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Jessica Metta <jessica@mcedd.org>

GTA Newsletter February 20151 message

Jessica Metta <jessica@crgta.org> Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 3:05 PMReply-To: jessica@crgta.orgTo: jessica@crgta.org

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Gorge Tech Alliance NewsletterFebruary 2015

About the GTA

The GTA supports, connects anddevelops the technology

community of the Columbia RiverGorge.

www.crgta.org * Email the GTA541-296-2266

In This Issue

GTA Members

Manufacturers Grants

Job Openings

Precision Farming Expo

Youth STEM News

Volunteer Requests

GTA Events

Events Calendar

GTA Members and Sponsors

Thank you to our Renewing Members:

Global SessionsImpact Graphics and Product Design

Grant Funds for Oregon Manufacturers

The Northwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center, a non-profit, helps companies fund improvement projects of theirchoice. Eligible companies can receive up to $75,000 inmatching grant funding from the U.S. Economic DevelopmentAdministration to fund these projects. The Center quickly assess a company's eligibility and prepares,submits and tracks the application, cost free! They have moneyavailable and are active seeking eligible companies. Learn moreat www.nwtaac.org or contact Patrick Meuleman

Job Openings with GTA Members

Columbia Gorge Community College is hiring a ComputerApplications / Computer Information Systems Instructorand a Mechanical Power Instructor.Google in The Dalles has a number of openings.ICE is hiring an Engineering Manager and a SalesEngineer.Some of Insitu's latest openings include SystemsEngineer 1 and Electrical Engineer 2.Sagetech's openings include Bookkeeper, Controller,Engineering Project Manager, Procurement Manager,Sales Manager, and Senior Embedded Hardware

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Diamond Sponsor

Platinum Sponsor

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Engineer.Seeq's openings include Software Engineer, Back End/Full Stack Engineer, Software Intern, Sales Executive,Applications/ Process Engineer, and Front EndDeveloper.Trillium Engineering is seeking an Embedded Software/Hardware Engineer.

Precision Farming Expo, March 17-18, Salem

The 2015 Precision Farming Expo "Drones, Droids, Data andDirt" will have agri-tech thought leaders from around the world.This year's keynote speaker is Clive Blacker from the UnitedKingdom. Clive consults with some of the largest agricultureengineering companies in the world. Also from Europe is Dr.Jan Bontsema from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Dr. Bontsema leads a nine country robotic harvesting researchteam. Another exciting presentation will focus on UC Davis' Dr.Ken Giles' work with the unmanned Yamaha RMAX crop sprayhelicopter and wine grapes. The Yamaha USA team will beexhibiting the actual helicopter as a part of the Future of Farmingtrade show. Learn more or register here.

Youth STEM News

>>>>Congratulations to the five Gorge FIRST TECHChallenge teams that made it all the way to the Oregon statefinals! Go to Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland onMarch 8 to cheer on two teams from The Dalles High School(the Bazinga Bots and Renegade Robotics) and three teamsfrom Hood River Valley High School (Occam's Razor,the Transformers and Men in Green). View the full results fromthe semi-finals here.

>>>>Team registration is open for May 2 Wind Challenge.CGCC and Google are again teaming up for the Wind Challengeevent where teams of middle school and high school studentswill learn about wind turbine technology and design, and applytheir new skills in an all-day competition to build, test andpresent their wind turbine models to a group of judges. Learnmore here.

>>>>Summer registration is open for Cascade MountainSchool. The school provides STEM summer camps of varyinglength for K-12 students with titles like Sustainable AgricultureCourse, Outdoor Explorer Course, MacGyver Camp and others.Learn more here.

>>>>Family Maker Night at the White Salmon Library startsFeb 27. Join the Gorge MakerSpace at the White SalmonLibrary for three nights (Feb 27, Mar 6, Mar 13) of family-styleprogramming and inventing. Kids ages 7 - 12 and their parentsare encouraged to attend this series of workshops which includedinner, beginner-level instruction, and the chance to tinker andcreate. Learn more here.

>>>>Summer high school internship in Hood River hasMarch 9 application deadline. The Apprenticeships in Scienceand Engineering (ASE) Program matches motivated 9-11th gradestudents with professional scientists, technologists and

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Silicon Sponsors

engineers for hands-on 8-week summer internships. Twointernships are available in Hood River this summer at the OSUExtension office and the application is due March 9th. Detailsare on the ASE website or call ASE staff at 503-200-5861.

Volunteer Requests

>>>>Mentors needed for arduino robotics lab. Wahtonka Community School in The Dalles is in the process ofturning a classroom into an Arduino-based robotics lab. Studentleaders will be making decisions on how to structure the room,what equipment and supplies to acquire, teaching themselves toprogram in "C", and also designing, building and testing arduinocontrolled robots. Within six months, the goal is to be able as aschool to come to the lab with needs (i.e. a remote controlledrobot arm to manage a raised garden bed that is at a remotesite; small underwater robots to capture data on vernal pools)and also for fun things. One or two mentors are needed who loveto work with quirky teens, have the ability to guide and notdirect, and have afternoons available M-Th (any day or anycombo of them) from 12:45 to 2:30. Please contact BrianGoodwin.

>>>>Wind Challenge seeks judges. CGCC and Google's Wind Challenge (also mentioned in pieceabove) is in need of several judges. The time commitment isMay 1 from 5:30 to 7 pm for a training (dinner will be provided)and May 2 from 10 am to 4 pm. Contact Peg Caliendo withquestions or fill out the volunteer form right now!

GTA Events in March

March 17: Geek Lunch on Salesforce for Nonprofits andHow GTA Members Can Help.(This event was planned for February but had to be rescheduledfor March 17.) Our speaker John Fine will demonstrateSalesforce for nonprofits, explain how it can be customized for anonprofit's specific needs, and discuss what sort of consultantassistance nonprofits require to use Salesforce successfullyand how GTA Members can apply their skills to help Gorgenonprofits get the most benefit from their Salesforcedatabase. The event is Tuesday, March 17, noon at ChinaGorge. No-host lunch. Details here. March 24: Featured Event with Tour of Orchard View FarmsCherry Packing House.The GTA loves the fresh cherries grown in the Gorge - howdelicious they are and how much technology goes into growingand packing them. Join us for a fun tour of the cherry packinghouse at Orchard View Farms in The Dalles to see for yourselfhow much automation and computerized analysis is behindpacking a bag or box of cherries. We'll see OrchardView's optical sorting capabilities, which will be fullyimplemented next winter, to inspect each cherry's size, shape,color, and structural properties in order to reduce manual sortingand increase throughput while maximizing product quality andshelf life ( more info about optical sorting here). While thepacking house won't be in operation during the tour, there willstill be plenty to see.

The event is Tuesday, March 24, 6:00 pm at 4055 Skyline Rd,

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The Dalles. Appetizers will be provided before the tour. PleaseRSVP to Jessica. Event details here.

March 31: CEO Excellence ForumThis month's CEO Excellence Forum is designed to support theleaders of our growing tech companies in a confidential,supportive meeting. CEOs and upper-level management ofour tech companies only are invited to this no-host lunch toshare experiences and learn from each other. The eventis Tuesday, March 31, noon at China Gorge. RSVP requiredto Jessica.

Events Calendar

Great events in and out of the Gorge of interest to the techindustry:

March

Mar 5: PNDC Webinar on Government Contracting andEthics. 10am.Mar 12: Ignite TAO event in Portland, 6:30pm.Mar 13: ORAVI Quarterly meeting with overview ofCentral Oregon Community College's new UAV degreeprogram. Bend, 1pm. Mar 17: GTA Geek Lunch on Salesforce forNonprofits. Mar 17-18: Precision Farming Expo in Salem. See above.Mar 19: TAO Event: Mobile Health 2015 - Perils,Promises and Predictions for the Mobile HealthRevolution, Portland, 5:30pm. Mar 24: GTA Featured Event: Tour of Orchard ViewFarms Cherry Packing House. Mar 25: Gorge Innoventure Event: Brown bag workshopon SharePoint. Hood River, Noon. Mar 31: GTA CEO Excellence Forum.

April

April 9: PNDC's Government Contracting Conference inClackamas, OR.April 16-17: Cascade AUVSI Spring Forum and TradeShow in Kent, WAApril 30: TAO's Oregon Technology Awards, Portland,5pm.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is sponsored by GTA. The items contained herein are published as submittedand are provided for general information purposes only. This information is not advice. Readers should notrely solely on this information, but should make their own inquiries before making any decisions. GTA worksto maintain up-to-date information from reliable sources; however, no responsibility is accepted for any errorsor omissions or results of any actions based upon this information. If you have any questions regarding any ofthese items, contact the organizational representative of that source. This newsletter may contain links to websites that are created and maintained by other organizations. GTAdoes not necessarily endorse the views expressed on these websites, nor does it guarantee the accuracy orcompleteness of any information presented there. Furthermore, visitors should be aware that other siteslinked from this newsletter may use persistent cookies that track visitor viewing habits.