Anti-Smart Meter Group Opposed to Worcester School Tech Upgrades

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Anti-smart meter group – HaltMAsmartmeters – has come out in strong opposition to a national initiative that may begin to take place in the Worcester Public Schools.

After hearing that the FCC has changed the E-Rate program to better accommodate wireless internet technologies – technology that has been linked in studies to various health issues in children – and that Worcester Public Schools will be debating an increase of wireless technologies, the activist group became outraged, noting that few throughout the United States have made an effort to examine the ill effects of wireless RF technologies.

“Tom Wheeler stated, ‘No responsible business would stick with an IT plan developed in 1998.’ No responsible regulatory agency would rely on outdated health standards developed for adult men to promote Wi-Fi in schools,” said Patricia Burke of HaltMAsmartmeters. “The US, Canada, and the UK appear to be focused on economic growth rather than education, and are collaborating to maintain RF limits that cater to the military while denying evidence of harm.”

HaltMAsmartmeters has been one of the groups consistently leading the charge in the elimination of smart meters, the Worcester smart grid program, and other RF frequency systems throughout Massachusetts.

Other Countries Opposed

Burke has a wealth of sources, surveys, and studies, all of which profess the potential health dangers associated with RF frequency exposure, especially in children.

According to Burke, many schools throughout Europe have already caught on to the potential dangers of having wireless systems implemented in school systems. Switzerland, Germany, France, and Austria, are just a few of the countries that are aware of the potential dangers of Wi-Fi within schools.

“Schools in Switzerland use fiber optics,” said Burke. “The European Parliament voted in September 2008 to recommend tighter safety standards for wireless technology like Wi-Fi, especially to protect vulnerable groups like children. The German Federal Government has issued a statement advising against the use of Wi-Fi and a German Teachers Union (GEW) and the Frankfurt City Government are warning against the installation of Wi-Fi in schools. The French National Library has abandoned its planned Wi-Fi system due to reported health effects and many schools in France are removing Wi-Fi systems. The Austrian Medical Association and the City of Salzburg have both warned against the use of WiFi in schools.”

An American Perspective

While many countries throughout the world have made it a priority to examine the potential health risks of Wi-Fi in schools, the United States is a country that hasn’t been as keen on the subject.

While most are unaware of the potential dangers of radiation exposure – cancer being the most likely – there are pediatricians that have spoken out about the issue. Some pediatricians who have studied the subject have even found links between Autism and Electromagnetic Frequencies (EMF) and Radiofrequency radiation (RFR).

“EMF/RFR from Wi-Fi and cell towers can exert a disorganizing effect on the ability to learn and remember, and can also be destabilizing to immune and metabolic function,” said Martha Hebert, PhD, MD, at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in a letter to a school district in Los Angeles. “This will make it harder for some children to learn, particularly those who are already having problems in the first place.”

Related Slideshow: Worcester’s Tech Startups

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BuzzLanes

Buzz Lanes started out as a small idea for a Business Model Competition at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Success there led to the semifinalist round at Harvard, and a new business that aims to accelerate the careers of talented musicians that don’t have big marketing campaign resources.

“As graduates of WPI’s School of Business, and with several years of experience in the entertainment world, we decided to push forward and make Buzz Lanes a reality,” said Gonazlo Cruz Blanco, the man behind Buzz Lanes.

A native of Spain, Blanco's passion for music and business led to the creation of this monthly subscription music platform. One of the bands he’s promoting right now is Heffay, a Worcester Hip Hop band.

“It’s a win-win situation: musicians grow their fan base and connect with new fans, and the fans will always have the opportunity to find new music they haven’t heard before.”

The company's online Beta version launches April 4, 2014

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Salespod (Repsly)

Salespod makes mobile/cloud software for organizations to manage field teams and the data that they collect.

“We currently have 2200 users in 31 countries, and are growing 10 to 15 percent per month. We are getting ready to launch a major marketing initiative and expect to grow to over 10,000 users this year,” said Mat Brogie, Salespod, Inc. COO.

“The software runs on Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, and there is a web based management console that managers use to see where and when field reps perform their activities, and to analyze the data these field reps generate.”

Salespod has a research and development office in Zagreb, Croatia, and has established the Worcester office to launch its US presence. The company started in Worcester last year with only 800 users.

“There is a growing culture entrepreneurism in the city, and the physical changes in town add to the energy that is building … not to mention the economics are extremely friendly for a start-up trying to maximize the use of cash.”

Salespod announced in March that they would be making a name/logo change to Repsly.

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Incite Advisors, Inc

Incite Advisors, Inc. provides Web application development services for applications in the healthcare and life sciences.

“We are focused on data driven applications and visualizing big data. Our largest client has hired us to develop a web/mobile application that allows doctors to capture patient diagnostic information in the natural course of their work,” said Incite founder and President Ronald Ranauro.

“The application will allow for rapid updates as medical knowledge advances. The idea is that by using the computer care teams can more easily coordinate services. We are also developing a web application for visualizing and searching big picture trends in clinical trials. In support of our work, we have developed an open source software toolkit called BoxspringJS.”

Ranauro grew up in Central Massachusetts and graduated from WPI. He said his company is reaching out to the student population to offer training and real world experience on paid customer projects.

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Technocopia

Technocopia is a non-profit (tax-exempt status pending) geared towards creating open-source technologies that will benefit the whole world. As part of this mission they are opening a “hackerspace” in Worcester, which will serve as a home-base for their research and development of these technologies, as well as a common collaborative space for anyone in Central Massachusetts to make their own projects into reality.

Their hackerspaces feature a lounge, kitchen, conference space and computer stations. Technocopia intends to support the development of open-source technology that will allow any individual, family, or community to sustainably and independently satisfy their own humanitarian needs. These needs are defined loosely as things such as nutritious food, clean water, shelter, electricity, medicine, and free access to knowledge (the internet).

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Mass Biomedical

Self-described as “World class incubators for world class science,” Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI) is dedicated to job creation and innovative healthcare throughout Massachusetts by promoting the growth of start-up biomedical companies. MBI is committed to collaborating with the academic, business and government communities to promote Massachusetts as the world leader in the health sciences industry.

Kevin O’Sullivan is the President & CEO of MBI, located on Prescott Street. O’Sullivan describes the company as a private, independent economic development organization that serves as a catalyst for life science and healthcare innovation.

“We help start biomedical companies and create jobs within the Biotechnology, Medical Device, Informatics, and Biomanufacturing industry by providing secure, clean bench and sink surface, staff trained and fully licensed laboratory space for usage by ‘seed stage’ companies. Building and maintaining collaborative affiliations and partnerships are essential to our success.”

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MassDiGI

What would a tech company list be without a little fun? While neighboring Rhode Island smarts over Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios disaster, MassDiGI is pushing academic cooperation, entrepreneurship and economic development across the Massachusetts digital and video games ecosystem.

MassDiGI is a US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA) University Center. Since starting up, MassDiGI has launched several initiatives that support entrepreneurship and strengthen the talent pipeline between higher education and the game industry.

Timothy Loew, Executive Director of MassDiGI, formerly held senior positions in business, development and academic planning at Becker College.

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Compex Software

Jonathan Vo, Principal and Founder of Compex Software, is another Worcester Polytechnic Institute grad succeeding in the WPI neighborhood.

Vo’s software company has successfully deployed many of its software applications at hundreds of specialized operations throughout the US. Like others on this list, Compex Software came about as result of a student project. Vo did so well that he was recommended to an independent company and he’s never looked back.

Compex Software designs, develops and implements integrated business management software solutions to help small- and medium- sized businesses manage their operations. This includes manufacturing, inventory tracking, job costing, quality control, and accounting.

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CellMosaic

Yumei Huang is the Founder, President & CEO, CellMosaic, Inc. The company recently signed a collaboration research agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute to co-develop two AqT based conjugate drugs. One is an antibody-drug conjugate for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and another is a protein-drug conjugate targeting CA125 for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Under the agreement, NCI will provide its proprietary antibody and CellMosaic will design and synthesize an antibody-drug conjugate and protein-drug conjugate using its proprietary AqT linker and advanced conjugation processes. The CRADA grants CellMosaic an exclusive license option from NCI for any new products developed under this CRADA.