NWI “Innovators of the Month” highlights William Pauley, retired engineer, U.S. Steel Gary Works and Society Member; and Linda Woloshansky, Center of Workforce Innovations and Society Team Member. This issue is for media serving Jasper, Lake, La Porte, Newton, Porter, Pulaski and Starke Counties. Each edition features inspiring stories of innovation from our “2014 – 2015 Class of Innovators.” The Society of Innovators is part of the Gerald I. Lamkin Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center of Ivy Tech Community College. For information, contact O’Merrial Butchee, Director, Gerald I. Lamkin Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center at (219) 981-4942, or John Davies, Managing Director, The Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana at (219) 981-1111, Ext. 2292.
Bill Pauley ‘Engineers’ Solution to Save Lives through GPS!
A fatal heart attack of a runner on a trail at the Indiana Dunes State Park inspired 80-year old Bill Pauley, a retired U.S. Steel Gary Works engineer, to find a high tech solution that will save lives. Motivated by the difficulty that emergency personnel encountered in locating the victim in a wooded area, Pauley launched a signage solution utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS) technology in cooperation with Porter County’s 911 system. This began January, 2012 when a runner suffered a heart attack and an emergency crew had difficulty finding him on the trail.
“In this case, this runner died instantly so a time delay was not a factor, but it could have been,” said Pauley, a Union Township resident and a top Triathlon runner.
Motivated to save other lives, he met with park and county officials to utilize GPS at the park. A few months later, he was running outside of Tampa, FL and came across signage that urged people to call 911 in case of an emergency. It utilized a GPS system in which numbers were assigned to each sign linked by satellite to a location so that emergency crews could easily locate victims. This helped him solidify his plans back home. Once signage was established at the state park, he made a presentation to the Porter County Commissioners. Funded with a $10,000 grant, he worked for almost a year with park personnel in donating his time to establish GPS signage in every county and city park. Also, this was expanded to South Shore stations between South Bend and Chicago.
READY, NWI Promotes ‘Groundbreaking’ Initiative for Students!
Twenty-eight out of 38 school districts in the 7-counties of Northwest Indiana are participating in READY, NWI to promote career and college readiness programs covering 90% of all students, said Linda Woloshansky, President, Center of Workforce Innovations. She is co-founder of NWI’s grassroots business/education partnership to promote college and career readiness among students in a global economy. Maybe even more apparent is a growing awareness among educational leaders of the need to help students take advantage of good paying jobs in NWI. “There’s almost a sea change in attitude to work together and more closely with the business community to help students prepare for the jobs available here.”
This partnership seeks to align K -12 schools and post-secondary education with business needs by building foundational skills among all students. Added Don Babcock, Director, Economic Development, NIPSCO, and a volunteer leader in this initiative: “Through READY, best practices are shared regionally through a business model involving both business and educational leaders in collaboration with our colleges and universities.”
Overall aims include 1) helping students starting in middle school develop career plans; 2) encouraging students to obtain credentials such as IT and Production Technician skills; and 3) graduating more students that do not require remediation. Through the leadership of administrators, and the hard work of teachers, graduates that require remediation have dropped from 40% to18% in the last five years. “This collaboration between business and education to prepare our students is groundbreaking,” she said.