Tech council pats a back

The official word

Friday, June 19, 2009

PTC was presented the prestigious award on Wednesday at the Leading Edge Awards dinner at the Jaycees center in Waldorf. PTC has been instrumental not only in supporting high-tech business development and growth in Charles County, but in supporting numerous nonprofits, including the tech council.

In 2007, PTC hosted our first summer picnic; they have supported several lunch events and they set up an innovative remote application to host the council's accounting system.

The tech council is cosponsoring and planning several events this summer.

First up is "Sensors, Nanotechnologies, Protective Coatings and More: An Explosion of Technologies and Partnering Opportunities" being held at the Village Green Pavilion in Indian Head at 100 Walter Thomas Road on June 25.

Hosted by Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division, Maryland Technology Development Corporation and the Tech Council of Maryland, the event will include keynote addresses by upper management from NSWC, technical presentations on technologies available for commercialization, demonstrations, access to some of the latest technologies available for licensing through technology transfer, or T2, programs, networking opportunities, poster sessions and exhibit floor periods to learn more about available technologies and doing business with NSWC.

For more information, visit www.marylandtedco.org.

The next event is a Library Technology Showcase on June 30, cosponsored by the tech council and Charles County's public libraries. The showcase will be held at the La Plata library at 2 Garrett Ave. from 8 to 10 a.m. and will feature a variety of devices and technologies for libraries and beyond, including a demo of Amazon's Kindle, new formats for recorded books, online book clubs, self-checkout systems, thin client technology and low volume/high quality digital and variable printing.

The event is free and a continental breakfast will be served. Registration is required at www.ccplonline.org. For sponsorship information, contact Emily Ferren at eferren@somd.lib.md.us.

On July 23 and Sept.10, the tech council and the Patuxent Partnership invite their members, friends and business associates to Blue Crabs business socials at Regency Furniture Stadium at 11765 St. Linus Drive in Waldorf beginning at 6:30 p.m. with the game starting at 7:05.

The upcoming socials will provide a technology connection between the two groups as we form a bridge to regional activities. We're excited to partner with the partnership and hope this will be the first of many collaborations.

We continue our Lunch & Learn series from noon to 1:30 p.m. July 28 with a presentation from Glenn Gardiner, business service representative with the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland. Glenn will talk about workforce programs. A cost and location have yet to be determined.

Finally, we close out the summer with our second annual Tech Night, featuring green technology, at Regency Furniture Stadium on Aug. 29.

The event will showcase local and national technologies with a focus on the environment. Last year's event featured a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle sponsored by GM and robotics demonstrations by local high school students. This year's event will build on the success of our 2008 Tech Night. For table or exhibit sponsorship information, contact me at mczajka@TheTechCouncil.net.

A portion of the ticket sales using our code "cctc" will go into a tech-focused scholarship fund.

That wraps up our summer activities. For more information or to register for any of these events, go to our Web site at www.TheTechCouncil.net.

Mark Czajka is the chairman of the Charles County Technology Council and can be reached at mczajka@TheTechCouncil.net. For future news and events, go to www.TheTechCouncil.net or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cctc.