THE FLORIDA TECH
Inside
CRIMSON ISSUE 12
opinion: Presidents’ salaries on the rise
the story behind StoopidNotes Raspberry Pi
DEC. 1
swimming breaks records at Invitational
IT lays off two longtime employees Rebekah Duntz Editor-in-Chief Two longtime employees, both of which had been working at Florida Tech for over a decade, were laid off from the Office of Information Technology. The two positions that were cut were held by Michael Batson, who was a manager at Technology Support Center, and Ian Koss, who was a web application developer. Koss was a web app developer and systems integrator. He said his job required him to put together web applications for use by specific departments or the university at large, but he also worked
at getting various campus IT systems to talk to each other. “I was at Florida Tech for almost 14 years and got to work with many intelligent and talented people on many interesting projects; this has severed a lot of professional relationships, and left a lot of unfinished business out there,” Koss said in an emailed statement. “It’s also been awkward because I don’t have any answers for friends and family who want to understand why I was laid off.” Talks of budget shortfalls have been surfacing. The Vice President of IT, Eric Kledzik, denied requests for comment and directed them to Wes Sumner, the university spokesman.
“Our services that we provide within the university, we have no reason to believe that there should be any interruption in any service,” said Sumner. “We don’t anticipate any loss of service or loss of coverage in the near future for any reason associated with IT.” He also commented, “As a matter of practice, the university does not discuss personnel matters.” “Our goal is to do our best as an institution to provide quality service. That may take the form of education in a classroom with professors. That may take the form of quality food in the cafeteria in a service experience in Panther Dining,” Sumner said. “That may take the form of services offered by IT, and so that will
remain our commitment, whatever our staffing situation may be. Resources are always prioritized or the student experience.” Koss said web developers are a bit of a commodity and there will be no shortage of candidates who show the necessary skills on their resume. “But none of them can list my experience with Florida Tech’s staff and systems on there. It will take any new hire some years to come up to speed and be as efficient as the remaining three web developers,” he said. “While this was not the smoothest of transitions, and there was likely some disappointment over canceled or postponed projects, I don’t think anything is going to catch on fire.” v
Student Design Center officially opens to students Nathaniel Ashton Staff Writer A silken sheet floats to the ground, revealing bold stylized letters spelling out “Panther Works:” this is the new Harris Student Design Center. It was constructed to help students safely work on their projects, and had its ribbon cutting ceremony on November 20th. The hour-long ceremony featured speakers including the architect Greg Tsark, President Anthony Catanese, Dean of College of Engineering Martin Glicksman, and the Associate Dean Of Engineering Pierre Larochelle. With special guests Alton D. Romig Jr., the executive officer of The National Academy of Engineering, and William M. Brown, the CEO of Harris Corporation, who made it all possible with its $1 million donation to Florida Tech. Romig spoke of how the new Harris Design Center reminds him of Skunk Works, the Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Program facilities: “Where engineers can roll up their sleeves and get things done.” After his presentation, Romig presented President Catanese with a National Academy of Engineers challenge coin. Then together with Brown, they cut the red ribbon showing that the center is open, and ready to get work done. The brand new 11,535 square foot facility took 6 months to construct. With a budget of 1.89 million dollars the center is fully furnished. This includes work stations, welding stations, a paint
Photo by Nathaniel Ashton booth, and much more. “What we found was a lot of the students were working on their design projects off campus, unsupervised,” said Chase Brown, the project manager with Facilities. “So this new center gives them a space to come and work on their projects safely.” The new Design Center delivers, opening with a massive 16 foot by 20 foot hydraulically operated door to an impressive open work area of 8,400 square feet: more than enough space for
multiple groups to work on large projects at the same time. Overhead, a two-ton chain hoist crane runs the length of the building, from the entrance straight into the paint booth for easy transportation of heavy projects through the facility. With many different projects being constructed, some too large to take home, a plentiful storage area is provided with lockers and pallet rack enclosures. For smaller, more intricate assemblies, air conditioned rooms outfitted with fume extractors are available
for such tasks as soldering, and other fine work. The center even provides space for planning. A room referred to as the “Ideation Room” has walls that are floor-to-ceiling white boards. One unique part of this project is that Florida Tech acted not only as the owner but the architect and general contractor as well. “I think that aligns well with the ‘Human Touch’ approach here at FIT,” said Brown. “For the last fifteen years,
the College Of Engineering has been planning this and finally it’s here,” said Larochelle. “It’s very rewarding and we’re very excited for our students to make full use of this facility. With the help and support of the College of Engineering staff, Florida Tech students will make good use of the new facility. v
6MONTHS The center took
11,535 sq ft.
Photos by Nathaniel Ashton
8,400 sq ft. work area
to complete