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Page 1: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Alumni Magazine

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Page 2: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Tech traditions dont stop at graduation.

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Page 3: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 4: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

6 Olympic Fever For the first time, the Summer Olympics come to the American South. Now it's time to let the games begin. Photo essay by Chris Hamilton

12 It's Atlanta Georgia Tech may have been the deciding factor in Atlanta's bid for the 1996 Games—its emphasis on technology turned the Centennial Games from the past toward the future. By Jerry Schwartz

Page 32

2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Vol. 73, No. 1 Summer 1996

Page 20

20 High Tech Games Science is taking its place alongside athletic prowess as the Olympics embrace technology as never before. By Hoyt Coffee

32 On the Road... Still? One benefit of the Olympics may be relief for Atlanta's gridlock. Tech researchers and scientists are helping the state improve the overall freeway system while making sure Games visitors will have a way to get to their venues. By Gary Goettling

42 Let the Arts Begin The Cultural Olympiad promises to be a celebration of beauty and intellect. The offerings range from interna­tional dance troupes to mod­ern drama, from classical music to photo exhibits—and the Institute's DanceTechnol-ogy is among featured events. By Michael Terrazas

50 Mayor to the World Tech alumnus Russ Chandler is Olympic Village mayor. By John Dunn

58 The Inside Stories The behind-the-scenes faces, places and things that have set the stage for the Olympic drama being played at Tech. By John Dunn, Hoyt Coffee, Michael Terrazas

Hotlanta Here are some tips on surviv­ing Atlanta's hot summer. By Hoyt Coffee

Page 5: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

82

Page 96

Tech's Olympic Hopefuls Several Tech stars hope the "home court advan­tage" will help them make the Olympic team.

Georgia Tech's Olympic Legacy The Summer Games—and the Institute's involvement in them—have changed the Georgia Tech campus forever. By Dr. Wayne Clough

88 Full-Fledged Stars The Paralympics feature athletes who've overcome disabilities to set new stan­dards of competition. By Jeanie Franco Marx

Cover: The 1996 Centennial Summer Olympic Games come

to Atlanta, thanks in part to innovative technology devel­oped at Georgia Tech, now

home of the Olympic Village. Photo courtesy of ACOG

Olympic Moment Russell Chandler III was a member of the Atlanta delegation in Tokyo on Sept. 17, 1990, when the International Olympic Commit­tee announced that Atlanta would be the site of the 1996 Centennial Games. Chandler, IE '67, remembers it vividly. "You have all of these people waiting in the audience—all of these competing bids. And this official comes up to make the announcement. All attention is drawn to him. It got so quiet in this room of maybe 600 people that you could literally have heard a pin drop. Your emotions are all caught up in this moment, just wait­ing for the words to fall out of his mouth. And when they do, there is this incredible feeling. It was an exhilaration that you really can't describe."

For more on the events leading up to the Games, see page 12. For a profile of Chandler in his role as mayor of the Olympic Village, see page 50.

Special Section

51 Getting Around at the Olympics Four special maps slime you where you can go— and cannot go—in Atlanta during the Olympic Games.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine (ISSN: 1061-9747) is published quarterly (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) tor Roll Call contributors by the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, Alumni/Faculty House, 225 North Avenue NW. Atlanta, GA 30332-0175. Georgia Tech Alumni Association allocates $10 from a contribution toward a year's subscription to its magazine. Periodicals postage paid at Atlanta,GA., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Alumni/Faculty House, 225 North Avenue NW, Atlanta. GA 30332-0175. Editorial: (404) 894-0760/0761. Advertising: (404) 894-9270. Fax: (404) 894-5113. E-mail: [email protected]

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 3

Page 6: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

GeorgiaTech John B. Carter Jr., IE'69 Publisher JohnC. Dunn Editor Hoyt Coffee Associate Editor Michael Terrazas Assistant Editor Everett Hullum Design Robb Stanek, AE '90 Advertising

Ai mni Association Board of Trustee;

Officers Hubert L. Harris Jr., IM '65, President H. Milton Stewart, IE '61, Past President Francis N. Spears, CE 73, MS CE '80, President-Elect/Treasurer Jay M. McDonald, IM '68, Vice President/Activities N. Allen Robertson, IE '69, Vice President/Communications David M. McKenney, Phy '60, IE '64, Vice President/Roll Call John B. Carter Jr., IE '69, Vice President/Executive Director James M. Langley, Vice President/External Affairs

Trustees William H. Avery, ChE '65,

MS IM '67 Charles W. Bass, IE '69 G. Niles Bolton, Arch '69 Daniel H. Bradley, IM '61 Mary Melinda Coker, EE '87 H. Preston Crum, Arch '67 W. Elliott Dunwody III,

Arch '52 Michael P. Franke, IE '66 Phil Gee, IE '81 Sherman J. Glass Jr., ChE 71,

MS ChE 72 Marion B. Glover, IM '65 J. William Goodhew III,

IM '61 Robert L. Hall, IM '64 Gabriel C. Hill III, Text '57 Douglas R. Hooker, ME 78,

MS TASP '85 Cabin D. Johnson, MSci 73 Sharon R. Just, CE '89

•60

68

John E. Lagana, IE '68 Robert H. Ledbetter Sr.,

IM '58 Gary S. May, EE '85 S. Howard McKinley, IM Jean A. Mori, ME '58 James G. Pope, EE '65 A.H. Robbins III, Cls '59 Marvin Seals III, IM '65 Warren D. Shiver, ME '64

MS ME '67 Albert S. Thornton Jr., IM Emily H, Tilden, IE 78,

MS IE 79 Herbert S. Upton, EE '65 Charles L. Wallace, IM '64 J. Norman Wells, EE '57 Warren O. Wheeler, EE '63 Paul H. Williams, ChE '60 Janice N. Wittschiebe,

Arch 78, M Arch '80 Vincent T. Zarzaca, IE '55,

MS IM '66 Stephen P. Zelnak Jr., IM '69

Hnw ijftr 1996 Oh/mpt M %

©ffTtechDrxsO®^

Thank you to the official sponsors of the

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine

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4 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

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Page 7: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 8: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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6 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 11%

Page 9: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

hen Baron Pierre de Coubertin

resurrected the Olympic Games in 1896,

he penned an Olympic Creed for athletes,

a guiding spirit for the Games:

"The most important thing in the

Olympic Games is not to win but to take

part, just as the most important thing in

life is not the triumph, but the struggle.

The essential thing is not to have

conquered, but to have fought well."

A century later, that spirit lives on . . .

Photo essay by Chris Hamilton

GEORGIA TECH

Page 10: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996
Page 11: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

During Opening Ceremonies of every Olympiad, athletes have sworn an oath of competition: "In the name of the competitors, I promise gtt\t we will take part in the Olympic

mes, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, in the spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams."

^

Page 12: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996
Page 13: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Citius, Altius, Fortius For every athlete competing in the Games, the motto is the same: "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."

f

f\

he Centennial Summer Olympic Games in

Atlanta, like no other in history, have harnessed

technology to complement athletic endeavor as

Olympic contenders strive to achieve their best.

In the splendid tradition of the Olympic spirit,

Let the Games Begin!

Summer 19% • GEORGIA TECH 1 1

Page 14: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

It's Atlanta! With a lot of help from Georgia Tech,

By Jerry Schwartz

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t was a Sunday morning in 1987 when the idea of bringing the Olympics to Atlanta first occurred to Billy Payne as he was sitting in church. It was, in the words of Georgia Tech researcher Michael Sinclair, "a crazy, long-shot idea."

Billy Payne's far-fetched notion—now the domi-

1 2 GEORGIA TECH • Sumnm 1996

riant reality of Atlanta in 1996—took shape in no small measure as a result of work by dozens of officials, professors and students at Georgia Tech, including Sinclair, director of Georgia Tech's Interac­tive Media Technology Center.

Viewed as a whole, Georgia Tech's role in the

Page 15: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

U l

In 1990, fans cheer the news that Atlanta has been selected to host the 1996 Centennial Summer Olympic Games.

campaign to win the Olympics for Atlanta, its crucial role in the staging of the Games and its Olympic sports research represents probably the most intense involvement by a university in any modern Olympic Games.

It isn't difficult to see the impact the Olympic

in • GEORGIA TECH 1 3

Page 16: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

What Georgia Tech brought was respect for a region presumed by the world to be technologically deficient.

Atlanta Olympic Committee chief Billy Payne brings a flame ignited by the sun in Greece to American soil. A safety lantern ensures the Olympic flame will endure to the conclusion of the Games.

Games has had on Georgia Tech, with new residence halls, a new Aquatic Center, and the remodeled Alexander Memorial Coliseum now fixtures of the Atlanta skyline.

The Tech Impact

But only the few dreamers who started on the Olympic quest with Billy Payne more than nine years

ago know the full impact Georgia Tech had on the Olympic Games.

At a time when the Olympic bid effort was almost as unknown in Atlanta as Atlanta was unknown to the international sports world, Georgia Tech was working with a group then called the Atlanta Organizing Commit­tee to win a high-stakes, global election.

Payne, president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), says early support from Georgia Tech officials was crucial to framing Atlanta's first Olympic proposals. Georgia Tech, he says, "made it known to me that, while complicated, there surely could be some accommodation made with respect to summer school and some of the other difficult issues—that all problems have a solution."

As his quest began, Payne has admitted, he knew nothing about the Olympic movement—not even which Games were the next available to bid on. When he asked that question of Robert Helmick, then president of the United States Olympic Committee, he was told it would be the 100th anniversary games which, at the time, seemed a cinch to land in Athens, Greece, birthplace of both the ancient and modern Olympics.

Making Atlanta's candidacy even more unlikely was the fact that the International Olympic Committee was unlikely to return the Olympics to the United States so soon after the Summer Olympic Games of Los Angeles in 1984, and the Winter Olympic Games of Lake Placid in 1980. Finally, there was the cold fact that no city in the world ever had won the right to stage the Olympic Games on its first bid attempt.

Technological Credibility

Atlanta needed credibility in a hurry. It came, initially, from then Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, from

Atlanta builder Robert Holder and from Georgia Tech. Young and Holder are now co-chairmen of ACOG. Georgia Tech is the recipient of the most ambitious Olympic construction program.

Holder introduced Payne to the Atlanta business com­munity, the principal financial backers of the Atlanta effort. Young, the former American ambassador to the United Nations, gave the Atlanta bid an edge among African members of the IOC. What Georgia Tech brought was respect for a region of the country presumed by the world to be technologically deficient.

"The reputation of the American South in the rest of the world was as a backwater region that really was not able to run anything as sophisticated as the Olympic Games," says John P. "Pat" Crecine, former Georgia Tech president.

1 4 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 17: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

The Olympic Tore Tech scientists created aflame that defies the elements

L long before the Olympic Torch Relay began its 84-day, winding cross-country trek from Los Ange­les to Atlanta to ignite the opening of the Olympic Games, it under­went a baptism of sorts.

Dr. Sam Shelton, who heads the Georgia Tech team that developed the components of the torch, held a lighted torch directly under a bathroom shower. The flame kept burning.

Shelton, a Georgia Tech profes­sor in mechanical engineering, is project manager of the six-member team that developed the compo­nents of the torch. Lee Durbetaki, a professor in mechanical engineer­ing; Lee Payne, a professor in in­dustrial design; and graduate stu­dents Kevin Berry, David Craig and Andv Delano; all helped engineer the Centennial Olympic Torch.

Shelton was selected as one of the 10,000 individuals who will carry the torch.

The lighted torch can withstand rain and winds up to 45 or 50 mph. It weighs 3 ] h pounds, carries enough fuel to burn for 45 minutes and emits a flame that is robust enough to be seen easily by spectators.

It was designed by Malcolm Grear Associ­ates to re­semble the simplest of ancient torches, a gathering of

reeds bound by twine. The 32-inch-high torch—the

tallest for a Summer Olympic Games—ranges from 2.25 inches to .3.5 inches in diameter. Its crown is made of outwardly spread prongs or "reeds," representing the 22 cities that have hosted the modern Olympic Games. The lower part of the torch resembles a Greek col­umn.

The handles are made from Georgia pecan wood donated by the Georgia Forestry Commission. Two gold bands hold the sections together: one features the Atlanta 1996 logo and Quilt of Leaves mo­tif, the other lists the name of each Olympic Games host city. The torch is further secured by a threaded rod extending from the propylene fuel tank in the lower cylinder through

the crown

at the top. The flame

arrived in Los Angeles on April 27 and began the 15,000-mile relay to Atlanta's new Olympic Sta­dium. During the July 19 Opening Cer­emonies of the Olympic Games, the flame will be transferred to the

In late April, torchbearer Kourtney Swanson takes her turn carrying the Olympic torch near her home in Newport Beach, Calif.

The first torchbearers: Professors Sam Shelton (left) and Lee Payne headed up the six-member Tech team that created the "eternal flame" for the '96 Olympics.

Olympic Caldron, also designed by Shelton's team.

The team developed a unique dual-burner system that both gives a dynamic flame and resists being extinguished by the wind or ele­ments.

One of the primary consider­ations for the torch is the sanctity of the flame, Shelton says.

"The flame that gets to Atlanta and lights the caldron must have come from the flame in Athens, Greece," Shelton says. "If the flame along the way becomes extin­guished, you can't take out your Bic and relight it." Should a torch be­come extinguished, Tech-designed, safety lanterns that have also been lighted by the Olympic flame in Athens accompany the relay cara­van and can relight the torch.

Shelton calls the torch project the embodiment of the philosophy expressed in the book Zen ami the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

"'Zen' represents the arts," Shelton explains, "and 'Motorcycle Maintenance' represents technology. I have always felt a kinship with artists, and I believe this torch is a great symbol of the marriage of artistic and technical creativity."

Summer 19% • GEORGIA TECH 1 5

Page 18: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

What few people know is that Tech was originally designated as only one of three Olympic villages in Atlanta.

To put that misconception to rest, more than 40 Georgia Tech computer scientists, including Sinclair, were recruited to assemble a virtual reality, three-dimen­sional tour through Olympic venues that had not yet even been designed, much less, built.

"I had no idea what Pat was talking about when he proposed it," Payne admitted. In 1989, the term "virtual reality" was almost unknown when Tech's seven-foot-tall, three-screen, 3-D interactive video and laser disc projection system debuted during a meeting of the Inter­national Olympic Committee at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

"It was a short cut and a visual way for the IOC to understand our bid," Payne says. "It had a tremendous impact on the IOC." Members of the committee used a trackball and a touch screen to view a dazzling montage of animation, computer graphics, aerial photography, video and satellite topographical photographs to depict Atlanta during the Centennial Olympic Games.

Building the Games

With the IOC vote in September 1990 to award the games to Atlanta, the hard work began. Once

again, the Olympic planners found support at Tech. A. Russell Chandler, a Georgia Tech alumnus and

successful businessman, had volunteered to consult on projects related to on-campus housing for Tech students. It was only natural that Chandler begin working with Tech and ACOG on the Olympic Village.

"Russ fell in love with the Olympics and has been, from the beginning, kind of the heart and soul of our Village," Payne says. "He did that out of a combination of affection for Tech and as an Olympic fan."

What few people know is that Tech was originally designated as only one of three Olympic villages in Atlanta. "They were planning to use Tech, Emory and the Atlanta University Center," Chandler recalls. Atlanta was preparing to follow the model of Los Angeles in using multiple, campus-based Olympic villages. "But early on, the IOC made it clear that the only thing that would work would be a single Olympic Village. When that became clear, then Georgia Tech was the only logical choice," Chandler says.

The resulting $108 million housing construction

The Tech campus is backdropped by the skyscrapers of Atlanta. The proximity of school and city—both physically and emotionally-has created natural ties between Olympic planners and Institute researchers and administrators. The result has been a unique involvement in the Games by an institution of higher learning.

1 6 GEORGIA TECH • Sumner 1996

Page 19: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 1 7

Page 20: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Gary Meek Photo

The $12 million renovation of the Thrillerdome not only creates a state-of-the-art Olympic boxing venue, it also offers improved accom­modations for Georgia Tech basketball games and other events.

project of seven new residence halls has doubled Tech's on-campus housing supply and provides capacity for 70 percent of the student body. An additional $17 million in renovations was performed on existing dormitories.

During his years of work on the project, ACOG asked Chandler to become mayor of the Olympic Village. "If there's anything, in advance of the Games, that has been universally proclaimed as the best ever, it's the village," Payne says. "There seems to be no doubt about that. Everybody has said it. And that's in large measure a credit to Russ, who took the generic 'Yeah, we support you,' and transformed it into an operating village that has just won tremendous acclaim." (See "Mayor for the World, page 50).

The $12 million renovation of Alexander Memorial Coliseum prepared it to become the Olympic boxing venue. The $21 million Aquatic Center arrived at almost the same moment as Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough. "Wayne came on as we were under construction in the swimming venue," Payne recalls. "He was very proud of it. He made it clear to me initially that Tech was honored to have it, honored to serve as the Village, and he said he would be available to assist at every turn. And he has been."

Almost overlooked in all of the permanent construction projects at Tech are the dozens of temporary construction

Tech researchers have been involved in dozens of Olympics-related projects, from traffic flows to biomechanics.

projects. The water polo venue—seats, pool and all—will disappear after the Olympics. Temporary seats in the Aquatic Center will be removed after the Games, but the swimming pool and the diving well and platform will remain as a permanent legacy.

While most of the dining and entertainment facilities of the Olympic Village also will evaporate after the Games, a permanent Olympic Plaza with its landmark Kessler Campanile, named for alumnus Richard Kessler, will remain as a reminder of the Olympic presence on the campus.

The Tech-Designed Flame

But Tech's involvement in Atlanta's Olympic effort extends well outside the campus—in fact about

15,000 miles from Atlanta. A team of Tech engineering professors and graduate students designed the 3.5-pound Olympic torch carried throughout Greece and around the United States on the torch relay. The engineering chal­lenge involved was no simple assignment, according to mechanical engineering professor Dr. Sam Shelton, one of the co-designers. The torch had to burn 45 minutes without refueling, resist wind, rain and dramatic changes in temperature and elevation along its route.

Moreover, Tech researchers have been involved in dozens of Olympic related projects—from tracking Atlanta's traffic flow during the Games to researching the biomechanics of platform diving. Dr. Robert Gregor, professor of health and performance science, has been a member of the group that conducts physiological research for the IOC Medical Commission since 1981. During the Games, the group is conducting 14 separate projects involving researchers from institutions all over the world.

Billy Payne, who went to war with the Yellow Jackets during his years as a varsity defensive lineman at the University of Georgia, concedes that he's had to endure the barbs of teammates, classmates and Bulldog support­ers who never tire of reminding him that Athens has only soccer finals and preliminary volleyball competition, while Georgia Tech is at the heart of Olympic activity.

"It's been the source of a lot of humor and jokes and fun," Payne says. "I must admit I've had several inquiries about why those tens of millions of dollars didn't go up to Athens, but it's been good natured, and we've had a lot of great Tech people involved really from the outset. I guess it's the Olympic spirit at work." GT

Jerry Schwartz is an Atlanta-based freelance writer.

1 8 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 21: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Good for Business The Olympics have proven an economic boon—and a boom—for Atlanta.

E iven in a city known for its boosterism, Atlanta's Olympic economic boom has been stunning.

For four consecutive years, Atlanta has led the nation in new job creation, adding a total of 317,000 new jobs over the four-year span, including 87,500 in 1995 alone, according to federal labor statistics

And for the fifth straight year, the metro Atlanta area topped the country in housing permits, with nearly 45,000, a 10 percent increase over 1094's record number.

There's little question that Atlanta's status as an Olympic city is responsible for much of the growth. Without considering any so-called "halo" effects from the Olympic designation, the event itself is expected to pump a total of $5.1 billion into the Georgia economy, according to a study by University of Georgia economists.

Using standard models to account for the ripple effects of each dollar spent, the economists projected spending by the Olympic committee would generate a $2.6 billion impact. Spending by visitors would bring another $2.5 billion into the state, they say.

But the publicity the Olympics has given the city and state has created unrivaled economic numbers. Metro Atlanta achieved an all-time record in business relo­cation and market-entry activity, adding 260 new business opera­tions during 1995, a 16 percent gain over the 1994 number.

"On average, we had a new prospect considering relocation or expansion in Atlanta once every hour-and-a-half, every business day," says Bill Hubbard, senior vice president of economic development for the Metro Atlanta

Chamber of Commerce. The growth has hardly gone

unnoticed in the business world. Atlanta placed first or second in 11 separate surveys of business activity in 1995—surveys covering everything from "hottest real estate markets" to "most viable cities for foreign investment" to "entrepre­neurial hot spots" and even the most popular truck-leasing city.

Fortune magazine placed Atlanta second on its list of "Best U.S. Cities

for Business" and fourth on its worldwide list, behind Hong Kong, New York and London.

Nor is the boom likely to sub­side. The Georgia economists projected Atlanta would lose only about 800 net permanent jobs after the Olympic Games. And a survey by DRI/McGraw Hill projected that Atlanta would continue to lead the nation in job creation until the mil­lennium, adding yet another 267,600 new jobs. - Jerry Schwartz

The new stadium is one evidence of the construction boom that has swept the city.

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 1 9

Page 22: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

High Tech Games Science is taking its place alongside athletic prowess as the 1996 Summer Olympics embrace technology like never before.

By Hoyt Coffee

2 0 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 23: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

I In ancient times Olympic athletes relied on raw strength, sinew and speed to earn a coveted olive wreath. For two millennia they celebrated the "religion of sport," as French educator Pierre de Coubertin put it.

But in the hundred years since Baron de Coubertin's studies of physical exercise led him to marshal a new Olympic Movement, the Games have increasingly embraced the science of sport, a union of research, tech­nology and athletics that has elevated the quadrennial festival to unimagined heights.

Throughout the modern Olympic Games, technology has been a partner with pageantry and prowess. Two of the first three Olympiads were relegated exhibition status as part of the World's Fair, long a showplace for new technology and science. By 1912, Olympic athletes benefited from electronic timing, while spectators got their first taste of public-address systems.

High-speed film for assessing performance debuted in 1928, and both radio and television were still experimen­tal when first used in the Games. In 1964, satellites broadcast the Olympics worldwide, and the international audience reached 1 billion eight years later.

But never before have the Games been so fraught with high technology as in their centennial. The Atlanta

Above: Dr. Robert Gregor (center), a member of the International Olympic Committee's Subcommission on Biomechanics and Physiol­ogy, installs a device on the 10-meter diving platform to measure the forces involved in the sport. Left: An interactive video tour of Atlanta, developed at Georgia Tech, was a key to the city's Olympic bid. Such technology pointing toward the future was influential in the IOC's favorable decision.

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 21

Page 24: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

While ACOG's Southern hospitality charmed the IOC, "it was the high tech that made them take us seriously."

Committee for the Olympic Games and its sponsors— IBM, AT&T, Motorola, Xerox and Scientific Atlanta, among others—have spent millions to ensure the 1996 Games are "high-tech, high-touch," and they've enlisted the best technological support from institutions like Georgia Tech. From performance research to advanced telecommunications and transportation, Atlanta's Olym­pics have taken the science of sport to a new level—right from the beginning.

Going for the Games

I t all started with Atlanta attorney Billy Payne's "crazy, long-shot idea," says Mike Sinclair, director of Georgia

Tech's Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC). As he began pulling together support for an Atlanta Olym­pic bid, Payne turned to Tech for help with the presenta­tion for International Olympic Committee members.

"We wanted to do something other than what Billy Payne had in mind," Sinclair says. "What he envisioned was a physical model of Atlanta that could be cut apart, put in shipping containers and taken and shown to the various IOC members in their respective countries. Dr. [John P.] Crecine set him straight and said he needs to be with the times, and we would do our best at coming up with a computer model."

Building on his experience with flight simulation, Sinclair and his associates began creating an interactive multimedia program that allowed IOC officials to tour the city and proposed venues from behind a computer monitor. The first thing on the list was to fashion the equipment to do the job.

"In our case, not only did we need a presentation system, but we needed the tools to get us to there," Sinclair says. "It wasn't all hard-wired as they call it in the information industry. So we had to spend some time developing authoring tools, much like Word and Excel are authoring tools for their respective areas. They aren't an end, necessarily; they're just a tool where one can easily create an end product. We were devising the first—very rough—Word and Excel of the multimedia world for our own use."

Utilizing fledgling technologies, the Tech team linked three videodisk players and three computers to create a "virtual" model of Atlanta with digitized music and narration, and a touch-sensitive interface. Using a track ball, IOC members could "fly" through the city and Olympic venues. A second multimedia presentation used physical models and computer-generated graphics to duplicate the Olympic Village on campus. The result not

only impressed IOC members, it established a theme for the Atlanta Olympics.

"I think the effort that Georgia Tech put out in the two presentations helped solidify that Atlanta was not look­ing in the past," Sinclair says. "Yes, we knew it was an important celebration of the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympiad, but Atlanta was looking forward into the future."

While the Southern hospitality of the Atlanta contin­gency charmed the IOC, Sinclair says "it was the high tech that made them take us seriously."

It Takes a High-Tech Village

G iven the IOC nod, Atlanta Olympic organizers set about the Herculean task of building world-class

sports venues and a village for more than 14,000 athletes, coaches and officials on the Georgia Tech campus. More than just a hotel, though, the Olympic Village is the so­cial, cultural and informational hub of the Games, which requires a labyrinthine telecommunications infrastruc­ture and some innovative new technologies.

"The Olympic Village is made up of about 30 different departments, from housing to food service to transporta­tion to team welcoming ceremonies to language services to sports; just about every department in ACOG has some representation in the village," says Marc Klein, a former Georgia Tech physics student who is manager of technology for the village. "Initially, the job entailed finding out what each function needs to do its job in the way of technology support: phones, TVs, computers, you name it."

The answer to that question was FutureNet, 1,700 miles of fiber-optic cable with nine million feet of fiber that connects every building on campus at very high speeds. Many buildings and open spaces also are wired for video, most of which will remain as a legacy to Tech after the Centennial Games.

"The phones and our data networks are the prime sources of communication," Klein says. "We're also put­ting up some cellular towers on campus. I think Georgia Tech may be keeping one or two of those." The Institute won't be keeping an extensive security system for the village that links dozens of video cameras and electronic monitors attached to the 11.35 miles of 8-to-10-foot fence temporarily ringing the campus. Also wired with fiber optics, the system allows security officials to keep an eye on virtually every inch of the campus, especially the security perimeter.

FutureNet also is patched in to BellSouth's $120 mil-

2 2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

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New residence halls and an aquatic center rise from the urban campus—a lifetime legacy for Tech. With the additional residence halls, Tech will be able to house 70 percent of its students.

lion Olympic "backbone" of fiber-optic cable that con­nects every venue to ACOG's Technology Command Center and the Media Center at the World Congress Center, where all satellite uplinks are located. The temporary network features three IBM mainframes, 80 midrange computers, more than 7,000 desktop com­puters and 250 token-ring local networks. Information from all Olympic sources will be available to village residents through a system of kiosks.

"A prime source of communication and information dissemination will be the Info '96 system, which is a net­work of touch-screen, IBM-based computers that will run a kiosk-type application in French and English," Klein

says. "You can come up and it says, 'Please touch here for Olympic Village,' and things of that nature.

"It's very simple to use, and it gives you all the basic information: maps, directions, schedules, updates, the menu for the day. You can get results two minutes after an event is over anywhere in the Games from one of these terminals. The information going to the commenta­tors calling the event is the same information being fed to the Info '96 kiosks, which is the same information going to the Internet site, and the same information going to the press subcenter."

With athletes and officials from 197 different delega­tions spread all over campus in residence halls, seven of which are brand new and will be able to house 30 percent of Georgia Tech students after the Games, the 12 workers in the village technology office had to come up with a way to meet the huge administrative requirements of keeping "a city within a city" operating efficiently. Klein says electronic mail was the clear answer, even for those athletes and officials who may have never used a com­puter. The "E-Forms" provide a simple interface that requires minimum input and eliminates the reams of paper that choked past villages.

"They can go up to the Info terminal, fill out this form and just send it right in," Klein says, avoiding problems like lost documents or illegible handwriting.

Maybe one of the most valuable applications of tech­nology in the village is one that's not exactly high tech. During the 17 days of hot July and August weather in steamy Atlanta, the Olympic athletes of 1996 will be the first to inhabit a fully air-conditioned village.

A Proper Place to Play

As Olympic-class competition has advanced, so have the requirements of event venues for the Games. A

simple pool of water or canvas boxing ring will no longer suffice, so engineers and architects are employing new technologies to improve the venues for both athletes and spectators.

At the new Georgia Tech Aquatic Center—site of swimming, synchronized swimming, water polo and diving events—technology has helped create a "fast" pool and an energy-efficient venue.

Designed by champion swimmer Joe Hunsaker of Counsilman/Hunsaker and Associates, the million-gallon main swimming pool at the Aquatic Center has already proven to be Olympic caliber. During the Pan-Pacific Games in August 1995, more than 120 records were broken.

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 2 3

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Gary Meek Photo I

2 4 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

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The solar arrays promise to act as ambassadors for alternative energy sources during the Olympics.

Since still water makes for the fastest times, Hunsaker designed a wave-reduction system that channels wave energy to the bottom of the 50-meter pool, rather than across the surface. Lane markers also absorb wave action, and pool water returns are located at the bottom of the pool instead of the sides. A 24-inch gutter at the sides prevents splashback, and a moveable floor can increase the depth of the pool to 9 feet, further reducing waves.

"Joe Hunsaker was a champion swimmer. He under­stands the concept of fast water, and he had a great de­gree of understanding of what pool technology is re­quired," says architect Bill Stanley, Arch '72, of Stanley Love-Stanley, who helped design the $20.5 million, 15,000-seat Aquatic Center in a joint venture with Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart and Associates.

The 17-foot-deep diving pool is equipped with a pres­sure monitor on the 10-meter platform that will be used in conjunction with high-speed film to study the forces involved in high diving. It is also fitted with a bubble generator, which blows air into the well to soften the blow as divers hit the water at more than 30 mph during practice. But some of the most interesting technology in the Aquatic Center is not in the pools at all—it's on the roof.

Splayed across the curved canopy is the nation's largest photovoltaic or solar-power system. A $5.2 million investment by Tech, Georgia Power Co. and the Energy Department, it will save $30,000 to $45,000 a year in energy costs. Designed by Drs. Ajeet Rohatgi and Miroslav Begovic of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Richard Long of Tech's facilities office, the system features two arrays—with a total of 2,856 solar panels—that produce a combined 345 kilowatts, enough electricity to power about 70 homes.

The solar arrays also provide a research platform for solar scientists. Coupled to the power feeds are monitors that track environmental and weather conditions and compare that information to the arrays' operating perfor­mance. They also will act as ambassadors for alternative energy sources during the Olympics.

"The [photovoltaic] tutorial will provide an opportu­nity to educate a large number of people at an interna­tional event about photovoltaics, and increase their

Michael Robb, a graduate student in electrical engineering, explains the workings of the nation's largest solar array, located atop the new Aquatic Center. A $5.2 million investment, the 2,856 solar panels will save $30,000 to $45,000 a year in energy costs.

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 25

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Divers will be able to study the results of 1,000 dives to evaluate their performance under varying conditions.

a of the University Center for Excellence for iis Research and Education. "Increased aware-vel of interest are important factors in helping

ilar power a more affordable energy source, unique opportunity to do those things with er's Olympics."

The Science of Sport he hallmark of world-class athletics is the constant

g for greater performance: breaking the 4-le, making the 30-foot long jump, scoring a Ac hieving such goals Kikes determination,

id research, ert Gregor, a professor in the department of performance sciences at Tech and a member

's Subcommission on biomechanics ,\nd Physi-been conducting performance research in i with the Olympics since 1981. In Atlanta, he is 1 14 research projects. esponsible for the projects that were started t time in the Los Angeles Games," Gregor says. ive projects there, and basically all of them ligh-speed film projects where we had cameras leum for track and field. We did some work on ng, and we did some work with gymnastics. In we had maybe 15 or 20 different projects, and all high-speed video." ita, Gregor nnd his associates are taking that i a new level, incorporating high-speed video m-capture systems and force monitors to research tools for performance scientists—and

ols tor Olympic coaches. r the things we're doing is what we're calling a irmance' or 'coaches' center,"' Gregor says. "A n Massachusetts has agreed to donate hard-i where we can take video images from TV uring nn event, digitize that information and a hard drive. A coach can come back and look :ular event, and review it that evening." the projects involving motion capture and force lent focuses on gymnastics, aiming not only to thletes' performance, but also to reduce inju-gymnasts can experience forces from ground lending 15 times their body weight, an impor-f the project is research into materials for mats. ssipation of those very high forces that come dy is pretty critical to someone continuing d performing," Gregor says. Force measure-

l ^ _

Hi

Wg 3 merits come into play in a study of Olympic diving under way this summer, too. AGOG modified the 10-meter platform at the Aquatic Center to include a waterproof lone monitor. When divers jump from the platform, both the upward and twisting forces will be measured and compared to high-speed film, showing visually and through quantifiable data the effect of the initial leap on the dive. Eventually, divers will be able to study the results of as many as 1,000 dives to evaluate their perfor­mance under varying conditions.

Dr. Jessica Hodgins, an assistant professor in the Col­lege of Computing, will also use the input to improve a diving simulation she created with lech's Graphics, Vi­sualization and Usability Center and the IMTC. "The technology lias improved to the degree where we can make these measurements and make them in a variety of environments," Gregor sa\s.

Gregor will be working with the IMTC on animation simulations ot overarm activities, involving women's softball in Olympic-related research for the first time.

"The overhand motion that's going to be captured in

collecting in tennis—the serve, for example," Gregor says. "That has some common ground not only in perfor­mance, but with respect to injuries in overhand activities, overarm throwing activities or tennis serves."

Other research involves track and field events, eques­trian and tennis. The IOC's findings will be shared with athletes worldwide via publications and videos.

Welcoming the World

When the Olympic Games were held in conjunction with the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, they were

considered just exhibitions because so many world-class athletes were unwilling to travel to the wild American

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Olympic visitors will discover a city focused on the future, a city transformed by technology.

Midwest. The more adventurous were treated to an unprecedented athletic and technological show—likewise the real and virtual visitors to the Centennial Olympic Games.

When billions of television viewers tune in this July and August, they'll visit the South, Atlanta and Georgia Tech in a whole new way. No sleepy backwater on this screen, but a wild whitewater ride via a computer-gener­ated overflight of the Ocoee River. They'll see virtual athletes competing in cyber-sports, then find instanta­neous results on the Internet.

The two million visitors to Atlanta will encounter one of the most advanced traffic-management systems in the world, and computerized information kiosks that quickly deliver vital data. They'll see America's biggest solar-power array, fully interactive video and vertiports.

All these viewers and visitors will discover a city fo­cused on the future, a city transformed by technology, GT

By measuring the movements and forces involved in athletic events, researchers hope to both improve sports performance and reduce the risks of injury. Below, a weightlifter is himself weighed while his lift is being analyzed.

28 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

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Virtual Tools Technology used to bring Allimta the Olympics now benefits medicine, education, arts.

A idirect outgrowth of Tech's Olympic bid effort, the Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC) is pioneering new ways of using the technology that Mike Sinclair <•/ ul invented. For example, working with his brother, Philadelphia oph­thalmologist Dr. Stephen Sinclair, the IMTC director used flight-simu­lation techniques to develop a teaching tool for eye doctors. The "virtual eye surgery" system allows doctors to practice surgery with realistic images and muscle feed­back that duplicates the feel of actually cutting tissue.

"It is better to present problems or complications and allow a sur­geon to work through them," Dr. Sinclair says. "The interactive expo­sure is a much better learning expe­rience than a passive one in which

Ophthalmologist Dr. Stephen Sinclair (/eft) performs "virtual eye surgery" using a system developed with Olympic-bid technology that his brother Michael (top left) created.

you're just sitting there watching a demonstration." A related project allows doctors to examine patients from miles away.

The IMTC is also working with Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum, developing multi­media kiosks that allow visitors to view 13,01)0 cultural artifacts, tour ancient ruins or even play antique musical instruments. Other projects will let students worldwide accom­pany dicers on undersea explora­tions, help traffic engineers develop better highway systems or teach sign language to hearing-impaired children. OT

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 2 9

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As if that weren't enough, you can take advantage of the coupon on the right for even more savings. For information and reservations, call an employee-owner of Avis at our special Alumni Association Member Services Desk: 1-800-422-3810. And be sure to mention your Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number: B105900.

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For information and reservations, call your travel consultant or an employee-owner of Avis at 1-800331-8000. And be sure to mention your Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number B1059O0. TERMS AND CONDITIONS Offer valid on an Intermediate (Group C) through a Full Size 4-Door (Group E) car for a 2-day minimum rental. Coupon must be surrendered at time of rental: one per rental. May not be used in conjunction with any other coupon, promotion or offer. Coupon valid at Avis corporate and participating licensee locations in the contiguous United States. Weekend rental period begins Thursday noon, and car must be returned by Monday 11:59 p m. or a higher rate will apply. Offer may not be available on all rates at all times. An advance reservation is required. Cars subject to availability. Taxes, local government surcharges and optional items, such as LDW, additional driver fee and fuel service, are extra Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum age is 25, but may vary by location. Rental must begin by December 30.1996. Rental Sales Agent Instructions: At Checkout: • In AWD, enter B105900. • For a 2 day rental, enter MUC.D624 in CPN. • For a 3 day rental, enter MUGD625 in CPN. • For a 4 day rental, enter MUGD626 in CPN. • Complete this information: RA*_ Rental Location • Attach to COUPON tape. ©1996 Wizard Co., Inc.

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On the Road ... Still? The Olympic legacy may ei

By Gary Goettling Photography by Gary Meek

B "lame the cows. Atlanta's fabled traffic

congestion is due in large part to its mishmash of winding, looping roads. The city's settlers, so the story goes, simply paved existing cow trails rather than lay out a gridwork of streets.

True or not, everyone who has endured rush hour in Georgia's capital knows there has to be a better way. With the help of Georgia Tech researchers and alum­ni, that better way is but a few weeks down the road.

With urban-area roads too costly to build from an environmental and finan­cial standpoint, many cities have turned to technology to manage traffic more efficiently on their existing highways and surface streets.

Spurred by its Olympic preparations, Los Angeles installed some of the nation's first traffic-man­agement infrastructure in 1984. Likewise, the Olym­pics have been the catalyst for Atlanta's deployment of the latest versions of the technology, which is called

Atlanta's new traffic system uses cameras (one is mounted on a pole at far right) and road­way monitors to gauge traffic flows. The information is fed to motorists via electric signs.

se Atlanta's traffic gridlock,

3 2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

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Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 3 3

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"We've gone from zero to everything. By having the Olympic Games, we accelerated the program by 10 years."

the Advanced Transportation Management System (ATMS).

In essence, ATMS allows traffic conditions over a wide area to be monitored at a central facility. That center has the capability of altering the normal signal sequence at certain intersections to expedite traffic.

What distinguishes the Atlanta system from most other cities' is that current traffic information will also be available to the public.

"A couple of years ago we had no traffic management technology here, and by the time the Olympics begin, we'll have more than any other city in the country," says Ken Voorhies, CE '72, MS CE '73, a project manager with Parsons Brinckeroff Farradyne. "Most cities phase these things in over many years. We've been very lucky here in Atlanta—we've gone from zero to everything. By having the Olympics, we accelerated the program by 10 years."

Voorhies' job is to install the ATMS in another Georgia Olympic city—Savannah. His company is one of several contractors developing and deploying the ATMS under contract with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT).

"Software design and programming make everything go," he says. "Much of the technology is brand new and requires custom software that takes a lot of time to write and work out all the bugs."

The backbone of the Atlanta ATMS is a 63-mile-long fiber-optic cable running parallel to 1-75 and 1-85

inside the Perimeter. Cameras are connected to the cable at one-third mile intervals—294 fixed cameras and 59 that can pan the roadway and zoom in on trouble spots. About 50 video detection units are also distributed along the cable to provide computer data from the camera im­ages. Devices embedded in the pavement at key highway ramps measure traffic speed and volume.

The fiber-optic cable leads to the Transportation Management Center in downtown Atlanta, a four-story structure that serves as the information collection, man­agement and distribution hub of ATMS. Inside, walls of video monitors can display the interstates from Windy Hill Road to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. GDOT technicians monitor the highways 24 hours a day for accidents, breakdowns, construction delays and other impediments to traffic. When trouble is detected, they

The Transportation Management Center is the brain of the city's Advanced Transportation Management System. From here, workers can discover traffic problems and offer motorists alternate routes.

3 4 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 19%

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Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 3 5

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Information will be available through TraveLink interactive kiosks, 130 of which will be set up around the state.

can notify emergency personnel, the media and other jurisdictions. "Before, if there was an accident on the Connector, the police might not even find out about it for a half-hour," says Voorhies. "Now they'll know almost immediately and be able to provide an appropriate response. These things will be cleared up much more quickly."

Scientist Charles Stancil: Looking for a way up?

Going Up? Researchers arc studying feasibility of urban helicopters.

Predictions of traffic gridlock and packed walkways during the Olympics have scientists at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRl) looking skyward.

Working with the Federal Aviation Administra­tion, researchers at GTRI's Aerospace Sciences Labo­ratory are using this unique opportunity to study the feasibility of "vertiports"—landing sites and associ­ated air routes for rotorcraft making deliveries and ferrying passengers in congested cities.

"It would take three-to-five years of flight activity to get [the data] we'll have in the Olympics," says Charles Stancil, a senior research engineer and rotor-craft specialist at GTRI. Capitalizing on the helicopter's traditional Olympic role of assisting emergency-medical, police and security activities, GTRl will study routing, noise and other facets of vertical transport in cities.

A group of military "Huey" helicopters has been outfitted with navigation systems that use the geo­graphic positioning system, a group of geostationary satellites and ground bases able to determine location and altitude with amazing precision at low cost.

Travelers will be able to access information through TraveLink interactive kiosks. At a touch on a monitor screen, a traveler can learn about traffic tie-ups or the best places to see in Georgia.

The fiber-optic network also connects the center to about 900 traffic signals at strategic intersections. The ATMS software enables operators to expedite traffic by altering the signal sequence in response to conditions. For example, after a Braves game, the lights along roads leading from the stadium may stay green a little longer than normal. The requisite signal upgrades will also im­prove their reliability, Voorhies adds.

The Transportation Management Center receives in­formation about arterial roads from several sources. Transportation Control Centers located outside Inter-state-285 in DeKalb, Fulton, Clayton, Gwinnett and Cobb counties relay local traffic data to the downtown center. Transportation providers such as MART A, Cobb Com­munity Transit, Amtrak and even the airlines at Hartsfield International Airport maintain communica­tions links to the center.

Also, for the past two years motorists have been able to dial *368 free on their cellular phones to report traffic accidents. That information, too, will end up at the man­agement center.

Another major component of the ATMS—making detailed traffic information accessible to the public—

is multifaceted. Forty-three changeable-message signs are being

erected at strategic points along interstates 75 and 85, and major arteries such as Northside Drive. The ATMS soft­ware allows operators to choose from a library of mes­sages based on what they see on the traffic monitor and relay the appropriate message to the sign in the area. More detailed information will be available on a dedi­cated AM radio frequency 24 hours a day, and through an automated traffic advisory telephone system.

"You'll be able to log onto a Web site and see a map of the area with real-time traffic information displayed," Voorhies says. "So when I'm ready to leave work, let's

Text continued on page 38

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The Human Touch Georgia Tech develops specialists to interpret and use Transportation Center data.

w 'hile technology can direct information to the Transportation Management Center, the ways thai information is used—and the ef­fectiveness of the entire traffic management system—rests with specialists operating the center. Thus human factors come into play, particularly the operators' interface with the center's layout and design.

To learn more about the human component of advanced traffic management, Georgia Tech re­searchers have built an interactive traffic-simulation center.

Derived from firsthand looks at operational centers around the world, the simulator seats up to four operators in front of a large overhead projection screen. Foot­age from any of 38 different road­side "cameras" can be projected onto the screen, onto four televi­

sion monitors, or onto Silicon Graphics workstations. Operators can pan, tilt and zoom to get the view they need.

Tech's Interactive Media Tech­nology Center created the videos by digitizing 360-degree photo­graphs of Atlanta interstates and interchanges. Vehicles were erased from the footage and replaced by animated vehicles of all kinds.

For the experiments, research­ers can program simulated acci­dents, traffic jams or other prob­lems into the footage for operators to address. When an operator sees a traffic snarl developing, either on a video monitor or a color-coded map display, the appropriate alerts can be issued, and the problem will be solved on the screen.

The simulator is designed to address issues related to automa­tion, information presentation,

training, job design, team perfor­mance, controls and displays, and operator workload, says senior research engineer Deborah Mitta.

"One of our challenges has been to design a set of experiments that will encompass and answer the greatest number of critical human-factors questions," she says. "In addressing the human factors associated with advanced traffic management systems, we confront many of the problems that typi­cally present themselves whenever a human operator is required to interact with a complex system."

The Georgia Tech research not only has shaped the design of Atlanta's Transportation Manage­ment Center, but also has helped provide a standard for how the technology is deployed in cities around the world.

—Gary Goettling

Tech scientists developed this simulator to study human factors in traffic management. It can emulate a variety of traffic problems.

Summer 19% • GEORGIA TECH 3 7

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ATMS provides motorists good information about traffic conditions and allows them to better plan trips.

say, I could get on the Internet and see what my usual route home from Buckhead to East Cobb looks like. If there are tie-ups, I might choose an alternative route, or stay at work another half-hour."

Information will also be available through TraveLink interactive kiosks, 130 of which will be located around the state in time for the Olympics.

Through a touch-screen interface, real-time traffic conditions will be displayed on a map of the Atlanta region, says Todd I. Long, CE '89, MS CE '90, a transpor­tation engineer with the Georgia DOT and project man­ager for the kiosk program.

"Travelers will be able to obtain public transit sched­ules and routing information, either by selecting from a list of origins and destinations, or by entering specific addresses," he says. "Visitors will even be able to access airline arrival and departure schedules for Hartsfield International Airport."

During the Olympics, the kiosks will offer event schedules and spectator-transportation system guidance,

such as the locations of park-and-ride lots. The kiosks will also provide general travel and tour­

ism information, along with current weather forecasts. "We've had to coordinate among cities, counties,

agencies, MART A, Hartsfield, the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism—it's a long list. Plus we've had to work with 130 different site owners," Long says. "The kiosk program is one of the most difficult things we've done—but also one of the most successful."

The benefits of the ATMS, while considerable, should be kept in perspective, says Voohries.

"It doesn't take cars off the road; it doesn't stop car accidents; it doesn't make traffic flow perfectly—and none of us expected it would," he explains. "The biggest benefit of ATMS to motorists is that it provides very good information about traffic conditions and allows them to plan trips accordingly. As the system expands, it will be even more helpful." GT

Gary Goettling is an Atlanta-based freelance writer.

Road Test Kiosk, Web site offer latest in travel information for Olympic visitors.

I he Atlanta Traveler Information Showcase is a federally funded demonstration to test ways of conveying traffic information to the motoring public. Two Show­case projects—the Advanced Trav­eler Information kiosks and the traffic advisory Web site—will become permanent ATMS fixtures.

Other projects will be deployed only for the duration of the Olym­pics and Paralympics.

The most significant of the tem­porary projects began in early June with 200 GDOT and Federal Ex­press vehicles specially equipped with on-board navigation systems. By transmitting a signal to a satel­lite in geosynchronous orbit, the vehicle's location can be pin­pointed on a map display and

alternative routes highlighted. The vehicles also receive traffic

information by radio from the Transportation Management Cen­ter, and can transmit a distress signal if necessary.

"While this is mostly a technol­ogy evaluation, Georgia Tech also will look at whether the system can contribute to improved mobil­ity of drivers, and whether it can provide useful traffic-flow infor­mation to the ATMS during the Olympics," says Bill Youngblood, a GTRI engineer and deputy direc­tor of Tech's Transportation Re­search and Education Center.

GTRI is providing testing, analysis and modeling of the radio system and signal system in rural, suburban and urban environ­

ments. Researchers also will study ways of developing, implementing and analyzing error-correction techniques for the system.

The Showcase will disseminate information via handheld comput­ers and interactive television. About 250 handheld devices will be distributed to volunteers. Using two-way paging technology, users will be able to obtain details about sporting events, travel and routing.

At the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Ravinia, 300 rooms will be furnished with interactive TVs. By pressing buttons, guests can re­ceive travel and transit informa­tion and examine lists of restau­rants and points of interest. They can to look at overall traffic, or zoom in on a specific area, GT

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On the Move Joel Stone faces Olympic-size tasks as coordinator of Atlanta Regional Commission's transportation plan.

w • • hen asked how he copes

with his Olympic-size duties, Joel Stone's response is quick: "We have the best event planners in the country working for us—and none of us needs to sleep," he laughs.

Stone, CE '63, MS CE '64, is director of the Department of Plan­ning and Programming for the Atlanta Regional Commission. But for the past 18 months, he has been on loan to ACOG as its director of transportation.

Stone is responsible for coordi­nating the preparation, develop­ment and implementation of the transportation plan for the Games.

Consider this: For Opening and Closing Ceremonies, about 10,000 people will have to be moved from the Olympic Village to the Olym­pic Stadium, all more or less at the same time. Or that the Olympic Transportation System will carry 550,000 people every day to one or more events. Or that the Olympic transportation effort will require a staff of 23,000, including 8,000 volunteers, at Games time.

"That's the size of a small Geor­gia city," Stone says. "We wanted to have a staff meeting, but even the Omni couldn't hold all of us."

Stone and his staff have been marshaling just about every kind of passenger vehicle—cars, vans, limousines. One of Stone's biggest concerns has been acquiring the 2,000 or so buses needed to move spectators and members of the "Olympic Family," which includes athletes, coaches, judges, media, corporate sponsors and VIPs.

"We've borrowed 1,500 buses from transit systems around the country," Stone says. "Working out those deals, getting the buses here and finding a place to keep

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them has been a big job." Finding people to drive all

those buses has been a big job, too. "It hasn't been easy," Stone ad­mits, "but we'll do it."

The buses, along with 500 MARTA vehicles, will be wrapped by a wide blue banner bearing a picture of the Olympic flame and the identification "Atlanta 1996."

Half of the bus fleet will shuttle between venues and outlying park­ing lots, relying on the new HOV lanes along Atlanta interstates.

The MARTA rail line is the backbone of the transportation system. Trains will operate 24 hours a day, four minutes apart during peak times. In addition, some seating will be removed to create standing room for more passengers.

The compact size of the down­town Olympic Ring is both a bless­ing and a problem from Stone's perspective. "On the plus side, all you need to do is get people down there and turn them loose. They can walk from one place to an­

other," he says. "But at the same time, you have only so many roads going into downtown. Buses may get in each other's way at times."

While traffic in some areas, particularly Buckhead, will be a horror, Stone is optimistic that traffic on the freeways will flow more freely. "It will look like a holiday." He adds that preparation for the Olympic Games has been greatly aided by the cooperation of downtown businesses and their willingness to encourage vacations and modify schedules of employ­ees to reduce traffic.

Publicizing the Olympic Trans­portation System is a priority for Stone, who says that all ticket holders will be sent detailed schedules and maps. Five million pocket-size maps are also being printed for wide distribution.

And he has some advice: "Find out what our plan is, follow it, and you'll be able to get to your venue within a reasonable amount of time," Stone says. "Don't try it on your own!" —Gary Goettlin^

Summer 19% • GEORGIA TECH 3 9

Page 42: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 43: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Buy Two Olympic Coins And Get The Third Free

Catch The Olympic Spirit The 1996 Centennial Olympic Games represent 100 years

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Page 44: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Let the Arts Begin The Cultural Olympiad promises a celebration of beauty and intellect.

By Michael Terrazas

I In the pomp and pageantry that surround the modern Olympics, it is sometimes forgotten that when the ancient Greeks first developed the idea for the Games, they imag­ined a celebration of sound body and mind.

Such a balance between the physical and the intellec­tual is the guiding force behind the Cultural Olympiad. In its charter, the International Olympic Committee re­quires host cities to organize an arts and culture festival for the period preceding and during the Games.

And Atlanta, in preparing the Cultural Olympiad that began in 1993 and culminates with the nine-week Olym­pic Arts Festival this summer, has tackled this artistic mandate with every bit as much fervor as it did the Games themselves—this year's program promises to be the biggest and best ever.

Three thousand artists will have shared their visions through the Festival, by the time it ends on Aug. 4, in more than 190 ticketed shows, 23 exhibitions and 19 pub­lic displays. The works themselves range from the giant Olympic Caldron adjacent to the Olympic Stadium; to the flash and wizardry of Georgia Tech's own DanceTechnology project; to the collected work of people like photographer Annie Leibovitz; to world-premiere performances like that of Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin's new play, When the World Was Green.

Each host city uses the festival to promote its own regional identity, some cities going so far as to present only local artists, as did Montreal and Moscow in 1976 and 1980, respectively. Atlanta, however, will offer a rich schedule of renowned artists from all over the globe to mirror the diversity of the Games themselves—but the emphasis will be on Atlanta and its region. Clearly stated, the Cultural Olympiad's goals are:

• To explore the rich and diverse cultural experiences of Atlanta, Georgia and the South.

• To present to Southern audiences a variety of distin­guished international artists.

• To develop local, regional and international relation­ships among artists and audiences, and to leave behind an expanded vision through which Atlanta may be recog­nized as an international center of innovative arts, culture and entertainment.

"Our program has fulfilled that mission completely," says Jeffrey Babcock, director of the Cultural Olympiad.

"We have a program that is extremely well balanced, both in Southern and international connections."

Most Cultural Olympiads in the past ran anywhere from four to 10 weeks—Mexico City's gala festival in 1968 lasted one year. Atlanta's program officially began in 1993, and Georgia Tech has been involved with it ev­ery step of the way.

Bucky Johnson, director of the Georgia Tech band and head of the music department, has headed up the Olym­pic Band since its inception. The band's first concert was in 1993 at President Bill Clinton's inaugural parade, and it has played numerous events since.

This summer's band, however, will consist entirely of Georgia high school and college students, and Babcock says it's "going to be really exciting. Georgia Tech has been a home base for the band, which has been a terrific connection for us. I can't say enough about Bucky and his staff—they've done a great job in organizing and putting together a band of first-class caliber."

Jazz band director Ron Mendola penned a few fan­fares for the Olympic Band, and Tech composer-in-resi-dence James Oliverio wrote "The Explorer," a symphonic work presented in conjunction with 1993's "Olympic Winterland: Encounters with Norwegian Cultures." The program was a month-long cultural exchange with Lillehammer, Norway, the host city of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games.

Besides being the most extensive program in the Cul­tural Olympiad's history, Atlanta's effort will also be the most closely linked with the Games themselves. Babcock says of the 41 cultural venues and public art displays, 37 will be inside the Olympic Ring.

"Very often in the past, cultural events have been more on the fringe of the action and much less visible than they will be here in Atlanta," Babcock says. Also a first is the association between Cultural Olympiad and Olympic Games ticketing, as tickets have been available for arts events since September 1995.

"In previous cities, the tickets were only on sale a month or two before the events actually opened," Babcock says, "and you had to call directly to the venue—the opera house, museum, theater, symphony hall, whatever—to get your tickets. This one you can do it all in one shot." And arts tickets, just like their athletic

4 2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 45: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 46: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

"Our program is extremely well balanced, both in Southern and international connections."

counterparts, will also grant their holders free rides on Olympic public transportation the day of the event, an­other innovation that seems obvious on the surface, but Babcock says "did not happen in the past."

Though the OAF has no centerpiece event, the South­ern Crossroads festival, held daily from July 18 to Aug. 3 at Centennial Olympic Park, is a cornerstone. Held in the center of the city and Olympic activities, Southern Cross­roads will attempt to define Southern arts and culture for any and all who wish to attend the free, outdoor event.

"We've created a festival about our region that's smack dab at the epicenter of the entire games," Babcock explains. "It really brings that venue alive and sets the cultural program down right in the middle of where the action of the Games is."

Much has been made of the legacy the Olympic Games will leave behind in Atlanta and at Georgia Tech, in particular. Those involved with the Cultural Olympiad hope it will do much the same thing for Atlanta's arts community. Hosting exhibitions and performances of world-renowned caliber can only lend prestige to Atlanta's arts organizations.

"Take the High Museum, for example," Babcock says. "It is presenting 'Rings: Five Passions in World Art.' That exhibition is probably 10 times the size of any exhibit they've done there before, so it's put them in a whole new league. It's given them a whole new opportunity for expansion and growth in the future."

The High could very well be Atlanta in microcosm: an institution, already on the rise, that after the summer of 1996 could soar to heights it never imagined, GT

New York choreographer David Parsons was impressed with the "enthusiasm and drive of the Tech researchers on this project."

Stanley Leary Photos

4 4 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 47: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Virtual Pirouette DanceTechnology offers a graceful marriage of art and technology.

G leorgia Tech and the Atlanta Ballet. It's not the most obvious pairing, but when it comes to merg­ing art with technology, these two are a match made in heaven.

DanceTechnology, the child of that union, is a project using the latest in motion-capture technology to put an Information Age-spin on a very old genre. Under the direc­tion of Tech's Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC) and renowned New York choreogra­pher David Parsons, DanceTech could be on its way to creating a new form of dance.

The idea behind DanceTech is to use Motion Interactive (MINT), a motion-capture software designed at Tech, to record the movements of a human dancer and use that data to create a "virtual dancer" that shares the stage with its human counter­parts. Optical tracking and magnetic systems help make the movements of the model more realistic.

"Motion analysis eliminates the guesswork," says IMTC Director Michael Sinclair. "It allows you to see exact movement from any angle. The technology can be used in an 'electronic sketchbook,' where the choreographer could create a pro­duction by specifying a series of dance motions that would be stored in an electronic library."

"It's good for scientists and for artists alike to see each other's worlds," Parsons says. "I was pleas­antly surprised at the enthusiasm, the stamina and the drive of the Georgia Tech researchers involved on this project."

The brainchild of past Tech Cen­ter for the Arts Director Paul Ackerman and current Director David Asbell, then of the Atlanta Ballet, DanceTech's early perfor-

Graduate student Sung Mee Park devel­oped a new fabric for DanceTech outfits. Left: David Parsons provides motion-interactive input for a "virtual" ballet.

mances involved a hologram pro­jected on the stage. But "Time Piece," playing Aug. 1-3 at the At­lanta Civic Center as part of the Olympic Arts Festival, features much more.

"There are visual effects that are truly stunning," says Amanda Lester of the Atlanta Ballet. "There's a 15-foot virtual dancer who is at times made of fire, at others made of water. And the live dancers actually interact with the virtual dancer."

Another highlight is the images projected onto the bodies of the live dancers themselves. For example, "Time Piece" depicts the evolution of humankind, and at points fire will be projected onto the dancers' bodies to depict the element's dis­covery. At other times, cogs and wheels will appear to signal the dawn of the Industrial Age.

DanceTech has done quite a bit of evolving itself in its two-year existence, and the future holds much more promise. "We certainly hope we can continue this collabora­tion with Georgia Tech," Lester says. "It's been very positive so far."

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 4 5

Page 48: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

The Olympic Arts Festival In a wide variety of forms and venues, the OAF will explore the incredible world of art.

W f ith more than 190 ticketed events, 23 exhibitions and 19 public displays, the works that collectively make up the Olympic Arts Festival are far too numerous to name here. But, with many world-renowned artists showing and sometimes pre-miering their wares, certain events stand out among the crowd.

Olympic Caldron

Public Art Far and away the most visible piece of public art will be American sculp­tor Siah Armanjani's Olympic Cal­dron, a 116-foot tower of interwoven steel located adjacent to the Olympic Stadium. The Caldron's shape forms an "A" for Atlanta, and it is con­nected to the stadium by a 190-foot-long bridge, the decking of which is inscribed with the names of all Olympic host cities from Athens in 1896 to Atlanta.

"We're extremely lucky to have a Siah Armanjani in Atlanta," Cultural Olympiad Director Jeffrey Babcock says. "I'm not sure this city appreci­ates that now. He's probably the most important sculptor working in the world today, period, and a work of his here permanently is a major accomplishment."

British sculptor Tony Cragg's "World Events," a 24-foot-tall piece composed of hundreds of tiny hu­man figures that form a youth hold­ing a sphere, now stands at the cor­ner of Peachtree and Spring streets in Mid town.

Other works of art, both tempo­rary and permanent, will be on dis­play in places such as Centennial Olympic Park, the Atlanta Civic Center, Emory University, Hartsfield International Airport and numerous Atlanta communities.

Dance New York choreographer David

Parsons and the joint Georgia Tech-Atlanta Ballet DanceTechnology project will take the stage at the At­lanta Civic Center Aug. 1 to 3 as one of the final performances of the Festi­val. Also performed at the show will be David Rousseve's Yellow-Tailed Dogs.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, founded in 1958 and seen by more than 18 million people in 67 countries since, comes to the Civic Center July 17 to 19. Director Judith Jamison leads the company through her own piece, Riverside, as well as Ailey's Revelations, the company's signature piece, and other works.

July 22 to 24 will witness the

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

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Netherlands Dance Theater perform­ing Jirf Kylian's Kaguyahime, a full-length ballet based on a 10th century Japanese folk tale. Set to a score by Maki Ishii, the show's music will be played on traditional Japanese in­struments by the drummers of Circle Percussion.

Theater Longtime col la bo

rators Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin will premiere their commissioned play When the World Was Green at the Seven Stages Theater July 19 to 23. Under the direction of Del Hamilton, the play follows the rela­tionship of an old man, who is a self-confessed murderer, and a young woman who interviews him in prison.

Atlanta's own Alfred Uhry, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Driving Miss Daisy., will premiere his newest work, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, at the Alliance Stu­dio Theater July 20 through Aug. 3. The comedy follows two college students of German-Jewish descent who return to Atlanta for Christmas in 1939, just before the Atlanta pre­miere of Gone With the Wind.

The Center for the Puppetry Arts will present an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, writ ten by Jon Ludwig and recommended lor adult audiences, July 12 through 27.

The 14th Street Playhouse will feature Jomandi Productions' Hip 2: Birth of the Boom July 31 through Aug. 3, written and performed by Jomandi's co-artistic director Tom Jones and directed by co-artistic

Alabama Shakespeare

Theater

4 6 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 2996

Page 49: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

director Marsha Jackson. Also at the Playhouse is Blue Monk, July 23 to 26, written by poet and playwright-in-residence Robert Earl Price. The world premiere performance follows the work of jazz master Thelonius Monk.

Music

Atlanta's Symphony Hall will host a number of performances throughout the summer. Yoel Levi, conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and world-class violinist [tzhak Perlman will grace the I lall with a 'Virtuoso Salute to the Olym­pic (lames" on July 20. Perlman also will perform in the July 22 "Olympic Celebration of Chamber Music" in the same venue.

The 1 lall also will witness Paul Sorvino starring in an Atlanta Opera production of George and Ira Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing, July 18 and 19. The show will also star Rebecca Caine, Kim Criswell, Barry Busse and Jason Bryce.

Wynton Marsalis and the Olympic Jazz Summit will perform there July 28 and 29. Other notables include the London Chamber Orchestra (July 23), the Russian National Or­chestra ij uly 25), the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (July 30) and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orches­tra (Aug. 2).

Bucky Johnson's Olympic Band will

Nobuko Imai

Royal Thai Ballet

give several performances through­out July, including the July 19 Open­ing Ceremonies and the band's fare­well show at the Closing Ceremonies Aug. 4.

Exhibitions

J. Carter Brown, director emeritus of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, has put together "Rings: Five Passions in World Art," on display at the I ligh Museum of Art through Aug. 4. More than 125 masterpieces, spanning 7,500 years and ranging from Greek bronzes to African figures to works by Monet, Rodin, Cassatt and Picasso, will be on hand.

SciTrek, the science and technol­ogy museum of Atlanta, will feature "Mind and Body: The Revival of the

Olympic Idea," through Sept. 8. Using sculpture, photography, video, historic artifacts and multimedia presentations, the exhibition tells the story of the Olympic Movement beginning in Athens, Greece, in 1986. The city of Athens, through the Greek Ministry of Culture, presented the exhibition as a gift to the host city of the Centennial Olympic Games.

Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum will house two exhi­bitions, "Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art of the South," and "Thornton Dial: Remem­bering the Road." The first uses over

250 works of sculpture, painting and writing, as well as multime­

dia presentation, to document the art of self-taught artists of the

region. Its companion exhibit high­lights the work of Dial, a renowned self-taught Southern artist.

Southern Crossroads

A cornerstone of the Olympic Arts Festival, Southern Crossroads will run July 18 to Aug. 3 at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. It is a free, outdoor event that Babcock expects will draw 200,000 to 300,000 people daily, as well as pro­vide the backdrop for NBC's national news broadcasts during the Olympic Games. Almost 1,000 artists and artisans will entertain with music, dance, street performances, food and an arts-and-crafts marketplace.

The Southern Music Stage will offer continual performances of a range of music of Southern origin, including rock 'n' roll, jazz, gospel, blues and country. The Dance Hall will feature live bands, expert dem­onstrations and open invitations for those interested in forms of dance from the Cajun two-step to hip-hop, Western swing, line dancing, Appa­lachian clogging and others.

Other stages and areas will offer the music of Southern recording artists of all genres, full complements of Southern cuisine, an array of Southern wares for sale and roving street processions, a la Mardi Gras parades and Native American rituals, GT

"Mind and Body" Exhibit

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 47

Page 50: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Art Is Art The Cultural Paralympiad pays homage to overlooked artists.

•Athletes aren't the only people whose disabilities can sometimes mask the talents underneath—it can happen with artists, too. Enter this summer's Cultural Paralympiad, the first-ever complement to the Paralympics to highlight the efforts of artists who might otherwise be overlooked.

A series of nearly 30 events running all summer and concentrated during the Paralympic Games from Aug. 15 to 25, the Cultural Paralympiad al­most didn't happen. But a few groups around town acted to make sure it did.

"The Cultural Paralympiad office had to let their director go and decided not to do the pro­gram for lack of funds to the Paralympics—they thought the most important part was the Games," explains Deborah Lewis, executive director of Atlanta's Special Audiences, an organization dedi­cated to making events accessible to persons with disabilities. Lewis also serves as the volunteer "coordinator" for the Cultural Paralympiad.

"So those of us who were designated as Cul­tural Paralympiad participants went to the Paralympics and said, 'We don't want you to can­cel this. We can go ahead and do our programs, and it won't cost you anything.' So we've done that."

The programs of the Paralympiad range from exhibitions featuring the works of artists with disabilities to shows for which the venues will make special efforts to enhance accessibility. Atlanta's Alliance Theater, the Center for Puppetry Arts, the Jimmy Carter Library Museum and the Nexus Contemporary Art Center are just a few venues participating.

Storm Reading, a theatrical performance featuring actors with and without disabilities, will be held at the Georgia Tech Center for the Arts from Aug. 16 to 19. Audio description and hand-sign interpretation will be provided for each performance.

"I hope the Paralympiad's legacy will be severalfold," Lewis says. "I hope it will bring a greater understanding throughout the world of the abilities of artists with disabilities. We've made so many contacts through this. It will lead to bigger and better things." —Michael Terrazas

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Page 51: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 52: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Mayor to the World As mayor of the Centennial Olympic Village, Russ Chandler will officiate over the world's most international community.

By John Dunn

I hi: his summer, alumnus Russ Chandler will be mayor of the most famous village in the world—the Centennial Olympic Village at Georgia Tech.

Although Chandler's tenure is short—the Olympic Village is open for a mere 33 days—his goal is not.

"We want to have the best Olympic Village in the 100-year history of the Olympic Games," Chandler says. "Our goal is to establish the standard for all future Olym­pic Villages. We want everyone to look back and say, 'If it's like Atlanta, it'll be great.'"

An entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist, A. Russell Chandler III has been planning and preparing for this event for eight years, since joining the Atlanta Orga­nizing Committee in 1988 as volunteer chair of the Olym­pic Village.

A co-op student and 1967 industrial engineering graduate of Georgia Tech, Chandler is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Whitehall Group Ltd., a private investment firm in Atlanta. He is the founder, former president and CEO of Qualicare, which was the fifth-largest hospital management company in the nation when it was sold in 1983.

Chandler has drawn from his business experience in creating the concept and developing the financial plan for the Olympic Village.

"The plan that we are operating under today is not significantly different than what we presented to the International Olympic Committee six years ago," Chandler says. "It has been fine-tuned, but the village definition, departments, configuration and the way athletes will function in the village are essentially the same. Before we won the bid, we knew exactly what we were going to do."

The Olympic Village has progressed through four stages: an initial two-year phase of promoting it to the International Olympic Committee; three years of devel­opment; two years of detailed planning; and finally, Chandler says, it is in the execution phase.

As mayor of the Olympic Village at Georgia Tech, Chandler presides over familiar turf. These are the grounds where he attended class, stayed late for labs and worked as a co-op student. A member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity at Tech, Chandler was treasurer during his senior year.

5 0 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Atlanta businessman Russ Chandler will be mayor of the Olympic Village. More than 14,000 athletes, coaches, trainers and others will populate the Tech campus for the Olympic Games.

Chandler has served on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board and is a former chairman of the advisory board of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. He has endowed a distinguished professorship in Tech's School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and funded the baseball stadium, which is named in his honor. He also holds an MBA from Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, where he established an

Text continued on page 55

Page 53: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Tech's Hospitality Suite Close to campus, the Tech facility will offer Olympics-visiting alumni a relaxing oasis.

A Jumni in town for this summer's Olympic Games won't have to look too far to find some good ol' fash­ioned Southern hospitality, as Georgia Tech will host a hospitality suite right around the corner from campus.

Located in the Children's Center of All Saints Episcopal Church directly across from the North Avenue MARTA station, the suite will pro­vide a one-stop center for refreshments, relaxation and Olympic information.

"We have a terrific loca­tion for visiting alumni and

friends during the Olympic Games," says John B. Carter Jr., vice president and executive director of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. "Although the Olympic Village will be highly secured, and no one will be allowed in the Village proper, the hospi­tality suite will be right next door."

Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., July 15 through Aug. 9, the suite will be operated by the Georgia Tech President's Office, External Affairs, Alumni Associa­tion, Athletic Association and Admissions Office. The

North Avenue MARTA station will be the main stop for the Olympic Vil­lage, as well as boxing and all aquatic events.

The Children's Center of All Saints is located at the corner of Spring Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue, behind the church itself. The hospitality suite is on the center's second floor.

"There's a spectacular view of the Olympic Vil­lage and its venues," says Tammy M. Tuley, director of special programs. "You can look across the inter­state and see Grant Field, the Tech Tower, the

Aquatic Center and the Tech campus."

Press kits will be available to explain Tech's involvement in the Games, and informa­tion packets can be pre­pared in advance for those calling the Alumni Associa­tion at (404) 894-2391 or 800-GTALUMS

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Page 54: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Atlanta University Center Field Hockey

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Page 55: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Ocoee River Kayaking

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Savannah Sailing

The Olympic Rings

Page 56: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996
Page 57: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

President Bill Clinton is expected to be among the dignitaries who attend the Olympics and visit the village.

entrepreneurial fellowship. He and his wife, Sammie, have three daughters:

Whitney, Alexandra and Ashley, an alternate for the U.S. Olympic swimming team. A rising senior in high school, Ashley is ranked fourth in the United States in the 50-meter freestyle and seventh in the 100-meter freestyle.

The Olympic Village will be open from July 6—when athletes begin arriving in anticipation of the July 19

opening ceremonies—through Aug. 7. "The Olympic Village will be an exciting place to be,"

Chandler says with confident expectation. Chandler's responsibilities, now primarily protocol,

include all nine Olympic Villages, although each village will have its own mayor. In addition to Atlanta, Olympic Villages are located in Athens, Columbus, and Savannah, Ga.; Cleveland, Term.; Birmingham, Ala.; Miami and Orlando, Fla.; and Washington, D.C. The day-to-day operations of Atlanta's village will be the concern of the director of the Olympic Village and three deputy directors.

President Bill Clinton is expected to be among 20 heads of state and dignitaries from around the world who will attend the Olympic Games and visit the village.

The village at Georgia Tech will be home to more than 14,000 athletes, coaches, trainers and officials from 197 national Olympic committees, almost 10,000 employees (mostly volunteers), 4,000 guests, hundreds of media representatives, several thousand sponsors and a televi­sion audience estimated to total more than 3.5 billion people.

And with a daily population approaching 30,000, Chandler says the village would rank as Georgia's 12th or 13th largest city.

"Our goal is to make this a home away from home for the athletes," Chandler says.

The Olympic Village will have all of the facilities and amenities of a city—everything from a bowling alley, video arcade and movies, to department stores, hair salons, dining facilities and a dance club.

It is all at no cost—even the meals at McDonald's will be free to athletes.

"We're going to provide everything the athletes need during the time they are here," Chandler says. "The only thing that will cost them are the gifts they buy to take back home. Everything else is absolutely free."

The village will have a festive, relaxed atmosphere where athletes and officials can congregate, enjoy meals and sleep.

Georgia Tech's housing will be among the finest in the country, resulting from a $108 million, Olympic-related housing boom. Tech has gained seven new apartment-style residence halls and renovated all existing residence halls. The Olympic Village will have 33 residence halls to house the athletes and other officials, and all existing housing, including fraternities and sororities, will be used.

Adjacent to the campus on North Avenue is a resi­dence hall complex that will provide future housing for Georgia State University.

Transforming Georgia Tech's campus into the Olym­pic Village has been a monumental task. Chandler compares amassing, storing and distributing supplies and materials for the village to preparing for a military campaign.

"It's not like we moved on campus and used it in the same manner," Chandler explains. Turning Georgia Tech into the Olympic Village began June 1, but the massive effort only hit high gear after the village officially took over June 15.

N early 6,000 desks were moved out of residence halls and 6,000 beds were moved in. Construction of tem­

porary facilities began at a hectic pace—including the erection of a trio of large tents in a campus parking lot that will operate as the world's largest dining facility.

The heart of the village will be Olympic Plaza. "The plaza is a wonderful area with a campanile and a

fountain," Chandler says. "It will be the backdrop for the Today Show." The program will be broadcast daily throughout the Olympic Games from a temporary addi­tion to the Textile Engineering Building.

"We call it the festival area, and it's going to be a fun, exciting place to be," Chandler says. "There will be 400 media in the festival area every day. They will be broad­casting to the world. During that 17-day period, the focus of the world will be on Georgia Tech, the Olympic Games and Atlanta. More than any other single place, it will be in the Village at Georgia Tech. People in other parts of the world who have never even heard of Georgia Tech will see this wonderful place right before them."

The Olympic Games and mass-media coverage will leave a forceful and lasting impression of Georgia Tech and Atlanta, Chandler says. "After the Olympic Games, everybody in the world will know where Georgia Tech is, and Atlanta will be perceived as an international city. It's going to change Georgia Tech forever. It's going to change the character of Atlanta forever." GT

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 5 5

Page 58: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

A special rate for Tech fans only. Weekends throughout football and basketball seasons. Afterward, relax with a drink. Or enjoy dining in The Restaurant or The Cafe. Then settle back in a luxurious room at the heatt of downtown

Atlanta. For reservations, call your travel professional or 404-659-0400 or 800-241-3333 and ask about the Yellow Jacket Weekend. For just $144 a night, you can stay at a legend when you cheer one on.

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(DOWNTOWN)

Page 59: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Piedmont Physicians Your Partners in Health

— Several Places in Convenient Locations Piedmont Physicians is more than a place—it's several places in convenient locations. It's more than a doctor's office—it's comprehen­sive primary care provided by Piedmont

Hospital physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals. It's a tradition of excellence because it's affiliated with Piedmont Hospital, a leader in healthcare since 1905.

— Comprehensive Primary Care —

Primary care includes the services normally rendered by internal medicine, family practice and pediatric physicians. Services include preventive care, immunizations, annual physi­cals, health screenings, wellness counseling, medical care for illness, disease and injuries,

and referral when more complex care is needed. Piedmont Physicians offers radiology (X-ray), electrocardiography (EKG), mammography and laboratory services. Medicare and most insur­ance and managed care plans are accepted, and new Medicare patients are welcomed.

Continuing the Tradition —

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4890 Rosioell Road • 404-845-1200

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PROA-IINA"

Page 60: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

The Inside Stories The behind-the-scenes faces, places and things that have set the stage for the Olympic drama at Georgia Tech.

By John Dunn, Hoyt Coffee and Michael Terrazas

G leorgia Tech is writing a new chapter in its history this summer, playing a crucial role in the monumental production of the Centennial Summer Olympic Games.

For a few weeks, the university has surrendered its campus to an Olympic army, and has become home of the 1996 Olympic Village. It is a title that forevermore will be associated with Georgia Tech.

Many of the Institute's faculty, staff and alumni have lent their time and talents to promote the success of these Olympic Games. Many are on the staff of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, and many more are simply volunteers.

We cannot recognize every one, but by profiling a few, we pay tribute to them all.

The Tough Get Going

Iames W. "Bill" Ray has spent the past five years

planning building con­struction, parking, trans­portation, the summer academic session and just about everything else to get Georgia Tech ready for the Olympics.

Now, he says, the tough job begins.

"As far as getting the campus ready, I really feel good," Ray says. "It's been quite a challenge to get the construction all completed on time and within the funds available." But the Gulf War veteran adds that running Georgia Tech dur­ing the Summer Games— the mother of all disrup­tions—is something else entirely.

"It's not like the build­ings where you have bricks and mortar, concrete and steel. You can develop a system for building a building. When you're

dealing with so many dif­ferent things as far as the operations of campus go, that's really tough."

But Ray is up to the task. A 38-year Army veteran, Maj. Gen. Ray worked with Col. William A. "Bill" Miller, Tech's director of Olympic Planning, on lo­gistics for the armies allied against Iraq.

Ray serves as vice presi­dent for Olympic planning. He has worked directly with the Board of Regents, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) and Atlanta city officials. Ray also serves as the chairman of Tech's Senior Advisory Group, which makes policy deci­sions regarding Olympic and Paralympic activity on campus.

While some have com­pared running the campus during the Games to run­ning a medium-sized city, Ray says it's much differ­ent. "In running a city, just like running Georgia Tech,

Stanley Leary Photo

BILL RAY: "Getting the campus ready ... has been quite a challenge."

you go through cycles, and year by year you improve things," he says. "We've never done any of this before, and so it will be like

running a city that just appears. It's as complex as running a city, but we can't look back and see how we did it last year."

58 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

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Gary Meek Photo. BELOW: Stanley Leary Photo

The Coliseum Is a Knockout

It's not only a comfort­able home for Bobby

Cremins' Georgia Tech basketball team, but also the acclaimed site of 1996 Olympic boxing.

Even before the Olym­pics began, the newly reno­vated Alexander Memorial Coliseum was winning praise from boxers and officials of the Olympic Federation, which governs the sport.

"Beautiful," exclaimed Anwar Chowdhry, presi­dent of the International Amateur Boxing Associa­tion, after watching an Olympic test event, held in the Coliseum in early May. "All of the facilities are excellent. Everything—the arena, the training facili­ties—is very good," he said.

"I am particularly happy that Atlanta kept their promise to us. This was the venue we were promised,

and this is what we have," said Chowdhry, who also is vice president of the National Olympic Committee of Pakistan. "That hasn't al­ways been the case. Barcelona promised to build a new venue, but they didn't, and we ended up in a place that was too shabby for an Olympic Games. Here, we have a very good venue. It will be much better when it is full of spectators."

If the Coliseum was sparsely populated during the Atlanta Boxing Classic, it may have been due in part to the nature of the test events sponsored by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. Designed primarily to test facilities, equipment, logistics and to train staff, the test events were arranged with only small regard to attracting the world's greatest athletes.

Most of the 364 Olympic boxers passed on the Atlanta test event, including the entire Ameri­can team, which had just completed its Olympic trials a few weeks earlier. But the always-impressive Cuban boxers put on their usual strong showing, going undefeated through the first two elimination rounds. —Jerry Schwartz

Taz's Tower

After the Olympic flame has cooled, another fire

will burn on the skyline for years to come—Taz Ander­son's Centennial Tower.

Reaching fully 12 stories into the sky next to The Varsity, the great green obelisk bears a 16-foot flame at its apex that Anderson hopes will be a beacon for Atlanta and Tech for decades.

"My intent has been to have something in place that is memorable, some­thing that will become

part of Atlanta," says Anderson, IM '61. The former Tech football star and pro player with St. Louis and the Atlanta Fal­cons worked three years on planning the Centennial Tower. Helping him along were several firms with thick Tech connections— Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart and Asso­ciates; the Hardin Co.; and Stanley D. Lindsey and Associates.

The tower includes an observation deck 100 feet above its base, where a one-story visitors' center is located. Anderson, who is

known for the giant peaches atop build­ings north and south of downtown, says

the tower will also feature advertising.

TAZ ANDERSON: Creating a 100-foot-tall memorial ol the Centennial.

59

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Gary Meek Photo. BELOW: Stanley Leary Photo

BUCKY JOHNSON: Tech's music chairman will lead the Olympic Band during opening-day ceremonies.

When John Williams' stirring "Summon the

Heroes" fills the Olympic Stadium during the Open­ing Ceremonies of the Centennial Games, the performance should be "Tech-nically" flawless.

That's because the direc­tor and co-founder of the 280-member Atlanta Olym­pic Band is Georgia Tech's own Bucky Johnson.

In 1992, Johnson, chair­man of the Institute's music

department, founded the Olympic Band, which is part of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games' Cultural Olym­piad. Johnson shares his Olympic duties with Andrea Strauss, associate director of the Tech music department, and Chris Moore, assistant director.

Additionally, a strong contingent of Georgia Tech band members are also in the Olympic Band. The

Reckettes, a Georgia Tech dance line, and Stingerettes, Georgia Tech baton twirlers, will also perform in the opening and closing ceremonies.

In addition to perform­ing for the Olympics, the band will be featured in a number of Olympic-related productions, including performances at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park for its opening on July 18 and again on July 22.

Georgia Tech will hold a condensed

1996 summer session on campus after the Sum­mer Olympic Games conclude, and start its fall quarter in October.

The 1996 summer session will consist of seven weeks of classes: Aug. 12 through Sept. 27, with final exams scheduled from Sept. 28 through Oct. 2. The late summer session will delay the opening of fall quarter until Oct. 9. The fall quarter will end Dec. 13, with exams sched­uled Dec. 14-19.

The summer session of seven weeks of classes is seven-tenths of a regular summer ses­sion. Classes, which usually meet for 50 min­utes, will be extended to 75 minutes.

Cremins Coaches Olympic Hoops

When Team USA tips off against the

world's best in basketball, Yellow Jackets head coach Bobby Cremins will be in a familiar place—on the sidelines.

Atlanta Hawks head coach Lenny Wilkens, picked to skipper the 1996 U.S. men's Olympic basket­ball team, chose the 15-year Tech coach as one of three assistants.

"We looked at guys who had done stuff for USA Basketball, and Bobby's been very active," Wilkens says. "Plus he's local, and I like the way he works. I want guys who will roll up their sleeves."

Cremins has coached junior and select squads, and he coached for the World University Games a decade ago. He was ex­pected to be a top candi­date for the assistant spot during the 1992 Olympics, but those hopes ended

when Olympics officials decided to allow profes­sionals on the team.

"This caught me off guard," Cremins says. "I was just thrilled. I have great respect for Lenny. The experience of repre­senting your country, being around Lenny and the greatest players in the world, is a tremendous opportunity."

Cremins' selection to the coaching squad tops a banner year for the coach and the Jackets. Tech fin-

60 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 19%

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All the News All the Time

No matter what time it is in Atlanta, somewhere

in the world, the news media is awake. Requests for information about Georgia Tech as home of the Olympic Village have come from all over the world in all languages at all hours of the day and night.

The Olympian feat of satisfying the insatiable news appetite of the media worldwide has been the job of Robert T. Harty, Georgia Tech's director of commu­nications.

Harty and his 29-mem-ber communications staff have made anticipating news a top priority and have worked to spot poten­tial stories, gather informa­tion and pass along story ideas to the media.

"The news media just want to tell the story in their own way, for their own audience," Harty says.

ished the year as regular-season Atlantic Coast Con­ference champions at 24-12 and a best-ever 13-3 in the conference, earning Cremins ACC Coach of the Year honors. And the Jack­ets earned a trip to the NCAA's Sweet 16.

Also selected as assis­tants were Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan and Uni­versity of Minnesota head coach Clem Haskins.

BOBBY CREMINS: Olympic duties for Tech basketball coach.

Gary Meek Photo

BOB HARTY: Answering worldwide requests for information about the Olympic Village and Georgia Tech.

"Our job has been to help them develop their news or feature stories, cut through any red tape, and provide accurate background infor­mation."

In addition to working with local and national media, Harty has endeav­ored to establish ties with

the world media. Success can have a domino effect. After helping a popular Brazilian magazine develop its Olympic Village story, Harty's office received a barrage of requests for assistance from other Brazilian media.

Working with the media

is something Harty under­stands. A former chief of staff to the Wisconsin attor­ney general, Harty was director of policy develop­ment and media relations. That was the easy part. He also had to manage 525 lawyers and criminal inves­tigators.

Nutritional McMenu

McDonald's will have its familiar fast-food fare at five Olympic Vil­

lage restaurants, but the menu will also offer fresh fruit, vegetables, yogurt and bagels in an effort to meet the nutri­tional needs of Olympic athletes.

The menu will offer nutrition and ingredient information presented in English, Spanish and French.

McDonald's will be on campus in the Homer Rice Center, the main dining

area off of Tech Park­way, the Hemphill Complex, Wenn Student

Center and north of 10th Street.

The restaurant chain said it expects to serve 500,000 free meals to athletes, trainers and coaches during the Games, and will bring in 2,500 multilingual employees to operate the restaurants around the clock. McDonald's has 15,000 restaurants in 83 countries.

The free meals are part of McDonald's deal with the Games as a national Olym­pic sponsor.

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 6 1

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Rick Addicks/Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Stanley Leary Photo

Media Host at the Aquatic Center

Mike Finn, Georgia Tech's associate direc­

tor of athletics for commu­nications, has been tapped for an Olympic post as venue press chief for water sports.

Finn, in his 13th year in the sports information office at Georgia Tech, will be in charge of all press operations at the new $20 million Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, site of swimming, synchronized swimming, diving and water polo competitions.

"My job will be to over­see all press operations at

MIKE FINN: Making sure the media doesn't get in over its head at the Aquatic Center.

that site, making sure the media have a place where they can work and have access to athletes," Finn says. "I'll also be in charge of producing timely results and press releases."

Finn, in his fourth year as associate athletics direc­tor, previously served three years as assistant athletics director and six years as Tech's sports information director. During the last 12 years, the sports informa­tion office has earned nearly 100 writing and publication awards from the College Sports Informa­tion Directors of America, including several "Best in the Nation" citations.

Perfect Pool

It's a great pool. I've en­joyed it thoroughly." The

words of Australian swim­ming gold medalist Kieren Perkins were echoed by swimmers, divers and even public officials during Pre-Olympic events at the new Aquatic Center.

Perkins, who set eight world records and won the men's 1,500-meter gold medal at Barcelona, said he particularly appreciated the open-air facility. Asked if changing conditions could alternately make the pool faster or slower, Perkins said, "Fast pool, slow pool—who cares? Everyone's swimming in the same pool, and this is a really good one."

Russian diver Irina Lachko liked "this pool very much," she said at the Ninth Diving World Cup. "The environment is very good. It reminds me of the Moscow swimming pool, but this facility is bigger."

Doug Arnot, managing director of venues for ACOG, notes the Aquatic Center is not one of the venues that will be torn down or have its function changed after the Olympics.

"This pool will obvi­ously host many collegiate and international events long after the Olympics are gone," Arnot says. "It's one of the most attractive, most technologically advanced international swimming facilities in the world."

—Jerry Schwartz

6 2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 65: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Savannah's Village

Gary Meek Photo

Whether on land or sea, Tech alumni will be among the cadre of 400 staff work­ing with the Olympic Vil­lage at Savannah, site of the yachting venue.

Reed Draper, Mgt '92, is deputy director of the Sa­vannah site, home to about 750 athletes and officials from 80 different nations.

Draper, who works for ACOG, and his staff endeavor to make the Olympians feel at home, from special food to com­fortable rooms. Even before the village opened on July 6, many athletes were in Savannah to practice and familiarize themselves with the ocean course.

• ( V^|

1 4

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REED DRAPER: ACOG's man in Savannah's Olympic Village.

At sea, Pete Hart, Cls '96, will see that things are ship­shape. Hart is ACOG's boat fleet coordinator for logis­tics. And Darren B. Pietsch, ME '91, will be on hand when the competition starts. Lt. j.g. Pietsch, an assistant maintenance su­perintendent for Georgia-Pacific Co. in Brunswick, is the Coast Guard race-man­agement liaison for the yachting event.

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: As home of the Olympic Village, Tech has become a giant classroom for tempo­rary architecture. Students are gaining rare experience working on construction sites within the Village.

World-Class Classes

Afirst-of-its-kind class at Georgia Tech is teach­

ing students temporary architecture and event management at the ulti­mate venue, the 1996 Olympic Games.

As home of the Olympic Village, Georgia Tech has become one giant class­room for temporary archi­tecture. During the sum­mer of '96, students are gaining rare experience as construction coordinators and project managers for sites within the village.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students to see first hand just what goes into the preparation of the world's largest and most prestigious sporting event," says architecture Professor Rufus Hughes. "The Olympic architecture

these students are studying may be temporary, but what they learn will for­ever change their college and professional experi­ence and perspective."

During the winter quar­ter, juniors, seniors and graduate students studied temporary architecture from circuses, festivals and past world fairs as part of the course called Event Architecture, Design and Construction.

Throughout the spring quarter, students worked with Olympics officials to oversee the final planning of temporary sites inside the Olympic Village as part of Event Construction Management.

Students who remained for the final installment, Festival Construction Over­sight, actually worked on site, helping to oversee construction of temporary architecture ranging from

the colorful geometric tents of the Village Festival area to the world's largest out­door dining hall. Linda Thomas Prime, construc­tion manager with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, believes the Georgia Tech students bring a fresh perspective to the project.

"This sort of exercise has never been tried before in an educational setting and at an event of this magni­tude," Prime says.

Some course partici­pants say they are consid­ering temporary architec­ture as a career.

"The Olympics have helped shed some light on an exciting career possibil­ity," says graduate student Sarah Adkins. "This once-in-a-lifetime course allows us to step beyond the text­book to a profession that is hard work, fun and differ­ent every day."

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 6 3

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Kathryn Kolb Photo

Shaping Up Atlanta

While top athletes from around the world

have been shaping up for the Olympic Games in Atlanta, alumnus Doug Hooker has been getting the city's infrastructure into world-class shape.

Hooker, Atlanta's public works commissioner, has been preparing bridges, streets and sewers for the unprecedented number of people who will be attend­ing the Centennial Games.

Among the projects, the city is overhauling its sewer system for the first time since 1915. Hooker is supervising 14 major sewer projects costing a total of $350 million during the next three years, including construction of a $32.3 million storm sewer that will alleviate flooding

DOUG HOOKER: Leading the efforts to rebuild Atlanta's infrastructure in time for the Olympic Games.

problems near Georgia Tech, home of the Olympic Village.

Hooker, who received his mechanical engineering degree from Tech in 1978 and master's in technology and science policy in 1985, manages a public works staff of more than 1,600

people on a $100 million operating budget. A mem­ber of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association board of trustees, he is married to attorney (and former board member) Patrise Perkins-Hooker, a 1980 industrial management graduate.

The department is sup­

porting efforts for the city to look its best. "We've been helping the Corpora­tion for Olympic Develop­ment for Atlanta with their streetscape projects," he says. The projects include putting in decorative con­crete pavers, new lights and planting trees.

Model Whitewater

Before there was an Olympic-caliber whitewater rapids along Tennessee's

Ocoee River, there was the scale model. Mark Mobley, ME '83, and fellow Whitewater enthusiast Paul Wolff, ESM '84, MS ME '91, Ph.D. '93, engineers with the Tennessee Valley Authority, developed a 300-foot scale model of the river bed that was used to create the actual whitewater course. Working from the model, engineers whipped a five-mile stretch of the Ocoee near Copperhill, Tenn., into a frothy rage for (he Olympic Games. The Ocoee is the first natural river used in Olympic kayak and canoe competition. MARK MOBLEY: Whitewater builder.

Whitewater Coach

Michael Larimer, IM '74, is one of the

coaches for the U.S. Olym­pic whitewater canoe and kayak team. Coaching both single and two-man canoe­ists, Larimer, (in photo at right joined by Eric M. Giddens, left, a junior ma­joring in biology at Tech, who contended for a spot on the Olympic kayak team), went to the world championships as a mem­ber of the U.S. whitewater team in 1987, and in 1992,

64 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

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Stanley Leary Pholo

Backstage Pitcrew

TAMMY TULEY: Communicating Tech's Olympic performance.

Telling the Story

As director of special programs for Georgia Tech, Tammy Tuley, Mgt '90, has been a key liaison

between the Institute and ACOG. Most recently, she helped establish the Hospitality Suite for Georgia Tech at All Saints Episcopal Church.

A member of the communications office in Exter­nal Affairs, Tuley has helped manage public relations interactions between Tech and ACOG. She has told the story of Georgia Tech's role with the Olympic Games to alumni clubs, student groups and business organizations. In 1990, Tuley was the first person hired at Georgia Tech to focus on the Olympic Games. She has given hundreds of presentations to the public, Tech organizations and ACOG volunteers.

he and his partner placed fourth in the

U.S. Olympic Trials — 0.08 seconds away

from a trip to

Hank Houser and Sean Greene, two Georgia

Tech architecture students, are helping design a stage for all the world.

While working on their masters' degrees in archi­tecture, Houser is an assis­tant designer and Greene is a staging coordinator for Bob Keene & Associates, the production design company for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympic Games.

Houser is helping the show's producers and designers turn their ideas into reality by drawing them to specification. He has been working with contractors and solving problems.

"This work is directly related to architecture,"

Barcelona. The team has been training on the Olympic Whitewater course since the spring of 1995. "Working with some of the very best and most dedi­cated athletes in the world

in my sport is some­thing I really enjoy

doing," he says.

Houser says. "It's essen­tially taking what you've learned in the classroom and testing yourself to see if you can respond on your feet. Everything happens so quickly, and you have to be able to react."

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies require massive set-ups with very limited time to transform the field into a theater. "This thing moves really fast. It's like the world's biggest and fastest pit crew," says Joe Zenas, staging and props super­visor. "We have a 350-person stage crew com­posed of volunteers who will load the sets and run both shows from the scenic side. Several Georgia Tech students are working as crew chiefs and team lead­ers to help us train the volunteers."

The crew will assemble stages that are about 60 feet in diameter and about 11 feet tall. Getting the pieces together takes a lot of muscle and strong leaders to effectively communicate where everything needs to go. Then the crew has to magically disappear so the performers can take the stage.

"It's exciting just to be a part of the Olympics," Houser says. "It's even more exciting to do work that's related to what we want to do professionally."

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Gary Meek Photo

Building a Village

The Olympic Village wasn't built in a day—

it took better than four years and required a Herculean effort on the part of William A. "Bill" Miller, who has been re­sponsible for developing and managing more than $159 million in Olympics-related construction and renovation projects.

Miller, director of Olym­pic planning, is chairman of the Project Management Group, which oversees all on-site development for the Games.

A 1962 civil-engineering

graduate of Georgia Tech, Miller spent more than a year negotiating the con­tracts between Tech and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

"We've been working on it so long," Miller says, "it's good to see it all com­ing together. It's a great feeling."

Of course, the job isn't finished yet, and the next step may itself be worthy of listing with the seven labors.

"First of all, we've got to get back to normal," he says. "We're going to work probably through the end of October, overseeing the

restoration of the campus. We'll close our office down then."

Reflecting on the effort it took to mold Georgia Tech into the Olympic Village and build two sports ven­ues, Miller says he doesn't "see any negatives. As everyone says, the biggest legacy will be the change in our ability to house stu­dents. It's going to be a residential campus; we're going to have much more name recognition, those kinds of things.

"I think as soon as we can get things put back together, we'll look back at it as a positive experience."

BILL MILLER: Molding the Tech campus into an Olympic Village for more than 14,000 residents.

/

6 6 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

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Olympic Symbol

C. Kessler, IE '68, MS IE '70, chairman J.\.of Ktessler Enterprise in Atlanta, gave Georgia Tech anew look tor the Olympic Village—a campanile, an 80-foot stainless steel obelisk t..

SurrovflUKl by a fountain and equipped with sound ancrlight components, the Kessler Campa­nile takfes its place as one of the new symbols for Georgia Tech. It is made of steel plates that rotate like a corkscrew to create a spiraling form,

Can We Talk?

When members of ACOG want to know

what's the buzz, Mike McGammon wants them to find out loud and clear and without interference.

McGammon, EE '88, is ACOG's communications program manager, on loan from Motorola, the Olym­pics' wireless communica­tions equipment supplier.

"My job is to run all the radio-frequency communi­cations devices, which are the cellular phones, pagers and two-way radios,"

McGammon explains. "It's a heck of a challenge."

McGammon is respon­sible for operating a net­work for 10,000 two-way radios, providing cellular phones that operate on BellSouth's network, and about 6,000 pagers that operate on the mobile com­munications network, as well as modems and secure communications devices.

Two other Tech alumni are directly involved with the project. They are Mark Moon, IE '85, and Scott Adler, Mgt. '90, both of whom are with Motorola.

MIKE McGAMMON (center, with Mark Moon and Scott Adler): Making sure no wires are crossed in the world of wireless communications.

Summer 19% • GEORGIA TECH 67

Page 70: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Stanley Leary Photo

Game Plan

Since earning her degree in international affairs at Georgia Tech in 1994, Ashley Gigandet has been

preparing to meet the world. It will soon be at her doorstep.

A specialist in the Olympic Planning Office at Georgia Tech, Gigandet is responsible for preparing the campus for the Olympic Games. Her duties in­clude public relations with campus groups—includ­ing students, faculty and staff—and logistics plan­ning for the 1996 summer academic quarter, which begins after the Olympic Games.

As a student, Gigandet was a President's Scholar, a Harry S. Truman Scholar and president of the un­dergraduate Student Government. Next fall, she will pursue an MBA at Harvard Business School. ASHLEY GIGANDET: Housekeeping the campus for world visitors.

Alan David Photo

RICHARD TYLER: Bolting together the nuts-and-bolts of the Village.

Down to Basics

In his role as deputy director, Richard Tyler

knows the nuts and bolts of the Olympic Village at Georgia Tech. He has done everything from counting toilets to managing and negotiating contracts.

"It's been a pretty com­prehensive experience," says Tyler, IM '90, a co-op student and the first em­ployee hired for the Olym­pic Village. His boss was Russ Chandler, IE '67, then volunteer vice president for the Olympic Village. "I was promised the job would be everything I could imagine and more. It's been that."

Tyler assisted Chandler in the initial phases of plan­ning the village.

"My job was to learn about all of the areas of the village and to start to put the pieces of the puzzle together. For some time we

had no other staff. My training in industrial engi­neering really helped give me an edge to manage processes and the bigger picture in integrating dif­ferent components into a single system. That's be­come my job."

Tyler said the Olympic Village has about 30 differ­ent departments. The major organizational functions are administration, which includes personnel and finances; athlete services; logistics; and operations, which includes transporta­tion, food services, housing and press operations.

"We have had every kind of problem you can imagine," Tyler says. "But our biggest challenge, and greatest asset, has been to establish an excellent group of people and get them working together as a team. We have a great team."

6 8 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 71: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Alan David Photo

MELANIE DANGERFIELD: As assistant choreographer for the Olympic Games, she is keeping the ceremonies' performances "top secret.'

Top Secret

Melanie Morton Dangerfield, IM '86,

doesn't talk about her work as an assistant choreogra­pher for the Olympic Games Opening and Clos­ing Ceremonies.

"It's top secret," Dangerfield says slyly.

Dangerfield was the featured twirler majorette at Tech as a student and is now an auxiliary coordina­tor with the Georgia Tech Band. She was a choreogra­pher for the Super Bowl

when it came to Atlanta, a job she is now performing as a member of the support team for the Atlanta Com­mittee for the Olympic Games.

She works directly with seven or eight different units, several thousand

people in all, preparing for the ceremonies that will take place at the new Olympic Stadium. Some of the participants know her very well—a number of Georgia Tech majorettes are in one of the units she directs.

Hot Wheels

When 15,000 athletes, train­ers and coaches want to get around the Olympic Vil­lage, they'll have 75 electric tractors at their service.

Built to replace 150-horsepower gasoline or diesel-engine tractors, these electric vehicles are put together at Tug Manufac­turing in Kennesaw, Ga. Tug President Don Chapman, IM '61, says the tractors, which pull passen­ger trams similar to those found at amusement parks,

are ready for this summer's Olympic Games.

Jim Johnson, CE '85, and senior engineer at Tug, is the point man for the ser­vice team, which will sup­

port the Georgia Power Co. crew running the tractors.

Since Tug normally makes tractors for airport and industrial use, the

vehicles' tow­ing capacity was cut by

75 percent for safer trans­portation of human cargo.

Georgia Power, respon­sible for transportation in the Village, chose the trac­tors for their environmen­tally friendly locomotion.

"We wanted to provide an emissions-free environ­ment for the athletes," says Laurie Swift of Georgia Power. "We're happy with the tractor. It's a very reli­able little machine." GT

DON CHAPMAN (with Jim Johnson, left): Green transportation in the Village.

Summer 19% • GEORGIA TECH 6 9

Page 72: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 73: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 74: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

The Jackets TakeThe Field (At Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field)

Calling all Yellow Jackets! Finally, an officially licensed color rendering of one of the most exciting football stadiums in the nation- Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field. James Aldeon Dunn, Architect and Georgia Tech alumnus, has captured the spirit of Georgia Tech, Atlanta and the Olympics with this very exciting limited edition Lithograph. The Jackets Take The Field was created to honor the Bobby Dodd era that began the traditional, home game, grand entrance of the Rambling Wreck Car leading the football team onto the field. Prints are available in one standard frame size and are accompanied with an historical narrative of the stadium and artist. All prints are double-matted in school colors, signed and numbered by the artist, and are printed on acid-free premium stock paper for endless years of enjoyment. Only 500 of these Lithographs will be sold.

Go Jackets !

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Please allow 10 working days for delivery Call for the availability of other stadiums.

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Show Your Spirit with GT Alumni As c. Labels Now you can show your Georgia

Tech loyalty with every piece of correspondence you send.

These high-quality self-adhesive labels come on an easy-to-store fold up sheet. (45 labels on 8V2 x 11 sheet)

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Enclose Check and Mail Order to: GT Labels • GT Alumni Association • Alumni / Faculty House • Atlanta, GA 30332-0175

Page 75: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Surf The Internet! £J Mind Spring

Let MindSpring show you how easy it can be . . . With our special Georgia Tech alumni package, you'll get:

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Wide Web; reading over 18,000 newsgroups; File Transfer Protocol and more.

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Page 76: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

GET MORE SLEEP IN ONE NIGHT THAN

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*Ftate is per king bedded room, per night, based on single or double occupancy. Additional charge For double/double bedded rooms. Not applicable to conventions or groups. Fvates subject to change and based on availability. Other restrictions apply.

Page 77: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 78: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Surviving Hotlanta' Tech scientists have some good advice for Olympic athletes —and spectators—on dealing with the city's sultry summer.

By Hoyt Coffee

I It's Atlanta. It's July. It's HOT. And for the thousands of athletes

coming to the Summer Games, not to mention the millions of spectators, it's a grueling 17 days of sweltering for which they had best be prepared.

"Our whole approach is preven­tion," says Dr. Phillip Sparling, a pro­fessor in the School of Health and Per­formance Sciences and a member of the Olympic Medical Support Task Force. "If people can just be consistent about doing a few things to help them­selves, it's going to be a lot better experience. If not, it can be dangerous."

Sparling and his associates have developed a set of guidelines for Olympic athletes on how best to acclimate themselves to the demands of competing in Atlanta's "wet heat"—high temperatures combined with high relative humidities.

"These conditions are physiologically stressful because they interfere with the athlete's primary method of dissipating heat, namely evaporative cooling via sweating," Sparling says.

Based on data gathered during the past 45 years, athletes competing at 1 p.m. during July and August is^u expect temperatures averaging 85 degrees with 59 percent humidity. Of course, summer days in the 90s are not uncommon in Atlanta, with oppressive humidity. And the National Weather Service predicts a 5-to-10 percent prob­ability of above-average temperatures

this summer. During the Grand Prix test event at the new Olympic

Stadium May 18, athletes suffered through daytime highs in the 90s. And while the visiting International Olympic Committee hailed track conditions and facilities at the venue, they insisted the Atlanta committee provide wa­ter-mist or other cooling devices during the Games.

"Although supremely fit, Olympic athletes are not immune from the effects of hyperthermia and dehydra­tion," Sparling says. He recommends athletes get "wet-heat" training in humid conditions such as nataloi iums before coming to Atlanta, and then get to town early.

"Generally, it takes about 10 days to two weeks for

Page 79: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

most of the physiological adaptation to the heat to take place," he says. Once in the Southeast, athletes should taper oft ol their normal training routine at first, then build back up over 10-14 days, always w.itching body weight as an indicator of fluid levels in the body. The athletes should also be watching for signs of impending heat stroke: dizziness, disorientation, profuse sweating, cramps.

While most of the official focus has been on world-class athletes, "some of the medical committees are really more concerned about our visitors, the spectators and volunteers, people of low fitness," Sparling says. "In some ways they'll have greater difficulties with them in treating for heat injuries and illness than we will with the athletes." - ..—~

As the visitors travel between venues and exhibits, they'll be exposed to glaring sunshine, little shade, large crowds <wn.\ still air all day long. And water may notbe easily available all the time. "It won't quite be the same as just going down for a Braves game for an afternoon," Sparling says. To reduce the chances of heat illness or

injury, he recommends spectators take some simple precautions: ^ Drink plenty of non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic fluids, and carry some with you; popular sports drinks are a good source of both fluids and extra energy. • Wear the right clothing; light-colored, breathable fab­rics like cotton are best, and wear a hat. • Take advantage of shade wherever possible; air-condi­tioned buildings offer relief, but be careful not to go in and out of the heat too frequently. • Use sunscreen; avoid oil- or gel-based products that encourage sweat to run off. • Know the symptoms of heat illness; look out for each other, and take action when there are signs of dizziness, disorientation or profuse sweating.

Olympic visitors will face another hurdle from an unexpected heat-related source. While air-conditioning is credited for much of the South's growth, it's not so popu­lar everywhere. So athletes and spectators alike, espe­cially those from warmer climates who are not used to air-conditioning, are urged to take along some warmer clothing—long-sleeve shirts, warm-up suits and the like.

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Page 80: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 81: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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consult your legal advisor to include an appi usal contingency tn your purchase oontract. Contact a Norwost Mortgage representative for details. Information i >• subject to change without notice, Buyioi Power Commitment is a service mark and The Alumni Home Financing-Program is a registered service mark of Norwest Mortgage, Inc Norwest Mortgage, Inc. originates loans fiom lis princi­pal olfico in Arizona undWticense No BK 7551. originates loans in California under a license isfued by the Department of Real Estate, originates loan in Massachusetts under License No ML 0274, is a licensed Mortgage Banker - NYS Banking Dep.u''i''ni and is a Georgia, Illinois and Rhode Island Residential Mortgage Licensee, Equal Housing Opportunity Lender. GT AD 5/9G

Page 82: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 83: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Dedicated to human achievement. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Eastman Kodak Company celebrates 100 years of Olympic sponsorship. Kodak's support symbolizes our worldwide commitment to human achievement at home, at work, at play, and in our communities.

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Page 84: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Tech's Olympic Hopefuls Several Tech athletes hope to take advantage of playing on the "home court" to make the Olympic squad.

I I f there is any benefit to the home court advantage in sports, Georgia Tech's Olympic hopefuls should be in good shape.

"The Georgia Tech athletes will have a slight advantage because they've trained in this climate for many years," says head men's track coach Grover Hinsdale.

Janeen Jones, an Olympic hopeful in the 400-meter dash, has first­hand experience with "Hotlanta's" heat and humidity. "Last year was my first summer in Atlanta, and it was an eye-opener," says Jones, ME '95, an assistant women's track coach at Tech. "I adjusted my schedule so I could train early in the day or later in the after­noon, and I drank plenty of fluids."

In addition to having a handle on Atlanta's cli­mate, Tech hopefuls will enjoy the advantage of competing in their adopted hometown while living at their alma mater, site of the

Hurdler Octavius Terry is among eight Tech athletes still vying for spots on the U.S. Olympic team. "The Tech athletes have a slight advantage because they've trained in this climate for many years," believes Tech track coach Grover Hinsdale.

8 2 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 85: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

'

Engineering Victory Scott Shipley's Olympic formula has been to design his craft and "go like hell."

W 'hen Scott Shipley engineered the gold-medal win in the 1995 World Cup, it was at least partly thanks to his engineering skills. Shipley mastered the Ocoee River Whitewater course using both a boat and paddle he designed.

"You think I can get any course credits for my design work?" the Tech mechanical engineering

student jokes. "It definitely helped me understand more about what makes the boat move through the water, and from that I modified my technique."

The 24-year-old Shipley, who is taking time off from his studies to focus on the '96 Olympics, earned a spot on the Olympic kayaking team thanks partly to his efforts in

the World Cup, a test event for the heavily Georgia Tech-connected whitewater venue in Copperhill, Tenn. __

The final team selection came after preliminaries in May.

Other than engineering fast equipment, what is Shipley's speed secret?

"Go like hell," he quips.

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 8 3

Page 86: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

"Tech taught me mental toughness. I'm a lot better prepared to handle tough situations than I'd have been."

Centennial Olympic Village.

Octavius Terry, a con­tender in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles, be­lieves familiarity will be a bonus. But he has another concern. "I was born here, so there will be a lot of pressure on me to make the Olympic team and perform well in the Atlanta Games."

As a Georgia Tech stu­dent athlete, he gained an edge on pressure. "Georgia

Tech is a challenging school, and early on you have to learn how to bal­ance your time," says Terry, who graduated one week before track trials in June.

Tech students Derrick Adkins and Derek Mills echo Terry's sentiments regarding discipline. "Georgia Tech taught me mental toughness—staying up until three in the morn­ing studying for an electri­

cal engineering exam, then preparing for a track meet a couple of days later," says Mills. "I'm a lot better prepared to handle tough situations than 1 would be without Georgia Tech."

Adkins, a 400-meter hurdler, also attributes much of his discipline to Tech. "It makes other things in life easier when you have struggled through the academic and athletic regimen of Georgia

Tech," he says. Olympic weigh tl if ting

hopeful Bryan Jacob and Paralympic shooter Barbaro Ponce also share the Georgia Tech experi­ence and the Atlanta ad­vantage. Not so Matt White, at least not yet. White, a Pennsylvania high-school baseball player who has signed with Tech, was invited to the full-squad Olympic try outs in June, GT

Weightlifter Bryan Jacob hopes to compete in the Olympics. He's Georgia Tech's "Big Man on Campus."

8 4 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 87: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 88: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Don't miss a single minute of exciting Georgia Tech football action this fall as Head Coach George O'Leary welcomes back a talented squad that will face one of our most demanding schedules in recent years. Order your 1996 Season Tickets today and get ready for six fall gridiron classics, highlighted by nationally-televised contests with the Florida State Seminoles and Virginia Cavaliers, in addition to Duke, Central Florida and traditional rival Navy.

The 1996 Campaign kicks off with five consecutive ACC battles, including the home season opener versus Wake Forest on September 14th. Last year's 6-5 record represented the second-best turnaround season in the country, bested only by Northwestern.

The Yellow Jackets will look to build upon this success with a solid mix of offensive and defensive weapons. All-star candidates Keith Brooking and Ron Rogers will return to anchor a hard-hitting defensive corps that finished as the nation's fourth-toughest against the run. On the offensive side of the ball, a stable of versatile running backs, led by CJ.Williams, will combine with big-play receivers Harvey Middleton and Derrick Steagall to form a balanced attack.

Be part of the excitement of this fall at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Reserve your seat now for 1996 Georgia Tech Football!

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Page 89: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 90: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Full-Fledged Stairs Despite their disablities, Paralympic athletes display all the Olympic ideals.

By Jeanie Franco Marx

A i star with a point missing—that's the core of the 1996 Paralympics Games logo. Completing the picture, an Olympic flame arcs from point to point, igniting the determi­nation that creates winners. "Starfire" is an apt symbol for the 3,500 disabled ath­

letes representing 127 countries, who, come Aug. 15, will compete at Georgia Tech's Aquatic Center, and other sites around Atlanta, the first U.S. city to host the Paralympic Games.

Launched in 1948 in England to coincide with the London-based Olympic

Gary Meek Photo

Paralympic Technology Georgia Tech's Center for Rehabilitation Technology developed this stablizing plate for Paralympic athletes. It uses industrial-strength suction cups to anchor ath­letes during track and field events.

Games, the Paralympics finally became an official quadrennial event in 1960. Since then, it's grown from 23 countries to 127 and from limited wheelchair sports to 15. They include track and field, basketball, cycling, swimming, weightlifting, tennis, fenc­ing, rowing and judo.

These athletes perform a balancing act, trying to keep their lives in sync. Despite daily workouts and training that eat up large chunks of each day— with virtually no leisure time—they still find time to work. That means ex­tremely long days. Unfor­tunately, family life suffers when you commit yourself to becoming a world-class athlete.

Among the Paralympics champions who will com­pete in Atlanta are Trischa Zorn, elementary school teacher and swimmer with 10 Barcelona gold medals; Scot Hollonbeck, Coca-Cola Olympic sports marketing coordinator and gold-medal wheelchair racer; cerebral palsy victim Linda Mastandrea, attorney/ advocate for the disabled and national track-and-field champion; and Tech's own Barbaro Ponce, Arch '94, M Arch '96, a marks­man who is competing in shooting events.

%.

8 8 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

— 1 -

Page 91: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Hitting the Mark Paralympic shooter Barbara Ponce.

Darbaro Ponce is a straight shooter who doesn't let his disabil­ity get in the way of making his mark—and hitting it. Born prema­turely with very short limbs, no hands and only one finger, Ponce is a member of the U.S. Paralympic team, competing as a marksman.

Ponce, Arch '94, M Arch '96, is competing in a disability category SH2, which is for marksmen requir­ing special shooting supports to compete.

"I'll be shooting in the 60-shot prone position, 60-shot standing and three by 40—which is 40 shots standing, kneeling and prone," Ponce says. He shoots with a Walther air rifle. In addition to qualifying for the 1996 Paralympics team, he has qualified as a member of the U.S. Disabled Shooting Team.

Ponce, who works with Bayne Collins and Associates in Panama City, Fla., began shooting in 1992 after accompanying a friend to a target range. "The first night I went to practice, I shot a perfect score," Ponce says. "I figured I might as well see what I could do with it."

In 1992, Ponce won a spot as an alternate for the U.S. Paralympic team in Barcelona.

Ponce was born in Havana, Cuba in 1967. Because of his medical needs, his family moved to the United States in 1972. He hopes to combine his knowledge of architec­ture with his experiences as a dis­abled person to help design and remodel buildings to make them accessible to all individuals.

"I feel a disability should not slow you down or hinder you from accomplishing your goal," Ponce says, OT

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 8 9

Page 92: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Chris Hamilton Photos

The Gold Standard Swimmer Trischa Zorn

• When Paralympics swimmer and gold medalist Trischa Zorn wants to win a race, she visualizes it. "1 see myself with the scoreboard winning," says the Orange, Calif., native. "I love to beat the clock." Such mental gymnastics pay off: She won 10 gold and two silver medals at Barcelona.

Born with anaridia, the absence of an iris, Zorn is legally blind. Yet she learned to compete with non-disabled swimmers at age 7. "I wasn't treated like a child with a disability," she recalls. "Even now 1 don't draw attention to it."

As a youngster, her dedication led to trophies and a positive self-image, but it also meant missed proms, dates and other social events. "You lose your childhood," she says. Each day began at 4 a.m. and ended at 8:30 p.m. "I'd fall asleep while eating dinner."

And staving in school wasn't easy. Mainstreaming visually handicapped students was new, and most of her California teachers discouraged it. But she remained in public school until officials finally

provided large-print books and other tools. Meanwhile, Zorn be­came a top competitor.

Her tenacity led to success: a spot on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln women's swim team, top grades and world travel via compe­tition. She won two golds, two silvers and a bronze medal at the IV World Masters Swimming Champi­onships, sot 12 world records at the World Championships for the Dis­abled in Holland (1990), was named "Indianapolis Woman of the Year" and tagged "Golden Girl" at the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

With a Master's in school admin­istration from Indiana University/ Purdue University, she teaches the mildly mentally handicapped in grades 1-5 at an inner-city India­napolis school. "If 1 can make a difference with one or two kids a year, I'll feel I've accomplished something."

During the Games, she'll compete in the backstroke and butterfly—10 events in 9 days. 1 ler current goal: to break as many of her own records as pos­sible. "The first three days it's excit ing, then it's difficult to be rested and keep your mental attitude."

Zorn will retire after the Atlanta Games. "I've done every­thing I've set out to do. It's time to move on."

Late Bloomer Track star Linda Mastandrea

*%s an athlete, track champion 1 inda Mastandrea was a late bloomer. Born with cerebral palsy, the 32-year-old attorney never par­ticipated in sports as a child. To protect Linda, her parents didn't encourage her twin sister to com­pete. Unfamiliar with braces, crutches or walker, she walked slowly and "piggybacked" on high school friends.

At the University of Illinois, she met her future coach, Brad I led rick, who tried to recruit her for the women's wheelchair basketball team.

After a year of indecision she "gave in to get him off my back,"

she laughs. "I was petrified. I'm not a great player, and it changed my perception of myself; 1 found I could be athletic."

That confidence carried her through college, law school and six wars of world competition. By then, she switched to wheelchair

9 0 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 93: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

racing, winning two gold and silver medals from the 1993 Stoke-Mandeville Games and becoming national champion in the 100-, 200-, 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter races.

For her accomplishments, the National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame honored her with a special achievement award, and Today's Chicago Women magazine named her one of the "Top 100 Women to Watch" in 1993.

Her greatest challenge: being accepted as an athlete, attorney and woman. "Disability comes way down the list," she says. "All people see is the chair." She wants to be treated as a peer, not patted on the head or put on a pedestal.

"When people first meet me, they're surprised I finished law school. 1 have 'X' amount of world records, but it doesn't make a difference. People don't under­stand that it takes the same abili­ties for me to be a good athlete as Jackie Jovner-Kersee."

In addition to athletics, Mastan-drea practices law and advocates rights for the disabled, takes care of her mother (who has Alzheimer's) and works part-time as a college rehab center typist to qualify for health insurance.

"Competition has become a big piece of my personality," she re­veals. Her first training camp in '91 made her cocky about winning. "I went to nationals and got spanked," she recalls. "I thought, 'These women are never gonna beat me again!' And they haven't."

She plans to compete as long as she performs well. "I want to see where my edge is."

Her most difficult race: the 100-meter sprint. Because it's the shortest, it's difficult to get started, but she has good acceleration. Once she gets going, it's sheer momentum.

And nobody can stop her.

Challenge Eater Truck champion Scot Hollonbcck

§\n Army brat and identical twin, Scot Hollonbeck thrived on competi­tion. At age 10, the Ft. Benning, Ga., native rose each morning at 5:30 to train for track meets. Then in 1984, a drunk driver changed his life, smashing his 15-year-old spine.

When told he couldn't walk, run or win, he "ate that challenge. I wanted to prove I could do better than others."

Paralyzed from the waist down, "1 went from being the best to not making the team five years," he recalls. Yet those crushing disap­pointments prepared him mentally for the training to follow.

At the University of Illinois, which boasts a state-of-the-art program for the disabled, Hollon­beck learned a new sport: wheelchair basketball. In '90 and '91, he was voted "Most Valuable Player" and in '92 the National Wheelchair Athletic Association named him "Athlete of the Year."

Meanwhile he kept his grades high, won academic achievement awards, completed a bachelor's in

kinesiology and a graduate degree in sports sociology. With all this he still found time to direct an annual racing clinic at an Illinois wheel­chair sports camp for kids.

Today, the 2f>-year-old champion believes his injury contributed to his success as on athlete. "I love racing," says the Atlanta resident. "It has exposed me to so much. In life, there are so many different paths you can take."

Now he merely wants others to accept him as a person, not a chair. "The hard part of a disability is other people's attitudes."

1 le likes the danger, the challenge, the speed and the energy of racing. "

He wants a shot at the Games in Sydney, Australia, and maybe the 2004 Games, when he's 34.

At Coca-Cola, where he heads a global marketing effort for Olympic sports, I lollonbeck hopes to be a factor in developing dis­abled athletes tor Coke's creative advertising.

Like many world-class athletes, 1 lollonbeck's life is a balancing act. Juggling athletics, work, family and personal life is his primary chal­lenge.

"If you're lopsided, you fail." GT

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 9 1

Page 94: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 95: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 96: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Page 97: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

V*

ATTENTION OLYMPIC FANS

(EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR

GEORGIA TECH LUMNI & FRIENDS

Celebrate Georgia Tech's legacy as it hosts athletes from all over the world by serving as the Home of the 1996 Olympic Village.

The Pictorial Record of the Centennial Games "Atlanta '96" will be the finest oversized gloss-paper hardcover book ever produced for Georgia Tech Alumni and friends. Using high impact, color sports photography, fascinating descriptions of the centen­nial Games and full statistics, this book will capture the true spirit of Atlanta and the

Games both in photograph and text. The best photos from the world's greatest sports pho­tographers will cover the entire Games. Olympic swimming and diving, boxing, gymnastics, track and field stars, and all the other athletic events will be covered in rich, oversized color photos printed on thick glossy paper. All the great emotional moments of the Summer games will be permanently captured in this collector's edition hardbound coffee table sized book.

"Atlanta '96" will never be offered in book stores and will be printed only once to ensure its value.

This 208 page book is available only on a pre-order basis for just $39.99 (plus shipping & handling) and is perfect for your personal collection or as a special gift. We guarantee that you will receive your order by December 15,1996, in time for the holidays. If not completely satisfied for any reason, you will get a prompt and full refund, no ques­tions asked. To take advantage of this unique one-time offer, please fill out the order form shown here and mail to the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.

THIS IS A LIMITED-TIME

OFFER, ACT NOW!

Distributed by Inter-Sport Publications Corp. Inter-Sport does not represent any

Olympic organization.

Please send me _ copies of "Atlanta '96" @ $39.99 each Georgia residents please add 6% sales tax ($2.40 per book) $. Please add $350 per book shipping and handling (insurance included)$. • VISA • MasterCard # TOTAL $. Signature Exp. Date Make checks payable to: Georgia Tech Alumni Association

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Alumni/Faculty House • Atlanta, GA 30332-0175 To charge by phone 800-GT-ALUMS

or you may fax your order to 404-894-5113-Cut and mail with check or money order

Page 98: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

The Games have changed the campus forever.

By Dr. Wayne Clough President Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Tech's Olympic Legacy

pp 1

I

in *

T I he Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games are almost upon us. Our campus has already been converted into the Olympic Village, and soon all the years of hard work will pay off as the eyes of the world will be upon Atlanta and Geor­gia Tech as never before.

Georgia Tech has been part of Atlanta's Olympic effort since it first began. Under my predecessor, Dr. John P. Crecine, Georgia

ABOVE: Flags of the nations flutter in the breeze as Tech President Wayne Clough speaks during opening ceremonies for the Aquatic Center. Looking on is Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell. The open-air building, praised by athletes and architects alike, will be among the Institute's most visible reminders of its host role for the Olympics. RIGHT: The Kessler Campanile is now a centerpiece of campus.

9 6 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

Page 99: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996
Page 100: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Stanley Leany Photo

Georgia Tech's Olympic legacy ranges from the bricks and mortar of eight new residence halls, such as the Undergraduate Living Center (right), to new areas of scientific inquiry, such as enhancing the performance of athletes.

Tech played a major role in attracting the Olympics to Atlanta by developing a stunning multimedia pre­sentation. Tech engineers and computer experts de­vised methods to track and model the movements of Olympic athletes in tennis, gymnastics, Softball, swim­ming, diving and eques­trian to improve their performance.

Tech designers and engineers helped create the Olympic torch, and other architects, designers and engineers educated at Georgia Tech designed and built many Olympic facili­ties, including the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, the Alexander Memorial Coli­seum renovation, the

98 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 19%

Olympic Plaza, the Olym­pic Stadium and Park, the Stone Mountain Tennis Center, the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex, the Rowing and Canoeing venue at Lake Lanier, the Cycling Velodrome at Stone Mountain Park and the Woodruff Arts Center renovation.

And when the Atlanta Ballet presents its perfor­mance during the Olympic Games, it will be in collabo­ration with Georgia Tech's DanceTechnology Project.

After the Olympics have come and gone, they will leave Georgia Tech with a legacy that will benefit the university for many years to come.

This legacy will include

Page 101: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Gary Meek Photo

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 9 9

Page 102: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

The restoration of the venerated Brittain Hall represents Tech's physical legacy from the Olympic Games, while the solar cells atop the Aquatic Center will provide a platform for years of research.

buildings, experiences, knowledge and exposure, much of which could never have been acquired had Atlanta not hosted the Games and Georgia Tech not served as the Olympic Village.

Our most visible Olym­pic legacy will be bricks and mortar. We have a new Aquatic Center, the site of four Olympic events. Alexander Memorial Coli­seum, the venue for Olym­pic boxing, has also been re-created and revitalized.

We have seven new residence halls that will be home to 2,700 Tech stu­dents. Living quarters will be apartment style, with a full kitchen, a living/study area, single occupancy rooms and one bathroom shared by two students. Each room is connected to a high-speed computing

100 GEORGIA TECH • Summer 1996

and communications net­work called FutureNet that will play a central role in Georgia Tech's primary pursuit—education.

Almost every other residence hall, fraternity and sorority on campus has also been refurbished.

The bricks and mortar that are in the new and refurbished living quarters will have an immense addi­tional impact on Georgia Tech. After the Olympics, the campus will be home for approximately 9,000 young people during the regular academic year, nearly 70 percent of Geor­gia Tech's student body.

These will be active and inquisitive young people, as Georgia Tech students have always been. Living on campus, they will re­quire and demand that we provide on-campus access

Page 103: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Tech will not be the same after 1996. Its Olympic legacy makes Tech better prepared to enter the next century.

to many things in addition to the regular academic curriculum—extra-curricu­lar and co-curricular educa­tional opportunities, sports programs, and cultural and entertainment activities come immediately to mind. Inevitably, campus life will be transformed and invigo­rated.

This is exciting. But so too are other aspects of our Olympic legacy. The Olym­pics will expose many Georgia Tech students, faculty and staff to diverse cultures and outlooks from around the world in ways that would be impossible without the Games. Many of the experiences that members of the Tech com­munity have during the Olympics will have a pow­erful and enduring impact.

These experiences will spill over into education, both informally and for­mally. Informally, perspec­

tives will be international­ized. Many members of the Tech community will have new ways of looking at the world.

And formally, Tech professors have already developed and taught courses on the global im­pact of the Olympic Games. Several of these courses will be continued, includ­ing one project supported by the University System of Georgia that has been and again will be offered throughout the state via distance-learning tech­nology.

As for exposure, the Olympics has put Georgia Tech in the global spotlight in an unprecedented way. Until 1996, no single uni­versity had ever served as the primary home of the Olympic Village. Now, we will. Every day for over two weeks, "Georgia Tech, Home of the 1996 Centen­

nial Olympic Village" will be heard in hundreds of millions of homes around the world. As mayor of the Olympic Village and Geor­gia Tech alumnus Russ Chandler has said, "Ima­gine a billion people throughout the world look­ing at this one place every day. There's no value you can put on that kind of exposure."

And that one place will be Georgia Tech.

After the Olympics, Tech will return to its prin­cipal job, educating young people. This constant has not and will not change.

But we will not be the same after 1996. Because of its Olympic legacy, Georgia Tech will be better pre­pared to enter the next century and to educate and to serve its students, fac­ulty, staff and alumni, as well as the people of Geor­gia and the nation, GT

Summer 1996 • GEORGIA TECH 1 0 1

Page 104: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

TEAMING UP FOR GOIGUMECIAI PERFORMANCES

OVTHg.

INTRAV and Georgia Tech Alumni Association D — a Gold-Medal team — have formed an exclusive partnership

to bring you deluxe travel programs. And while the spirit of the

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Olympics is alive in the U.S., we can take you to destinations around the world in "gold-medal style."

The leading operator of deluxe, escorted international travel programs, INTRAV has provided the winning edge with

Georgia Tech Alumni travelers for more than 10 years. Together we offer unmatched comfort, camaraderie and convenience.

Deluxe accommodations... the finest ships... personable INTRAV Travel Directors... exclusive Concierge service at INTRAV Hospitality Desks... exclusive sightseeing... these are just a few hallmarks of INTRAV/Georgia Tech travel.

For 1997, we have more Gold-Medal performances in store — with great savings if reserved early.

Trans-Panama This winter, sail from sea to shining sea aboard Holland America Line's M.S. Maasdam on an 11-day Trans-Panama Canal air/sea cruise.

Rhine and Mosel Rivers Our 13-day Rhine and Mosel Rivers adventure visits the Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland.

Blue Danube

Dutch Waterways Our 12-day Dutch Waterways and London adventure features Holland, Belgium and England.

ill S H S "n 'q i '7, joinan ll-day adventure

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Scandinavia and Russia On this new 14-day Scandinavia and Russia air/sea cruise, Holland America Line's M.S. Maasdam calls .it England, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

For reservations or free travel brochures, contact: Georgia Tech Alumni Association Alumni/Faculty House, Atlanta, GA 30332-0175 or call (404) 894-9278

Page 105: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Georgia Tech... on my mind

\/K. ...on my mind

\

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

In 1997, all Georgia license plates will be reissued. State of Georgia registered vehicle owners who wish to renew or apply for a Georgia Tech Commemorative License Plate must do so by July 31,1996.

• Initial one-time $25 Commemorative tag manufacturing fee • An annual $25 renewal fee, and vehicle license plate fee • Contact your local Motor Vehicle Division for an application

"Request for the Manufacture of a College or University Commemorative License Plate."

You may also contact the Georgia Tech Alumni Association for an application or questions at: 404-894-2391,1-800-GT ALUMS, or E-mail: [email protected].

Show your pride in Georgia Tech by displaying it on your license tag!

Go Jackets! J

Page 106: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

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Due to continual growth, we have ongoing needs for hardware and software engineers ready to take their career to new heights. To explore these and other opportunities with Scientific-Atlanta, please forward your resume to:

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Page 107: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

Atlanta Classic Cars Carriage House Imports RBM of Atlanta (404)296-1313 (770)964-1600 (770)390-0700

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Page 108: Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 73, No. 01 1996

GeorqiaTech Alumni Magazine

Georgia Tech Alumni Association Atlanta, GA 30332-0175

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