for us is that it has a strongsense of community due to its smallersize. The lifestyle pace is slower andmore intimate, but opportunities arehere for any number of exciting ven-tures. There’s an entrepreneurial spirithere that I believe is a foundation forOrlando evolving into a very uniquebusiness destination.

Did that entrepreneurial spirit surprise you?

We have been quite surprised bywhat Orlando has to offer in terms ofthese opportunities. There is a lot of tal-ent here for our industry due to thenumber of schools offering quality edu-cation programs for the digital arts.Between Full Sail, UCF and The DaveSchool alone we have qualified individ-uals coming into the marketplace on aconstant basis. I look forward to grow-ing our studio and being able to offercareer opportunities that will allowsome of these talented people toremain in this market if they wish.

What is next for Mighty Mojo Studios?

Right now we feel very strong aboutour commitment to educational enter-tainment titles. There is a massivedemand for this product and it allows usto establish ourselves as a studio whiletapping into a wide-open market. A qual-ity product that entertains is a worth-while achievement; a quality productthat entertains and teaches is very spe-cial. We’re proud to be a part of that.

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>>Most of us living in Florida take our comfort for granted. We can even control our own personal environment with the simple flick ofa switch — until we walk outside. But what if there were a way to create a personal air conditioner portable enough to take with you anywhere you went?


p e a k p e r f o r m e r

OneDAN RINI AND RTI ARE DEVELOPING CUTTING-EDGECOOLING TECHNOLOGIES THAT COULD SAVE LIVES.

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This may seem a bit decadent for every-day life, even in our summer heat, butwhat if your job required you to wear aheavy, barely-breathable suit for safetyreasons under harsh environmentalconditions? Imagine a solider workingin a sealed biohazard suit in a HazMatsituation in Iraq, or a firefighter attempt-ing to control an intense chemical blaze.In these cases a personal air conditioner

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COOL DUDE

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system that is small, lightweight andenergy efficient. The cooling unit itselfis about the size of a water bottle. Itconnects to a type of undergarmentcovered with tubes that connect to the cooler and circulate chilled waterthrough the garment. In theory we can even reverse the system to make itheat instead of cool.”

Since its founding in the spring of2000, RTI has been issued four patents.Four more U.S. patents are currentlypending, plus an additional one pend-ing in Europe. One of the issued

patents and two of those pending arerelated to the personal cooling system.

“That includes the Europeanpatent. While half of what we do isspecifically for our government, thepersonal cooling system has a myriadof uses among civilian firefightingcrews, police, first responders and hazardous material teams. We want toprotect our technology, no matterwhere it’s used.”

Rini founded RTI while finishing hisdoctorate at the University of CentralFlorida (UCF). A native Canadian, hefirst came to Orlando to attend UCF as an undergraduate on an athletic scholarship and was one of those rarefreshmen who fell in love with physicsrather than changing majors to avoidit.

“I immediately switched to mechan-

ical engineering and became intriguedby thermal management technol-ogies,” says Rini. “I had the vision forthis company while I was still in gradu-ate school. I applied for and receivedseveral grants from the military andother government agencies to beginmy initial research into thermal man-agement systems.

“In reality, the whole concept of thiscompany was fostered in large part byUCF’s Technology Incubator, which wasjust starting up at the time. It was a perfect synergy for me because the

Technology Incubator Program’s purposeis to foster the start-up of high-tech com-panies. I chose to stay near the universitybecause it allows us to continue the col-laborative research we’ve maintained.”

RTI works with UCF’s professors andgraduate students regularly, he says, get-ting help with research needs. Theshared success of the partnership has putRTI in a position to help fund graduatestudents and other research projects.

“In addition to UCF’s outstandingengineering department, Orlando itselfhas had a continuing commitment tohigh tech development and relatedindustries for the past decade,” con-tinues Rini. “It makes it attractive forcompanies like mine to set up here and provides the groundwork for us to remain competitive, successful and growing.”

could actually save lives. The conceptof personal climate control, one thathas interested the military for decades,caught the attention of Dr. Daniel P.Rini, founder of Oviedo-based RiniTechnologies, Inc. (RTI). An expert incooling technology, Rini’s companyrecently produced the first viable pro-totype of an ultra-portable personal air-conditioner.

RTI’s work in the realm of coolingtechnologies currently focuses in twomain areas. The first, for the U.S.Department of Defense, involves thedevelopment of a cooling system forhigh-power lasers used in missiledefense systems.

“The lasers themselves are smallenough to place into tanks or helicopters,but the cooling systems for these laserscurrently take up entire rooms in a labo-ratory setting. Those systems need to bemuch smaller to make them useful in afighter jet or on a HumVee,” says Rini.

His company’s second focus is onthe development of the personal cool-ing system for the Army, NASA and theDefense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency.

“For twenty years, people havebeen working to get a personal coolingsystem down to about five pounds,”explains Rini. “Any more than that andit takes away from a soldier’s other nec-essary gear. We’ve been working for thelast four years on a prototype and havefinally produced one that fits all therequirements. While some of the com-ponents, like the cooling vest we use,have existed for a while, RTI is the firstto produce a complete functioning x

“FOR TWENTY YEARS, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WORKING TO GET A PER-SONAL COOLING SYSTEM DOWN TO ABOUT FIVE POUNDS. ANY MORETHAN THAT AND IT TAKES AWAY FROM A SOLDIER’S OTHER NECESSARYGEAR. ... RTI IS THE FIRST TO PRODUCE A COMPLETE FUNCTIONING SYS-TEM THAT IS SMALL, LIGHTWEIGHT AND ENERGY EFFICIENT.” — DAN RINI

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o f f t h e w i r e

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INSTITUTEThe Burnham

Few tasks are more worthy than working to unravel themysteries of diseases that affect those we love. At the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, scientistswork day in and day out trying to find treatments andcures for Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes and a myriad ofother diseases that may one day help those we careabout most.

SETTING THE STAGE FOR A BIOMEDICALCLUSTER IN METRO ORLANDO.

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It is a righteous mission. One that lead-ers in Metro Orlando and throughoutthe State of Florida recognize andembrace. That’s why Florida has scrupu-lously courted biotechnology compa-nies in recent years. And why an out-pouring of community pride was feltwhen Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Dr.John Reed, president and CEO of theBurnham Institute for Medical Research,announced that Metro Orlando wouldbecome the future home of its EastCoast operations.

WHAT’S TO COMEWithin the next few years, Burnhamplans to create 300 research jobs andbuild a 175,000-square-foot facility inOrlando’s Lake Nona area. The com-pany’s goals for their Florida locationinclude expansion of capabilities inchemistry, pharmacology, and func-tional genomics, themes that will complement and fortify the Institute’s

East Coast operations of the California-based Burnham Institute for MedicalResearch (shown here) will be located inOrlando. The new facility is expected to be a catalyst for future growth of biotech/lifesciences companies in Metro Orlando.

By JenniferWakefield

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current commitments to cancer, degen-erative diseases and infectious dis-eases, while allowing expansion intoother areas, such as diabetes and obesity research.

HOW IT HAPPENEDThe effort to lure Burnham was theresult of partnership between many dif-ferent organizations, universities andgovernments. The recent approval ofthe University of Central Florida’s med-ical school helped to solidify Burnham’schoice of Orlando.

This prestigious company’s choicealso speaks volumes about the qualityof the area’s research and science communities, from the groundbreakingwork being done at UCF, now thenation’s 6th largest university, to thebreakthrough treatment providedthrough two of the largest hospital systems in the world, Florida Hospitaland Orlando Regional Healthcare, bothof which are headquartered in Orlando.

“The expansion of The BurnhamInstitute’s world-class biomedicalresearch and operations into Floridaillustrates the strength of the state’sinternational reputation as a hub for cutting-edge biomedical researchand development,” according to Gov. Bush.

ECONOMIC IMPACTIn addition to the obvious worthinessof the medical advancements to takeplace, the announcement of Burnham’sdecision to locate in Metro Orlando hasan enormous economic impact on theregion.

The Burnham announcement will go down in Orlando’s history as a milestone event. With the arrival ofBurnham, Metro Orlando is instantlycatapulted to the forefront of thenation’s biomedical/l i fe sciencesefforts.

“The entire Metro Orlando commu-nity is excited ... this positions our stateat the nexus point of some of theworld’s leading medical research andprovides an opportunity to diversify oureconomy in a critical and much neededdirection,” says Ray Gilley, presidentand CEO of the Metro Orlando Eco-

nomic Development Commission.The Burnham Institute will bring

high-wage, high-value jobs to the areawith an average annual wage for posi-tions to be created between $60,000and $70,000, with some positionsreaching as high as $175,000. In com-parison, the average annual wage inthe Metro Orlando region is approxi-mately $35,000.

The facility will anchor the region’snew ‘medical city’ in Orlando’s LakeNona community, which wil l alsoinclude the University of CentralFlorida’s new medical school and a University of Florida medical researchlab, with more to come.

In addition, the prestigious Burn-ham Institute is expected to be a cata-lyst for future growth of biotech/life sciences companies in Metro Orlando.Already home to 150 such companies,since the announcement in August,interest in biotech in the region hasalready significantly increased.

In 10 years, experts estimate jobcreation from additional developmentsin the realm of life science and healthtechnology could exceed 10,000 jobs.

PARTICIPATION KEY“The willingness of Florida universitiesto partner...has played a huge role inour decision, “ says Dr. John Reed,president and CEO of The BurnhamInstitute for Medical Research.

Three universities have begun a dis-tinct collaboration specifically for thisproject. To expand R&D capabilitieswith Burnham, the University of Floridais bringing a significant research arm toOrlando. Burnham will be located adja-cent to the new University of CentralFlorida medical school. And, FloridaState University is also considering relo-cating their existing Orlando medicalschool program to the Lake Nona area.

LOOKING AHEADIn the future, when the medical commu-nity meets to discuss advances in con-taining infectious diseases, or a cancerpatient’s family rejoices over a criticalbreakthrough in treatment, Orlando willshare in their celebration, knowing thatthis area has contributed to the successof Burnham scientists working to bene-fit not only the citizens of Metro Orlando,but the citizens of the world. x

FLORIDA’S BLOOD CENTERS, A BURNHAM PARTNERWhile the Lake Nona facility is under construction, through a part-

nership with Florida’s Blood Centers (FBC), Burnham’s east coast

operations will be temporarily housed at the FBC’s headquarters

located on the corner of John Young Parkway and Sand Lake Road.

“We’re excited to be able to assist in bringing such a presti-

gious institution to Orlando,” says Anne Chinoda, CEO of FBC. “A

partnership like this is an example of the impact that the Burnham

Institute will have on this community. It will open many doors for

Central Florida in years to come.”

Florida’s Blood Centers is the largest blood bank in Florida and

the fourth largest independent blood bank in the nation.

Additionally, FBC was one of the first blood banks in the country

to implement new capabilities and services such as: frozen blood

storage, a national clearinghouse system for exchanging blood,

community branches, and bloodmobile collection. Closer to home,

FBC is also the sole supplier of blood and blood products to 70

healthcare facilities in a 21-county area and collects more than

360,000 units of blood and blood products each year. To learn

more about FBC, visit www.floridasbloodcenters.org.

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THE TIMESBy JessicaChapman

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THE INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE LAB AT UCFIS LEADING THE PACK WHEN IT COMES TOSIMULATION AND ROLE PLAYING.

>> At one time or another, everyone has left an importantmeeting thinking, ‘I should have said this,’ or ‘I knew theanswer to that — I can’t believe my mind went blank!’

The staff of i.d.e.a.s. participating in an iRoleplay session produced by theUCF Interactive Performance Lab. On the screen is Duncan Kennedy (left)of i.d.e.a.s. immersed in a roleplay scene with an inter-actor.

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watching can deliver feedback to themain participant in real time through adigital messaging system. So in thiscase, the V.P. could advise the managerto talk slower, or to stop tapping hisfeet, or listen more closely. This allowsthe person to change his behaviorimmediately — in real time — insteadof after the fact.

By acting out potential scenarioswhile receiving continuous input fromcolleagues, participants are able to alter their tactics immediately to masterthe situation at hand. Having the oppor-tunity to respond to the inter-actors’ different questions and behaviorsallows employees to go into their meetings better prepared to handlewhatever comes their way.

“What’s interesting about iRoleplayis that the real-time interaction andlearning is not just between the twosubjects involved in the training simu-lation, but also among the observersback in the control environment,” com-ments Duncan Kennedy, vice presidentof innovation for i.d.e.a.s., a past iRole-play client.

Everyone on Wirth’s team is uniquelytrained in five areas: acting, story, technology, improvisation and social psychology.

They are students and graduates as well as professional performers, all of whom have been trained at the Interactive Performance Lab.

Most of Wirth’s work so far has been for research purposes, but he iscurrently in discussions about adaptingiRoleplay for use by several businessesin the medical, legal, sales and hospi-tality fields. While other companiesand universities are engaging in simulation and role-playing, only UCF’s iRoleplay application combinesinter-actors, digital delivery, and real-time feedback.

There are almost no limits to wherethis application could be used. Wirthbelieves it will prove valuable in themedical industry because it integratesboth hard and soft skills, such as tech-nical ability and bedside manner.

“You get the best of both worlds,”Wirth says, “the human experience anddigital media.”


No matter how many questions orscenarios for which we prepare our-selves, we’re limited by our personalviewpoints and thought processes. Butgroundbreaking initiatives at the Uni-versity of Central Florida (UCF) areabout to revolutionize how companiestrain their employees to make betterdecisions, sharpen their negotiatingtactics and interact more efficiently withpeople of all backgrounds.

The Interactive Performance Labwas developed five years ago by itsexecutive director, Jeff Wirth, and is anapplied-research laboratory in theSchool of Film and Digital Media.

“The focus is on live, human-to-human interaction that’s supported withdigital media,” Wirth explains. “Theidea is not to replace the human expe-rience, but to augment it.”

One of the lab’s applications isbeing adopted by the business world.Called iRoleplay, the process is fairlysimple, but what it accomplishes isunique.

Here’s a real world example of howiRolePlay works: the vice president of acompany is sending his sales managerto meet with an important client. Hewants to ensure the manager will beable handle whatever is thrown at him.So he contacts Wirth’s team to stage arole-playing experience that gives themanager an opportunity to practice hispeople and negotiating skills.

Wirth’s team goes directly to thebusiness. There they set up cameras inan office where the scenario will playout, and they send video to anotherroom where others can watch.

“Because the viewers are in a differ-ent room with a live video feed,” Wirthexplains, “the participants are not asself conscious as they would be whenrole playing in front of a crowd.”

The V.P. briefs Wirth and his team of“inter-actors” about the details of thesituation, including what he hopes toaccomplish from the meeting and somebackground information about theclient. The inter-actors then interactwith the manager in the role of thepotential client, facilitating a particularexperience or variety of experiences.During the training session, those

TAKING IROLEPLAYA STEP FURTHERThe University of Central

Florida Interactive Perfor-

mance Lab’s iRoleplay isn’t

limited to business-related

scenarios. The team has ven-

tured into healthcare, as well.

According to Executive Direc-

tor Jeff Wirth, the team has

participated with UCF’s

Department of Communica-

tive Disorders as part of a

research program on styles of

Alzheimer’s care giving.

“We brought in people

from the Alzheimer’s Associa-

tion to coach the actors so

they accurately represent

the characters (Alzheimer’s

patients) they’re playing,”

says Wirth.

The goal: to give the care-

givers an external perspective

on the situations they confront

daily. The research compared

traditional in-service care giver

training versus an in-service

with interactive role playing to

find out which style is more

beneficial.

The Lab is currently in dis-

cussion with the UCF Center

for Autism-Related Disorders

to conduct role playing with

parents of autistic children.

“Parents would have a

chance to practice some of the

skil ls that they’ve been

trained in before they apply

them in real life settings,”

explains Wirth.

Now, that’s a role worth

playing.

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t e c h t r e n d s

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By MichaelCandalaria

DIGGING DEEP ROOTS IN THE GLOBAL BUSINESS OF WAINFLUENCE A Spreading

“WE TRY TO MINIMIZE OR ELIMINATE ANY WASTE,AND WE RECYCLE VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING USEDSO IT DOESN’T GENERATE MUCH WASTE. WE JUSTTRY TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF NATURALRESOURCES.” — ADAM SKOLNIK

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So, Senninger invented an insect-proofdevice that he adapted to the old brassimpact sprinklers of the day.

Essentially, the device was a longnarrow cylinder, like a straw. Whenwater flowed to open the sprinklervalve, the “dauber stopper” waspushed back to let the water flow outthe nozzle. When the water was turnedoff, the cylinder returned to its originalposition and prevented dirt daubersfrom getting inside.

Simple enough, right? Well, thename Dauber Stopper was trade-marked, a patent soon arrived andshortly thereafter a company wasformed, with Senninger as the founder.In 1963, the company began designingand manufacturing a plastic dauberstopper. Or, as current company presi-dent Adam Skolnik describes: “Theguys had applied space-aged materials— engineering-grade thermal plastics— to designing impact sprinklers thathad this insect-proof feature for over-head citrus irrigation.”

Today, five decades later, Skolnikruns a 150-employee operation that,while still headquartered in CentralFlorida and continuing to sell the optionof dauber stopping on its sprinklers, has

subsidiaries in Brazil and South Africa,in addition to warehouses in Nebraskaand Texas, and other locations in Col-orado, Connecticut and Guatemala.Based in Clermont, Senninger Irrigationnow is a global manufacturer of irriga-tion components that include sprinklers,spray nozzles and pressure regulators,mostly for use in agriculture but also fornursery, wastewater treatment and min-ing applications.

“We run this operation twenty-fourhours a day, three shifts,” says Skolnik,whose work with the private, closelyheld company dates back 25 years,including 23 years as an employee.

Much of that work also results froma second key 1960s innovation, this oneinvolving water pressure. CentralFlorida’s rolling terrain, mainly in LakeCounty, made pressure consistencyproblematic. The sprinklers on the topof a hill had low pressure, because ofthe elevation, and wouldn’t performwell. Conversely, there was excess pres-sure at the bottom of the hil l . Inresponse, Senninger, officially a citrusgrower-turned-inventor by then,patented a pre-set pressure regulatingvalve that effectively maintained con-stant pressure, regardless of terrain.

Through the years, cites Skolnik,Senninger Irrigation has been driven bythe same motivation that led its founderto those initial inventions: water andenergy conservation.

“We always considered ourselves a‘green’ company,” he says. “Everythingwe design our products around is lowenergy, so they are meant anddesigned to operate at the lowest pres-sure possible. Regarding water, we try

Who could have known? In the early1960s, Joe Senninger, a citrus grower inGroveland, was merely seeking to rid him-self of pesky mud daubers. The wasps,measuring less than an inch in length, wereworking their way into the often-muddyoverhead sprinklers used in area citrusfields and impeding water flow.

>>WATER CONSERVATION.

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to use as little as possible by develop-ing products that have uniform appli-cation of water.”

The company’s Super Spray nozzle,for example, helps reduce water andenergy requirements on center pivots,which are used to irrigate up to 200 acresfrom one machine. Its interchangeableparts and wide range of spray patternshelped it quickly become one of theworld’s best agriculture spray nozzles.Similarly, the Quad-Spray was devel-oped specifically for Low Energy Preci-sion Application (LEPA). LEPA is a rela-tively new irrigation practice thatrequires very little water and energy tooperate. One of the biggest benefits ofLEPA is that it makes pivot irrigation pos-sible in regions previously hindered bylimited water supplies.

Notably, the need for water conser-vation is great, according to the Irriga-tion Association (IA), based in FallsChurch, Va. Approximately 80 percentof water withdrawn nationwide is usedfor agriculture.

“That means there’s a lot of room forwater savings by just increasing the effi-ciency in agriculture,” comments BethCasteel, the trade group’s communica-tions manager.

“Green” thinking is also evident inSenninger Irrigation’s manufacturingprocess, adds Skolnik, a past presidentof IA and present chair of its EducationFoundation.

“We try to minimize or eliminate anywaste, and we recycle virtually every-thing used so it doesn’t generate muchwaste. We just try to be good stewardsof natural resources,” he says.

The result: marketplace distinction,Skolnik contends.

“A car isn’t a truck. A truck isn’t a car.There are differences. Now, do they[competitors] all sling water? Yeah. In itssimplest form, we spread water out, asdo others. But, when it comes to effi-ciency and reliability, that’s where youstart differentiating yourself,” he says.

Not coincidentally, the word is spread-ing, too. While all manufacturing occurs

in Clermont, roughly 30 to 40 percent ofthe products go overseas.

Still, Senninger Irrigation’s broaden-ing horizons don’t include a move outof the region. Pointing to MetroOrlando’s infrastructure and labor pool,he says, “There’s absolutely no need tomove. Central Florida is definitely theplace to be.”

Nor are there any intentions of stray-ing from the simple approach used byJoe Senninger so many years ago: One,identify a problem; two, find a solution.In other words, it seeks to stay ahead ofthe curve in business by harkening backto the past.

“At the end of the day, the real inno-vations come from the field,” Skolnikconcludes. “It’s solving the problems.... So, it’s our ability to be well con-nected and in tune with what’s hap-pening in the field — who is using theproducts, who is running into the prob-lems, then our ability to take that infor-mation and put it into a product.”

Just like the old Dauber Stopper. x

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SCIENCE,

NOTFICTIONCENTRAL FLORIDA BIOMEDCLUSTER TAKES HOLD.

By Steve Blount

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BIORESEARCHERTAKES ON BIOTERRORISM“We’ve taken the top ten diseases out-lined by the World Health Organization— malaria, cholera, cancer — and we’reworking on all of them,” says Dr. HenryDaniell of the University of CentralFlorida (UCF).

That may sound pretty ambitious butconsider this: Daniell’s lab has alreadyfound a way to produce enough anthraxvaccine from a single acre of tobaccoplants to protect everyone in the UnitedStates and has grown lettuce that curesdiabetes in mice.

Anxious to get these discoveries topeople who can be helped, Daniell hasspun off his successes into a biomedicalcompany, Chlorogen, that uses plantsto produce vaccines and therapeuticproteins, like insulin.

“Our first goal was to produce vac-cine at low cost, and anthrax was ourfirst vaccine because of bio-defenseconcerns,” Daniell explains. “TheDepartment of Defense had given acontract to another company for $975million to buy only 35 million doses.”

Conventional vaccines are costlybecause the pathogens — the bugsthat do the dirty work — are growninside of yeast or bacterial cells in veryexpensive fermenters. The bacteria arethen extracted, killed, and the deadpathogens made into a vaccine that,when injected, prompts your immunesystem to make antibodies to thatpathogen. You then develop immunity.

Instead of using whole, kil ledpathogens, Daniell’s method placescopies of the antigen — the part of the

bacteria responsible for creating theimmune response — and puts up to10,000 copies of the antigen in eachcell of a plant.

In his initial study, the antigen wasextracted and injected into mice, whowere then exposed to extremely largedoses of anthrax. Every one of themsurvived.

Because the actual vaccine is alreadyproven effective and available, thisadvance doesn’t need to go throughthe usual lengthy process to which newtreatments are subjected before theycan be widely used. The tobacco pro-duces the same vaccine that’s alreadyin use, but does it better and morecheaply.

Daniell has built on that success byperfecting a process using whole plants,instead of extracts that must be injected.The plants are harvested, dried, pow-dered and put into capsules that can beswallowed. The plant cells protect thevaccine until bacteria in the humandigestive system break down the plantcells and release it to be absorbed.

In addition to being far less expen-sive, the powdered vaccine can beshipped and stored without refrigeration,thereby overcoming a key stumblingblock to delivering vaccines in the Third World.

Producing vaccines in plants has oneother critical advantage, Daniell says:they don’t contain toxins or humanpathogens.

Vaccines made from bacteria grownin fermenters are not often pure, free of such contaminants. They all containsome contamination. That contamina-tion took a heavy toll on soldiers vacci-

The future of medical care is being inventedright here. In the middle of the last century, jet

packs and wrist radios were science fiction. CentralFlorida companies like NASA, Harris Corp. and Lock-heed Martin were key players in turning those fictionsinto fact. Now local leaders have embarked on a newquest, one that may seem similarly far-fetched, butone that promises to benefit every person on earth.

>>

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nated against biological agents beforethe first Gulf War. The Department ofDefense has paid compensation tomore than 110,000 of the 696,000 whofought in the war.

“Part of the Gulf War Syndrome wastraced back to lethal factors [in vac-cines] that weren’t found when the Fed-eral Drug Administration tested someof the batches,” Daniell says.

The lab has ventured well beyondbio-terror to produce vaccines foramoebeosis, a debilitating water-bornedisease common in underdevelopedcountries, and for rotovirus, whichaffects children throughout the world,including the United States.

Vaccines are just the beginning,Daniell says. Plants can also be used toproduce therapeutic proteins, like theinsulin-infused lettuce or interferon —which can cost a patient $25,000 -$45,000 per year — for pennies.

And while AIDS is still out of reachbecause there’s no single effectivetreatment, Daniell’s lab has been ableto grow a protein that blocks the trans-mission of HIV and can be used in a top-ical cream. Daniell’s hope is that thisprotein can help slow the spread of HIVand AIDS.

A BIOTECH CLUSTERDaniell’s work alone has generatedenormous media attention for UCF’smolecular biology research, including aDiscovery Channel documentary. Butthere’s more. Much more. Daniell is justone of more than a dozen researchersworking to improve human health atUCF. That’s impressive progress for aneffort that’s less than a decade old.

Pappachan Kolattukudy (known asDr. P.K.) is dean of the Burnett Collegeof Biomedical Science at UCF and oneof the prime movers behind the emerg-

ing Central Florida biotech cluster.Kolattukudy was recruited to come

to UCF from Ohio State Universitywhere he had spent 17 years setting upand managing OSU’s biotech center.For Kolattukudy, the lure was thechance to help build a young universityalmost from the ground up.

“The 20th century was the time ofadvances in physical sciences,” Kolat-tukudy says. “In the 21st century themajor advances will be in life sciences.

“Henry Daniell was here when Iarrived, but most of the folks in thedepartment have been hired since then.We hire a group of people each yearand that will continue until we reach ourgoal of about 50.”

That’s 50 researchers, plus graduateand undergraduate students, techni-cians and others, most funded by grantsfrom the National Institute for Health(NIH) and philanthropic organizations.

“Nationally, the major part of federalfunding for research and developmentis through NIH, almost $30 billion annu-ally. When the science journal Natureanalyzed how that money is distributedamong the 50 states, Maryland was abig winner — in part because of Johns

“We’ve taken the top ten diseases outlined bythe World Health Organization — malaria,cholera, cancer — and we’re working on all ofthem.” — Dr. Henry Daniell

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Hopkins — and there were a few statesincluding Florida, that they consideredweren’t getting their share of thefunds,” Kolattukudy says.

“That situation is unhealthy for thestate, and the biomedical cluster we’retrying to develop will help change it.Florida will soon be the third largeststate, and we have a long way to go tocatch up. “

If Kolattukudy has anything to dowith it, that could happen compara-tively fast. It took decades to buildother major bio-tech centers, but Kolat-tukudy sees Central Florida emergingas a leader in less than 20 years.

“I still see myself as a newcomer,” he explains, “and this state has the economic opportunity and unrealizedpotential to become a major biotechhub — it can be, and it should be.”

BEYOND THE LABTo do that requires more than universitylabs, though, and Kolattukudy is work-ing on that, too.

“We have quite a few patents beingapplied for coming from the research inour labs, and we hope to increase thatnumber,” he explains. “Those havealready been spun off into local biotechcompanies, including Henry’s company,Chlorogen.”

Other companies have relocated toOrlando to work with the UCF spin-offs.One of those, VaxDesign, received alarge grant from the DARPA to create aliving laboratory model of the humanimmune system.

Each researcher and company relo-cation adds to the overall power of thecluster.

“We collaborate with scientists allover the world — Japan, France, Ger-many, the U.K. — but when somethingcomes into our neighborhood, theinteraction is better and there’s thechance to share facilities,” Kolattukudypoints out. “Biomedical researchinvolves very expensive equipment —we have some microscopes that cost amillion dollars each — and the best wayfor researchers to have access to thatkind of equipment is to share it. We callthose core facilities.

“The arrival of The Burnham Insti-

tute, for example, will help with that.”[see Off the Wire, “The Burnham Insti-tute,” page 10 for more information]

The missing piece of the puzzle wasa medical school — so Kolattukudy pro-posed one.

“When I looked at this place it wasobvious the biggest impact we couldhave was to build up bio-medicalresearch in a way that would end up ina medical school. In 2003, I put out thehope and dream that UCF could havea medical school at a meeting with localleaders downtown. [UCF President]John Hitt picked up on it.”

In 2006, the medical school wasapproved by the state and the very first building erected at the new medschool will be a 195,000-square-foothome for the Burnett College of Bio-medical Sciences.

Having doctors and clinicians co-located with the researchers is anextension of the work UCF is alreadydoing with local hospitals.

Dr. Cheryl Baker is the director of theM.D. Anderson Cancer Center OrlandoResearch Institute, and she and her staff

collaborate with UCF’s researchers con-stantly, she says.

“You can’t live in a silo anymore,”Baker says. “I’m always out at UCF. Wehave a special niche and can offer ser-vices to others, but we also need col-laboration to improve what we do.”

Baker echos Kolattukudy’s call forexpanding the core facilities in the area.Baker completed her undergraduatedegree at Rollins, but, in looking aroundfor a high-end research university, sheleft the state, first going to the Univer-sity of Texas and later to Harvard, whereshe also taught courses. Her researchtook her back to Texas, to the maincampus of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“Development of core facilities iskey. Houston is very attractive becauseit has those core facilities, as do Harvardand MIT. Orlando has the hospital systems, now they’re building core facilities for multidisciplinary research.”

Founded in Houston in 1941, M.D.Anderson itself is a major piece of thatlandscape and is considered one of thenation’s top cancer research institutions.

“What’s being offered is the chance to make adifference, not to come into an establishedbureaucratic system that’s been in place for 30years and where your suggestions aren’tneeded. There’s a real emphasis on workingtogether, and everyone’s opinion matters.” — Dr. Cheryl Baker, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando Research Institute

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When looking for a place to expand,Anderson chose Orlando and Bakerwas one of the first of the Houston staffto sign up for the move.

Baker was intrigued by the sameopportunity as Kolattukudy — thechance to build something new fromthe ground up plus, in her case, thechance to come home.

“What’s being offered is the chanceto make a difference, not to come intoan established bureaucratic system that’sbeen in place for 30 years and whereyour suggestions aren’t needed. There’sa real emphasis on working together,and everyone’s opinion matters.

“Orlando is an easy place to live. You

can get to M.D. Anderson from UCF intwenty minutes. Even though it lookslike our facilities are very spread out, tryliving in Houston for a few years,” shechuckles. “There it takes a half-hour toget to the grocery store. Orlando is veryeasy to get around, whether it’s to goto work or a Magic game, the beach orparks. There’s a lake on every corner.”

According to Baker, that quality oflife has helped M.D. Anderson recruit asolid group of medical oncologists,researchers, statisticians, physicists andsurgeons.

“We’re using every availableresource to defeat cancer, taking it fromthe DNA all the way up to a pill that we

give to a patient,” Baker explains. “Wedesign individualized cancer therapies— specifically for individual patients —rather than global cancer strategies.”

Unlike diseases such as viral infec-tions which act virtually the same wayfrom patient to patient, Baker says thatcancer is individual because the cancercells interact with the particular geneticand chemical makeup of each patient:“There’s a constant conversationbetween the host cells and the tumor.”

While global treatments, like radia-tion, work on most patients, more targeted treatments can achieve betterresults and eradicate more of the cancer cells.

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22_EI262.Texture.ps 2/6/07 2:18 PM


“We pick a disease site — I special-ize in pancreatic and kidney cancer —then build a multidisciplinary teamaround it: radiation, oncologists, sur-geons, pathologists, nurses, basic andtranslational researchers.

“We study the biology of the diseasein animal models and old-school, tissueculture studies. Then we move thosefindings into the clinical setting. Wehand off the baton to clinicians to findout how our treatments work in actualpatients. The clinicians then hand theresults back to the researchers asking formodifications and improvements.”

Baker is enthusiastic about thepotential for collaboration with TheBurnham Institute and UCF’s new med-ical school. She’s already seen resultsfrom existing local relationships andwith the pharmaceutical industry.

“Pharmaceutical companies are nowrecognizing our abilities and are start-ing to drop their agents in our laps, ask-ing us to test, modify and validate theirtreatments and get them into clinical

use,” Baker points out. “Our radiationdepartment is studied by people fromall over the world. Patients receive veryadvanced technology-based radiation— very individualized — so we have avehicle to incorporate radiation therapyinto our research models that not manyinstitutions have the ability or the will-ingness to do.”

Willingness and cooperation seemto be the hallmarks of the CentralFlorida bio-med initiative.

“The advantage here is that you’retalking to CEOs, presidents and bigdonors directly about what needs to bedone,” Baker says. “Central Florida isgoing to be an incredible place, not justfor what exists now, but for what willexist in wellness, sports medicine andresearch.”

How does that affect you? Even ifyou never get injured or suffer from dia-betes or cancer, the economic impactof biomedical research on CentralFlorida is already enormous: 9,000 plusworkers in 155 bio-technology and life

sciences companies with an estimated$2.5 billion in earnings.

As Cheryl Baker points out, that willonly increase, offering opportunities forlocal residents and new arrivals to trainas lab technicians, nurses, researchassociates and researchers.

“I think Central Florida will be a hugeplace for recruitment,” Baker says. “Thestate is bringing in top notch scientistsand companies. Families want to settlehere because there’s a future for theirchildren. It’s going to become a teach-ing environment.”

Pappachan Kolattukudy agrees thatteaching and training are the keys tosuccess in the fight against disease andthe fight for research grants: “In the SanFrancisco Bay area the University of California system supplies undergradu-ates to do technical services, and manyof their undergrads find jobs in thebiotech industry. Without that man-power, biotech companies can’t survive.We’re now generating that manpowerfor Central Florida.” x

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Let’s see: Like the computer business,video gaming hires engineers from thebest tech schools to churn out miles ofever-more-complex code. Like theentertainment business, it relies on writ-ers, artists and producers to turn thattechnological ability into riveting, best-selling recreation. The gaming industryshares a talent pool with GE Aerospaceand Lockheed Martin, as well as theWalt Disney Company and UniversalStudios. Its CEOs not only have engi-neering degrees, they have talentagents.

In other words it’s neither one business nor the other. It’s an animalunto itself: the computer-entertainmentbusiness.

And quite a business it is, sellingsome $7 billion in products in 2005 andcontributing some $30 billion to theeconomy overall. It’s also one of thefastest-moving industries in this break-neck business era, a niche where “the cheese” is moved so far and sofrequently that only the hardiestmouse-clickers survive.

Just as its product has evolved over30 years from the crude graphics of“Pong” to the lifelike grisliness of“Grand Theft Auto” and its ilk, so toohas the video-game business trans-formed from an entrepreneurial

sideshow of the larger economy intothe spotlighted center of mainstreambusiness, a place where the computer,entertainment and retail sectors mergeto create an economic powerhouse.

Now, another evolution is takingplace in the video game biz. Its long-established hubs — Santa Monica, California; Atlanta, Georgia; and Austin,Texas — are welcoming a fourth mem-ber, our own Orlando. In addition toMaitland-based Electronic Arts (EA),the mega-manufacturer of such gamesas “Madden NFL Football” and“NASCAR Thunder,” Orlando also ishome to a unique graduate schooloffering master’s degrees in InteractiveEntertainment: UCF’s Florida InteractiveEntertainment Academy (FIEA),launched in August 2005.

And that’s not to mention Orlando’slongest-standing video-game maker: n-Space, Inc. Started in 1994 by threeengineers from Lockheed, the com-pany now employs some 70 engineers,artists, designers and production per-sonnel at its 14,000-square-foot facilityin Westwood Plaza near SeaWorld.

Working across various game plat-forms, including Nintendo Gamecubeand Sony Playstation, n-Space has cre-ated its own games (including the spirit-and-demon fantasy “Geist”) along with

“When we started making games, a game tookseven people 10 or 11 months and cost justunder a million dollars. Now, we have projectswith 40 people that run for two years, with ajust-getting-in-the-door budget of $5 million.”

— Erick Dyke

games based on well-known movies,TV shows and comic books. “RugratsStudio Tour,” “Mary-Kate & Ashley:Sweet Sixteen,” and “Die Hard Trilogy2” are among the 12 projects n-Spacehas released thus far.

“It’s what I wanted to do since I was a little kid,” says Erick Dyke, n-Space’s president.

Is the video-gaming industry the entertainment side of the computer business, or the computer end of the entertainment business?>>

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MAJORPLAYER

ORLANDO IS BECOMING A HUB FORTHE VIDEO-GAMING INDUSTRY, AUNIQUE HYBRID THAT WEDS SEATTLEGEEK WITH HOLLYWOOD CHIC.

By Rafaela Ellis

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GAME WARRIORSThe birth of n-Space is itself a tale ofhow quickly things morph in the gam-ing biz. Dyke, a 1991 engineeringgraduate from Michigan Tech, origi-nally came to Florida to work on mil-itary projects for GE Aerospace inDaytona Beach. But then the com-pany got a contract from the gamemaker Sega, and Dyke and his col-leagues were thrust into the videogame racket.

“That sort of got me into the busi-ness,” Dyke says. “And then that wasbought out by Martin Marietta andthen Lockheed, and after they endedtheir relationship with Sega I wanted tokeep makinggames. So I and acouple of peopleleft and started n-Space.”

Working froma small rental inGrand NationalPlaza, the groupdiscovered thatin addition to thetechnical know-how to creategames, theyneeded to beginbuilding the rela-

tionships that are so vital in the gam-ing business, which relies heavily onlicensing agreements and intellectualproperty sharing. Enter Interactive Stu-dio Management (ISM), a pioneeringvideo-game talent agency headquar-tered in California. In 1996, the agencyrecruited n-Space as its first-ever client,and the next year helped n-Space putits first game, “Tigershark,” on storeshelves.

“Their efforts have directlyimpacted our worldwide sales and con-tributed to our impressive longevity inan industry where independent devel-opers are a rarity,” Dyke told GameNews in an article celebrating ISM’s10th anniversary.

THE COMINGWORLDNow Dyke and company,along with a roster oflocal and regional politi-cal and business types,are preparing for thefuture of gaming byworking to make Orlandoas attractive as possibleto the young, hip engi-neers and artists whotake video games fromconcept to reality.

While the Californiacompanies who publish

the material onwhich games arebased have caughton to Orlando’sbenefits — “Theylike the fact thatwe’re in Floridabecause we have a

less-expensive cost of doing business,”Dyke says — the next step is to furtherdevelop the region’s tech-savvy, creative workforce.

Dyke is optimistic that Orlando’sefforts to create a high-tech creative

FIEA programming student Jennie Gritton.

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“Geist” and “Rugrats” video games are justtwo popular titles by n-Space.

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village adjacent to UCF’s FIEA in down-town Orlando will be a catalyst toattracting talent to drive this industry,although he notes that the gamingindustry has changed since he and hiscohorts left their comfortable — andwell-paying — engineering jobs to startup n-Space.

“Our business is really tough rightnow,” he says. “When we started mak-

ing games, a game took seven people10 or 11 months and cost just under amillion dollars. Now, we have projectswith 40 people that run for two years,with a just-getting-in-the-door budgetof $5 million.”

That makes it harder for young engi-neers to run their own companies outof a garage, as the legendary tech wizards of the past generation did.

Nevertheless, Dyke says, Orlandostill offers plenty of opportunities forrecent graduates.

“My advice is to find a good job at

a company that exists,” he says. With n-Space, EA, and a host of mil-

itary-simulation concerns hungry forqualified workers, such advice shouldbe easy to follow.

“Right now, it ’s become a lot easier to find local talent and to findpeople interested in living and work-ing here,” he says. “The business ismaturing.” x

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Present-day Orlando has becomehome to a league of its own, with agrowing number of all-star playerswhose back-of-jerseys include thenames: Crofton, Waltz, Sonntag,

Weeden, Seay, Nodarse, Engfer,Schirm, Hostetter, Beeson, Mol-

laghasemi, Ruiz, Mitchell,McCall, Dominguez, Costa,Booker and Koenig, to namea few. These women, whoown or lead their respectiveorganizations, have not onlygenerated individual suc-cess, but have helped theirhome team of Metro Orlandomove into the ranks of the big

leagues. The region has seen a rapid

rise in the number of women-owned businesses with more than

71,000 privately held (50 percent ormore woman-owned) firms as of2004, according to the Center for

Women’s Business Research. That’sa 29 percent increase since 1997,

earning Orlando a number 10spot among the leading

U.S. metro areas forgrowth in the number ofprivately held, women-owned firms. Mostrecent data showsthat these Orlandobusinesses gener-

ated $18 bil l ion insales and employed

nearly 100,000 people. Orlando’s women

business leadersown or over-see compa-nies that

range from Walt DisneyWorld to the primarylocal newspapers; tech-nology, constructionand engineering firms;and a host of profes-sional service firms,including commercialreal estate, public rela-tions, banking and

A LEAGUE OFIITTSS OOWWNNGROWTH OF WOMEN-LED BUSI-NESSES IN ORLANDO AMONG TOP INTHE NATION.

Madonna, Geena Davis and Rosie O’Donnell. If you remem-ber the hit movie A League of Their Own, you recall them

portraying the key players in a women’s baseball league that wasformed when the World War II draft threatened to shut downMajor League Baseball. And you remember the characters theyplayed for their talent, determination, spirit and accomplishments.

>>By Jackie Kelvington

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legal services. On top of that, a quicklook through our region’s top-rankedlists reveals that half of the chambers ofcommerce, non-profit service organiza-tions and top credit unions are all ledby women.

What’s spurred this growth? Theanswers are as diverse as the womenbusiness leaders here. Many cite theregion’s strong entrepreneurial spirit,economic strength and sheer growth.Others say it’s a great place to raise afamily and become ingrained in thecommunity.

“Since I moved to Orlando fromPhiladelphia twenty-four years ago, Ihave always felt that the region wasideal for entrepreneurs,” says LindaCosta, president and creative directorof Costa DeVault.

Founded by Costa in 1985, the com-pany has become one of CentralFlorida’s most prominent marketingcommunications, public relations andgraphic design firms.

“The climate is business-friendly andfull of opportunity, with plenty of venuesfor networking and business develop-ment,”continues Costa. “The majorityof decision-makers are involved in thecommunity, approachable and accessi-ble. It’s a great environment to build andfoster relationships.”

Metro Orlando also has a competi-tive edge when it comes to resourcesfor women in business. The region hasan abundance of national, state, localand industry-specific association chap-ters that connect women business lead-ers, offer professional development andhelp them grow their businesses. Theseinclude: the National Association ofWomen Business Owners, ExecutiveWomen International, the OrlandoBusiness Professional Women’s Association, the Ya Ya Network, FloridaExecutive Women, the Florida Associa-tion of Women Lawyers, CommercialReal Estate Women and the HispanicAmerican Professional Business WomenAssociation.

The Orlando office of national lawfirm Holland & Knight started a

Women’s Initiative program, throughwhich the firm hosts regular forums forwomen business leaders in the area.Orange County government launchedan annual Women’s Leadership Summitthat offers day-long programs and sem-inars on professional development, bal-ancing work-family and more. All thison top of the fact that Orlando is hometo several noted organizations that helpnurture entrepreneurs, including theDisney/SBA National EntrepreneurCenter and the University of CentralFlorida’s Small Business Center and itsTechnology Incubator.

“Metro Orlando’s ‘can do’ attitude iswhat sets it apart,”says Joanie Schirm,

president of Geotechnical and Environ-mental Consultants, Inc. “CentralFlorida is an increasingly dynamic andwelcoming marketplace. The velocity ofchange over the past three to five yearsis a phenomenon that most communi-ties would wish for in ten years,”

Schirm founded GEC in 1991. Hercompany has since become a leadingengineering and environmental con-sulting firm known for major commu-nity-shaping projects.

“The Burnham Institute’s choice ofOrlando, the new University of CentralFlorida Medical School, and our com-munity’s investment in a new Perform-ing Arts Center, events center/arena,

“Since I moved to Orlando fromPhiladelphia twenty-four yearsago, I have always felt that theregion was ideal for entrepreneurs.The climate is business-friendlyand full of opportunity, withplenty of venues for networkingand business development.The majority of decision-makers are involved inthe community, approachable and accessible. It’s a great environment to build and foster relationships.” Linda Costa, president and creative director, Costa DeVault (locally founded communications marketing firm)

“Metro Orlando’s ‘can do’ atti-tude is what sets it apart. Theregion is an increasingly dynamicand welcoming marketplace. Thevelocity of change over the pastthree to five years is a phenome-non that most communities wouldwish for in ten years.” Joanie Schirm, president, Geotechnical and Environmental Consultants, Inc. (locally founded engineering and environmental consulting firm)

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and a renovated Florida Citrus Bowl arejust of a few of the major happeningsthat underscore a community on the

“Orlando is a greatbusiness location forSAIC because of thesynergies among themilitary services (ourcustomers), the busi-ness community andthe University of Cen-tral Florida, which allwork together to generate success inthe high tech domain.What I like best aboutthe region is thathere, more than any-where I have lived,there is a sense ofcommunity. Thereare so many greatpeople living here —people who are will-ing to get togetherand help each other,both on a businessand on a personallevel.” Beverly Seay, senior vice presi-dent, Business Unit General Manager, SAIC (Science Applica-tions International Corporation, a leading provider of scientific,engineering, systems integrationand technical services and solu-tions to all branches of the U.S.military)

“Metro Orlando is an ideal placefor women-led businesses to thriveand flourish. Our region is rela-tively young, progressive anddiverse when compared to olderestablished areas with entrenchednon-women-led businesses. Here,there is a culture of encourage-

ment, acceptance and support for women inleadership positions throughout our community. “ Leila Nodarse, president & CEO of locally founded engineering consulting firmNodarse & Associates, Inc.

“There are many things that makeOrlando a great place. What I mostadmire is that our civic and busi-ness leaders all share a commongoal — a vision for a great city.I ’m excited about where this city and region are headed andproud that Disney is a leader in this

great community.”Meg Crofton, president, Walt Disney World Resort

“Central Florida is one of thelargest centers in the world formodeling and simulation. That’sbeen critical to our success, and so have our ties to the Universityof Central Florida, which is now the sixth largest university in thecountry. UCF provides us an exten-

sive and growing knowledge base which has contributed greatly to the company’s human capital and our competitive advantage.” Mansooreh Mollaghasemi, president of Productivity Apex, a locally founded company that uses technology and process-improvement tools to increase productivity and efficiency in organizations

x

move,” comments Schirm.Here is what some of Orlando’s other

“league” members had to say:

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THE ROYAL TREATMENT FOR ROAD WARRIORS.

When the body is weary but the brain needs to be on, it’s time for Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport. You’ll love it for the location and the luxury

with its newly renovated, impeccably designed

rooms, featuring down comforters, soft pillows, 340

thread count sheets (ahhh, now that’s comfort); a

host of terrific business amenities, like high speed

Internet, elegantly appointed boardrooms, great

dining and Hyatt caliber service; and the ambiance of

our soaring six story tropical atrium, outdoor pool and

sundeck with runway views. So give yourself a break

and stay at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International

Airport, where relaxation and rejuvenation are always

included, no extra charge.

The next time you’re heading out on the road, call

407.825.1234 or visit us at orlandoairport.hyatt.com.

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WELCOMEThe following Central Florida Businesses Welcome t

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e the Burnham Institute for Medical Research to Orlando

Axium Healthcare Pharmacy, Inc.Nationwide Specialty Pharmacy Services888-315-3395

CB Richard EllisThe Global Leader in Real Estate Services407-843-4020

CBR Public RelationsSpecializing in Public Relations Management,Media Relations and Crisis Communications407-834-7777

City of St. CloudCelebrating Small Town Life407-957-7300

Consensus CommunicationA Full-Service Public Relations Firm ProvidingStrategic Communications Counsel and Support407-835-0020

CORT Business ServicesOffice & Residential Furniture Rental &Relocation Services407-678-2677

CurascriptDedicated to the Delivery of Extraordinary Care, One Patient at a Time888-773-7376

Dynetech CorporationSpecializing in Strategic Positioning of Productsand Services in the Marketplace for Businesses407-206-6500

Fifth Third BankFinancial Services, Private Banking andInvestments407-999-3053

Florida’s Blood CentersFlorida’s Blood Centers – Central Florida’s Blood Bank407-226-3853

GECGeotechnical and Environmental Consultants, Inc.407-898-1818

Greater Orlando AviationAuthorityOrlando International Airport - Your Connection to the World407-825-2001

Haines City EconomicDevelopment Council, Inc.863-422-2525

Holland & KnightThe Firm of Choice for Proven, Results-Defined Legal Services407-425-8500

Hyatt Regency OrlandoInternational AirportBeautifully appointed. Newly Renovated. Inside the airport.407-825-1234

J. Rolfe Davis InsurancePremier Insurance Brokers, Risk ManagementConsultants and Alliance Partners407-691-9614

Johnson Bros.National Civil Contractor407-248-9208

KnightMarketing and Advertising Agency407-206-1011

Lake NonaReal Estate Development407-888-6500

The Mall at MilleniaWorld Class Dining & Shopping - You Were Meant for This407-363-3555

Moore Stevens Lovelace, P.A.So Much More Than an Accounting Firm407-246-1981

Nodarse and Associates, Inc.A Full Service Geotechnical, EnvironmentalConsulting, and Construction Materials Testingand Inspection Engineering Firm800-457-4745

Orlando Magic Basketball407-89-MAGIC

Orlando Regional HealthcareDedicated to Improving the Health and Quality of Life of the Individuals andCommunities We Serve321 841-5111

Real Estate Research Consultants, Inc.We Put the Knowledge in Your Hands…Run With It800-767-5635

Tavistock GroupPrivate Investment Company407-909-9000

UCF Foundation, Inc.Welcoming the Burnham Institute and world-class medical research to Central Florida.407-882-1220

Walt Disney World

Welbro Building Corp.Construction Services & Support, Full Service Real Estate Improvement service407-475-0800

WorkscapesProviding Commercial Furnishing and DesignSolutions for the Workplace407-599-6770

33_EI262.Texture.ps 2/6/07 2:25 PM


i n n o v a t i o n a l l e y

x

By NancyCurry

BUSINESSGenerating

Advances in technology tend to make things smaller ...consider how one of today’s laptops can perform tasksthat formerly required a roomful of mainframe comput-ers. But what about the electrical power that drives somuch technology, and almost every aspect of daily life?

ELECTRODYNAMICS ASSOCIATES SEES ENORMOUS POTENTIAL IN SMALL GENERATOR.

>>

Orlando-based Electrodynamics Associ-ates, Inc. is on the cusp of introducing avastly smaller and more efficient electricgenerator with the potential to revolu-tionize the military, aerospace and com-mercial sectors. Established in 1995, the company develops compact, high-density electric power generators andalternative energy solutions.

The firm has produced a prototype2.5-megawatt generator roughly thesize of a rolled-up sleeping bag.

“It weighs approximately 350 lbs,”says Electrodynamics AssociatesFounder and President Jay Vaidya, “asopposed to comparable commercialmachines that weigh 15 times as muchand are considerably larger. Nobodyelse has this kind of generator.”

For perspective, a 2.5-megawattgenerator can power 2,000 homes continuously.

“After a hurricane, you could take itin to provide power to an entire subdi-vision,” says Vaidya. “It’s transportablebecause it’s so lightweight. This is aproduct that’s ready for final testing and

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getting a lot of interest for both militaryand commercial applications.”

The generator is timely, says Vaidya,because it will support the aircraftindustry’s move toward more efficientand compact generators in airbornepropulsion systems.

“Current generation aircraft utilizebleed air from the engine to de-ice thewings,” he says. “And the engine alsodirectly drives the compressors for envi-ronmental control systems. The ‘moreelectric engine’ on next generationplanes will delegate these functions tothe electric generator, substantiallyimproving fuel efficiency and reducingthe overall weight and cost of buildingthe airplane.

“With this development, the gener-ator coupled to the propulsion engineneeds to be more powerful than currenttechnology generators. We can supportthat requirement.”

There are myriad applications for the transportable generator, but thebiggest challenge for the entrepreneuris transitioning into production.

“It will probably be eighteen monthsbefore we make that move, but we aregetting certain inquiries for quantitiesof our products.”

One prospective buyer wanted topurchase 4,000 generators over the nextfive years ... potentially a $40 million con-tract ... but ultimately passed on Elec-trodynamics’ proposal because the costof producing prototypes was too high.

“We were looking at $300,000 forthree units and controllers,” saysVaidya, “but with large-scale produc-tion, we could produce them for as lit-tle as $10,000 a piece. At this point,only a much larger company can under-write this kind of production. We needa partner to amortize the cost of proto-types and large-scale production.

“Airplane manufacturers ask us forproposals to develop generators for thenew generation planes. The reason theycome to us is the handful of large com-panies that can produce on this scaletend to be highly invested in their tech-nologies, so in response to a problem,the solution they provide is based ontheir production abilities. That’s how wediffer. As a small company, we try to

look at a problem and apply the bestsolution to it ... independent of existingproduction constraints.”

The company is also exploring appli-cations for biomass-fueled generators.

“Probably the most effective appli-cation is using the waste from agricul-tural products, such as sugar cane,”says Vaidya. “The processing waste leftbehind after you extract the juice canbe converted to fuel and put into ahigh-speed turbine engine to drive the

generator to produce electricity. If youhad one of these generators in a sugarcane factory, you could use the powerto actually run the factory, and evensend some power back to the grid.”

AN ELECTRIFYINGSTARTVaidya developed its 2.5-megawattgenerator in response to a broad solicitation by the U.S. Air Force, but hiscompany has been propelled by severaldifferent research grants. One suchboost came from the Florida High TechCorridor Council (FHTCC)’s innovativeMatching Grants Research Program,which partners high tech companieswith research universities.

In 2000, FHTCC provided Electro-dynamics Associates with $54,000 aspart of a study for the National Aero-nautics and Space Administration(NASA)’s Small Business TechnologyTransfer Research (STTR) program todesign power supply for its ground-based computers. The firm successfullydelivered the high-efficiency samplepower supplies to NASA and has sinceapplied for and won two additionalFHTCC matching grants worth $90,000.These correspond to eight Small Busi-ness Innovation Research (SBIR) phaseI contracts, and five Phase II contractsfor research in the field of high powerdensity electric generators.

“The 2.5-megawatt generator hasbenefited from a lot of analysis on thethermal side from the University of Cen-tral Florida (UCF) and its student

researchers,” says Vaidya. “This prod-uct has had perhaps the most impactfrom the initial FHTCC funding. UCFhelped us design the generator in avery compact size that makes it suitablefor airborne applications.”

Most of the company’s growth hastaken place in research and develop-ment, increasing from two to sevenemployees. The firm also works with 10outside consultants from around thecountry.

UCF and the engineering talent inFlorida’s High Tech Corridor were key toVaidya’s decision to found his companyin Orlando. Despite building a suc-cessful career in Illinois at SundstrandAerospace, including a stint as chiefresearch engineer, he returned to Cen-tral Florida when it was time to build hisown company. He had earned his Mas-ter’s degree in Electrical Engineeringfrom UCF in 1974, when it was knownas Florida Technological University.

Vaidya estimates there are no morethan six to eight companies doing similar work nationwide. And, he andhis firm are making waves in the indus-try: in 2005, the Orlando chapter of theInstitute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) honored Vaidya as itsentrepreneur of the year.

“Mr. Vaidya is really a brilliant man,”says Tom Wu, PhD, associate professor inUCF’s department of electrical and com-puter engineering and chairman of theIEEE’s 2005 awards committee. “He’sdone outstanding work with high-speedgenerators, and it’s work that’s very impor-tant for the future of this country.” x

“[THE 2.5 MEGAWATT GENERATOR] WEIGHS APPROXIMATELY 350 LBS ASOPPOSED TO COMPARABLE COMMERCIAL MACHINES THAT WEIGH 15TIMES AS MUCH AND ARE CONSIDERABLY LARGER. NOBODY ELSE HASTHIS KIND OF GENERATOR.” — JAY VAIDYA

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WORKSTWO NEW COMPANIES ARE AMONG THOSEGROWING IN CENTRAL FLORIDA’S DIVERSEHIGH-TECH LANDSCAPE.

By G.K.Sharman

Tech that

In September 2005, Jeff Douglass moved his live event-production company, Cybis, out of his home into an officein Oviedo. It’s time to move again already.

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awards ceremony or other major event.Cybis does it up big, making the audi-ence “feel like they’re at the Grammys orthe Academy Awards,” Douglass says.

He wants the participants to walkout of the event feeling energized andready to change the world.

The expansion is as much aboutexpanding Cybis’ market and strategicefforts as it is about additional officespace.

Many of Cybis’ clients are from outof town, and Douglass hopes the com-pany can one day open satellite officesin other cities.

But Orlando is one of the nation’s —even the world’s — top meeting andevent destinations, and Douglass, whogrew up here, sees growth potentialamong local companies.

“It’s about time to let Central Florida know who we are and why we can set a new standard for events,”says Douglass.

SONA PILLOW Dr. Najeeb Zuberi’s invention can help

you lose weight, live longer, sharpenyour memory and improve your love life.

Actually, the Sona Pillow preventssnoring — which Zuberi, a Harvard-edu-cated neurologist and sleep specialist,says helps people sleep better andtherefore improves their lives in a variety of positive ways.

The pillow itself, with a hump in themiddle that gradually flattens outtoward the sides, looks deceptively low-tech. But don’t be fooled. Zuberiholds a patent on it and it’s the only suchpillow that’s FDA certified.

Researchers at the Departments ofNeurology and Sleep Medicine atFlorida Hospital-Kissimmee studied the pillow’s effects and found that it reduced snoring and sleep apnea (a temporary breathing stoppage),

increased oxygen saturation andimproved the snoring sufferer’s qual-ity of sleep. Their findings were published in the medical journal,Sleep and Breathing.

It’s the latest solution to a frustrat-ing and worldwide problem that’smore serious than it appears. Accord-ing to Zuberi, who uses the pillow

himself, snoring is linked to heartattacks, high blood pressure, stroke andheart failure, as well as increased tired-ness, weight gain, memory loss and adecline in, ahem, romantic relations, asanyone who sleeps with a window-rattler can attest.

Snoring has a genetic component.What happens is, when snorers sleep ontheir backs, their jaws fall backward andcause an obstruction in the back of thethroat. The Sona Pillow ensures thatusers sleep on their sides, thus puttingthe jaw at the right angle to improvebreathing and prevent snoring andsleep apnea.

Unlike other methods, Zuberi says,the Sona Pillow is easier to use and at$69, far less expensive. It doesn’t haveto be customized to the user and there’sno ongoing maintenance other thanoccasional fluffings.

The pillow has been on the marketfor about a year, says Zuberi, who esti-mates that he’s sold between 3,000 and4,000 of them through his Web site,sonapillow.com. Made in China andshipped back to the United States to bestuffed with hypo-allergenic fill, they’repopular all over the world. Zuberi hastestimonials from former snorers fromBritain and several other countries and recently shipped an order for four pillows to Afghanistan.

Since the venture is Web based, itcould operate anywhere in the world,Zuberi acknowledges, but he findsKissimmee an ideal home base for hisneurology practice and four-bed sleeplab as well as for pillow sales.

He’s loved the area since he and his wife honeymooned here in 1990.Central Florida is warm, clean, new, relatively affordable compared to other cities and, according to Zuberi,has “a big-city feel without the big-city problems.”


“We keep growing by word ofmouth,” says Douglass, the com-pany’s founder, CEO, president andexecutive producer, who expects tooutgrow the current office by theend of January.

Word of mouth is a strategy thathas worked for him since his firstforay into business in 1995.

Douglass, a 2002 graduate of UCF,began as a technology and computernetworking consultant. In addition todeveloping business information sys-tems and providing computer training,his early trademark was free telephonecomputer service to his clients.

After a small initial marketing effort,he began generating 100 percent of hisnew customers by word of mouth.

Douglass always kept up with thelatest technology and began addingdesktop video editing and computergraphics to his list of services. By 1999,Cybis was moving into media produc-tion, creating corporate identities,developing promotional videos andcombining media and technology tohelp clients meet their goals.

Cybis Communications Corp. wasofficially established in February 2001and quickly moved into conferenceproduction, using technology toorchestrate large-scale events. The ini-tial client was a national high-schoolleadership conference in 2002. Cybiscontinues to draw its clientele primarily from the non-profit sector,working with Preserve America Summit,a historical preservation project, andwith the White House on HelpingAmerica’s Youth, a series of conferencesled by First Lady Laura Bush. Mostrecently, Cybis worked the WhiteHouse Summit on Malaria in Washing-ton, D.C., featuring the President.

The company expanded with theclient base, from one guy — Douglass— to 15 people, either full- or part-time, working on the shows.

What sets Cybis apart, Douglasssays, is its focus on the client’s message.The company doesn’t just providesome audio-visual bells and whistles, hesaid, it uses technology to further themission and goals of the organization.For instance, most conferences have an x

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TECHUniquePUTTING A DIFFERENT SPIN ON TECH APPLICATIONS.

SSCCIINNEETTNeed a permit for a pool? Click. Realestate and school district information?Click. Rezoning, utility projects, taxinformation, street widening, inspectionrequests — click.

SCINET — which stands for Semi-nole County Integrated Network — isan interactive Web site that will let peo-ple get almost anything they want orneed from the county with just a cou-ple of clicks.

The idea was to streamline theprocess, putting everything in oneplace to make it easy to access infor-mation and service from the county,says Colleen Rotella, Seminole’s actingdirector of IT.

But everybody says that, sheacknowledges. What makes SCINETdifferent isn’t just the tech stuff, impres-sive as it is. It’s that the county startedat the beginning with a customer-service focus and “drilled down,” in

Rotella’s words, to find out what peoplereally wanted and how they would usea government Web site.

SCINET was developed by thecounty with expertise from University of Central Florida’s computer and engineering students. Seminole is theonly county in the nation with such acomprehensive program, Rotella says,and Microsoft, which has its own gov-ernment software packages, is watch-ing to see if they can learn anything.

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Technology is such a part of our lives thesedays that it’s easy to be blasé. Computers

— ho hum. E-mail on the cell phone — been there,got that. But every once in a while, technology cansurprise us with different and unique applications.

>>

By Denise Bates Enos

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UUNN--CCOONNVVEENNTTIIOONNAALL CCOOOOKKIINNGGSuppose you have to cook dinner for 1,000 people.

What you need is something that can keep thefood hot — and more importantly, edible — until itcan be served.

At the Orange County Convention Center, thesolution to that culinary dilemma is the portablebanquet cart made by A la Cart Inc., the latest high-tech helper for high-volume cooks.

“It’s just unbelievable,” says an enthusiastic JamesKaturakes, executive chef for Levy Restaurants, the Convention Center’s food service operation.

The term “banquet cart” is misleading, says Chef K, as he’sknown to his staff. What the portable, programmable unit does issafely store and retherm food — that’s chef-speak for warm it up— so everything can be served at the right temperature. No warm-ing trays are required, which means food comes to the table orbuffet line with the right temperature, texture and taste.

The goal is to “bring the food closer to the guest,” explainsChef K, whose staff of 15 has used the carts for nearly two-and-a-half years. The Convention Center is one of only a handful of large-scale food operations to use the carts, Chef K estimates.

Chef K has 20 of the units, each of which can provide twoentrees, veggies and potatoes for a party of 100 for buffet service,or 60 pre-plated meals for a sit-down dinner.

Now what’s for dessert?

HHII--TTEECCHH MMEEEETTSSCCAANNVVAASSWhen is an iPod not a luxuryentertainment item?

People who used one tounderstand the art and mind ofEdouard Duval Carrie at theOrlando Museum of Art seethe high-tech little music play-ers in a new light.

iPods are the perfect toolfor a 21st-century museumvisit, according to DannyDaneau, one of the tour’sdevelopers.

The UCF graduate studentin entrepreneurial digital cinema developed the tour incooperation with Laura Lopez,his partner in Orlando-basedDora Media, and the Museum.

He used the iPod’s channelsto organize content about theart, offering far more than astandard rent-a-headphonetour could provide and doingit in such a way that each visi-tor can customize his or herexperience.

The most complicated partof the procedure was explain-ing to non-techies how to usethe iPods, he says.

Using their own iPods orrenting one at the desk, visitorssubscribe to a free podcastabout the exhibit. A panel nextto the piece of art tells visitorswhich channel to select, thenthey scroll down and choosewhat they want to listen to:background information, thewords of the modern artist talk-ing about his own work, otherexperts’ opinions on the artand more.

“It’s a fully-integrated-from-beginning-to-end iPod tour,”says Daneau, who was pleasedwith the way the project turnedout and is looking for opportu-nities to do another one.

BBOODDIILLYY SSCCIIEENNCCEEWe’re all kin under the skin, right? If so,we should all be able to relate to OurBody: The Universe Within at theOrlando Science Center.

More than 200 specimens, includ-ing 20 complete bodies, are displayedin a dignified and tasteful environment,according to Science Center PresidentBrian Tonner.

The bodies and body parts are pre-served with a polymer impregnationprocess that replaces fluids withpolymers that preventdecay and decomposition.

But it’s not the “Bodies”exhibit that caused such astir — and drew recordcrowds — at theMuseum of Science andIndustry in Tampa. Tonner,the museum staff and theboard saw that show, though,and were so impressed that they

wanted to bring a similar exhibit here.It’s part of a strategic plan to reach

out to more adult audiences, he says,even though the exhibit has more of aneducational focus than the Tampa ver-sion. Displays include studies of cellu-lar-level biology and artistic views ofanatomy through the ages.

The show also delves into an age-old question, Tonner says: “How do weapproach the need for scientific inquiry

into ourselves while preservinghuman dignity?”

Visitors can expect tocome away from the exhibitunderstanding moreabout how we humanswork and also, Tonner

says, “how distinctlyunique each of us is.”

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