Recognition and Innovation, Part II, February 2010

Michael Baker Jr., Inc., has announced that Anthony Widacki, P.E. (TX D ’80) has joined as assistant vice president, office principal, and Transportation manager in Baker’s Houston, TX, office.

Michael Baker Jr., Inc., is an engineering unit of Michael Baker Corporation. Most recently, Widacki has been “responsible for project management and the overall technical responsibilities for a variety of contracts involving toll roads, transit centers, and more.
Read news release for more

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The Internet is abuzz with the news about the 126th career for Barbie. Announced last week by Mattel, Barbie’s new career is computer engineering.

This was the first time that Mattel had “asked people to vote for her career.” The choices ranged from news anchor to environmentalist, but computer engineer was chosen.

Mattel also announced that the new Barbie’s accessories were chosen with the asistance of the Society of Women Engineers and the National Academy of Engineering.
Read more from The New York Times

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A recent story in Technology Review (MIT), highlights the “next generation of wireless communications technology.”

According to the article, researchers have been testing experimental systems, “Wi-Fi (wireless network), that uses reflected infrared light instead of radio waves to transmit data.”

Dr. Valencia M. Joyner, MA B ’98, of Tufts University, commented on the advances of the recent demonstrations. “There are a lot (of) challenges in demonstrating the high-speed capabilities of indoor optical signals. The fact that Professor Kavehrad was able to demonstrate a one-gigabit-per-second system with diffuse light is extremely significant. That drastically reduces the complexity of the transceiver system.”

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