The Tom Show

Developing a Resource Center in Rural Uganda

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:29:56 +0000

The Rural Agency for Sustainable Development (RASD) is a Ugandan non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Nkokonjeru dedicated to providing free or low-cost information about sustainable living to the local community. This project focused on enabling RASD to achieve their goals by finishing construction on the 1000 sqft main facility, providing a solar power station rated at 162 watts, providing a low power 40 watt computer cluster composed of 2 Linux computers, furnishing the cluster with a digital library of 1500 books focused on appropriate technology, and providing a Universal Nut Sheller made by the Full Belly Project for increasing the value of locally harvested coffee. The project was a partnership between the Duke University chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), the Duke Smart Home Program, and RASD. All systems were implemented at 100% functionality and all supplies were either commodities, or were sourced locally. Local labor was utilized for the implementation effort, and relationships were formed with local solar providers and local computer providers for both short and long-term maintenance needs. It is our hope that RASD will not only become a powerful source for public information, but also become a rally point for future outreach programs such as Duke Engage.

Complete Uganda Report

Mulch Fundraiser for Duke Engineers Without Borders

admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:32:35 +0000

The Duke Chapter of Engineers Without Borders is running a program to raise funds for an emergency bridge in Bolivia. The local chapter will be selling mulch by the bag for prices lower than those found at local home retail stores. Participants can pick up bags of shredded, hard-wood mulch on Duke’s East Campus and make a donation to the project at the same time. All mulch can be collected on March 21st, 2009 for orders received by March 12th.
See the flyer for details.

Order now by credit card here, or see the flyer for mail-order instructions.

Uganda Slideshow

admin — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:31:48 +0000

More photos here >>

In summer 2008, Duke Smart Home Program teamed up with Engineers Without Borders to deliver a solar power station, some low power computers, and a digital library to a rural village in Uganda. Now you can see the slideshow of the trip.

RadioAC wins Elevator Pitch Contest!

admin — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:35:27 +0000

RadioAC, my start-up company, won the social track of the 1st phase of the Duke Startup Challenge! The first phase of the start-up challenge is an elevator pitch contest, where contestants each have 120 seconds to pitch a business idea to a panel of judges.

You can read all about my company and a transcript of the pitch at RadioAC.com

Durham Holiday Shoebox Drive

admin — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:58:13 +0000

Durham Parks and Recreation will be conducting its 4th Annual Holiday Shoebox drive beginning Monday, October 20, 2008. The Shoebox Drive began as an effort to meet the basics needs of some of the children in DPR’s after school programs. Last year, because of the generosity of City staff and members of the community, approximately 250 children received a gift of basic necessities such as soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and socks as well as toys and clothing.

DPR serves 339 children ages 5-12 and 60 teens in our after school programs. Forty percent of these children qualify for a needs-based fee reduction of our program cost. These families struggle all year with providing even the most basic necessities; the holidays are an especially difficult time for them. The basic shoebox should include, but is not limited to:

Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Shampoo and conditioner, Hairbrush, Small, age-appropriate toy(s), Gloves, socks, hat, etc.

I will be coordinating the assembly of a group of shoeboxes for those people who are interested in donating a shoebox, but do not have time to put one together. For those who donate, I will coordinate the assembly and delivery of a shoebox to the Durham Parks and Recreation Department. The basic shoe box has a cost of $20, but any amount is appreciated and will be put towards the assembly of complete shoeboxes.Major credit cards are accepted.

100% of contributions will be used to create shoeboxes. Unfortunately, donations are not tax-deductible.

Tom Works for Verity Asset Management

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:44:38 +0000

As of July 16th, I will have the great fortune of working for Verity Asset Management. I am lucky to be able to work directly with the founding principals of the company in an area that I am so passionate about. At Verity, I’ll be working in the area of wealth management. I’ll be working with individuals to accumulate, allocate, and manage wealth.

Smart Home earns LEED Platinum

admin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:16:38 +0000

Duke Smart Home has just earned LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council. LEED Platinum is generally accepted to be the highest level of green building awards.

With this award, Smart Home becomes 1 of only 52 LEED Platinum buildings world wide (new construction).

My father and I hike the Grand Canyon

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:40:58 +0000

My father and I took a trip out to the Grand Canyon and hiked to the bottom and back to see the Colorado river and the historic Phantom Ranch. More Pics Here >>

Prez Tours Smart Home

admin — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:58:42 +0000

More pics here >>

Duke President Richard Brodhead tours Smart Home with our illustrious student group. Here he is signing the guest book. He promised to come back for dinner when students move in with a presidentially selected turkey.

Christmas Football

admin — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:40:39 +0000

We played a game of family football over the Christmas holiday. Here’s the defensive line getting ready to receive. Look at the concentration.

More christmas pics here >>

The Smart Home Opens!

admin — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:23:50 +0000

The Smart Home is a dorm at Duke University dedicated to advancements in living technology. I have been the Director of the Smart Home Program at Duke University for the past three years and have been overseeing the construction as a representative from the Pratt School of Engineering.

Rocket Photos

admin — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 02:40:38 +0000

This is a photo taken from my video rocket. After the rocket started listing, it took this photo of the golf course behind my house.

See Videos Too >>
More Photos >>

Wedding

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:48:10 +0000

Wedding Photos Here

Tracy and I recently got married! It was a fantastic experience. Almost all of our family and friends were there to help us celebrate and the whole affair came off without a hitch. We were officially married at the Duke Chapel in Durham, NC and had our reception at the Duke Garden Center. We also threw a welcome party at our house the day before and Margie Topps threw us a wonderful brunch at Pomodoro Italian Kitchen the day after. The rehearsal dinner was at Four Square Restaurant. We took a honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta Mexico and it was all I could have hoped for and more.

You can visit our wedding website for details.

The Unbeatable Bulldogs

admin — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:57:49 +0000

Coach Miller and I have teamed up again. We’re coaching a soccer team for the Durham Parks and Recreation Department, free, coed soccer league. The name of the team is the Unbeatable Bulldogs. Our kids are between 8 and 9 years old. There are 11 people in the photo including all of our regular players. We went 3-1-0 for the season, and already we’re discussing next year. Perhaps we’ll coach an older age group next season so that we can have the opportunity to coach some of the same people again. Like last year, this has been a tremendously rewarding experience.

Unganda GNI per Capita

admin — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:27:05 +0000

According to Unicef, the gross national income per capita in Uganda was $280 in 2005. We went looking for these statistics after we were told that an internet connection would cost us $70 a month. It’s clear now, that that number is plainly ridiculous since it’s exactly 3 times the average GNI per capita of the local population.

In the US the GNI per capita is $43,740. My internet connection is about $40/month, which for comparison sake is approximately .011 times the GNI per capita in the US. That would make our quoted internet connection about 270 times too expensive to be proportional. This is the equivalent of my internet connection in the US costing $10,800/month. Ridiculous!Here is a link to some more great Uganda (and other country) stats:http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_statistics.html

DPR Free Soccer League

admin — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 22:29:21 +0000

John Miller and I coach a soccer team of 8 and 9 year olds. We’re volunteer coaches in the Durham Parks and Recreation Department coed, free soccer league. The team has about 10 people on it and we field teams of 8 people at a time on a half-sized soccer field. Our coaching method basically focuses on getting the kids as many ball touches as possible during practice while still having a good time. We plan to coach again next year if the league is still around.

Making a Baseball team in Nicaragua

admin — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 22:42:09 +0000

Tracy went down to Nicaragua immediately after her senior year at Emory as part of the Engineering World Health Summer Institute.Â I came down to visit her there and had my first eye opening experience with the third world.Â In nicaragua they are practically obsessed w/ baseball.Â Almost everyone plays it.Â There are teams everywhere.Â The only problem is that almost no one can even afford a ball or a bat.Â So most people play with sticks and a rock, or a ball if they have it.Â Upon coming back Tracy go it stuck in her head that she was going to get some baseball gear and send it down so that the hospital that she worked in could start a team and have equipment to play with.Â Well it turned out the Duke Baseball team was cleaning house for the summer and gave us a whole truckload of used gear.Â Balls, bats, hats, socks, and shoes.Â We went through all the stuff, packed a bag as full as we could and then sent it down w/ a friend who was going back to the area.Â A couple of months later, another friend our ours from Duke happened by the hospital and noticed a Nicaraguan baseball team sporting Duke gear!Â He then snapped this 1 in a Million photo.

Duke Smart Home Program

admin — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 17:52:06 +0000

I have been hired by the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University to construct a live-in laboratory on central campus called the Smart Home. The home will house 10 Duke students who will conduct research on the building while they live there as their primary residence. The building will be LEED certified by the US Green Building Council and will feature smart living technologies in the areas of automation, health, energy, and entertainment. For more information visit the Duke Smart Home website.

Study Abroad in Australia

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 17:30:40 +0000

Tracy and I studied abroad in Australia together for 8 months.Â While there, we attended the University of Queensland in beautiful Brisbane.Â We also bought a cheap car and drove just to just about every destination in the entire country.Â We also visited New Zealand, which was spectacular.Â We wrote extensively about our travels, and photographed the entire thing.Â All of which can be read on our Australia web page.