Instructors introduced to technology at 5th Annual Sheppard Tech Expo

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Corbin
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
The Sheppard Club housed a plethora of teaching technology, from the surprisingly simple to the absurdly advanced, Feb. 27 at the 5th Annual Sheppard Tech Expo.

The expo gave almost 30 commercial vendors and Team Sheppard members the chance to show off the types of technology available to help train the next generation of Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines.

Steven Brite, a training technology manager with the 82nd Training Wing training operations office, said the expo "provides a means for Sheppard personnel to view the latest training technology and to integrate the technology into their classrooms."

The event didn't solely cater to vendors looking to advertise their new technology to Sheppard though. Several companies whose products are represented across the base were also in attendance.

"We wanted to show our support for the base," said Gary Waliszewski, the regional sales manager with SMART Technologies. "It's not the easiest thing for vendors to get on base and show off what they have. (The expo) allows vendors access to a large forum of potential users."

SMART Technologies demonstrated a number of products and software, but their "main event" was an interactive electronic whiteboard that is already in use on Sheppard.

The white board allows an instructor to "interact with the curriculum," Mr. Waliszewski said. An instructor can manipulate and annotate a slide presentation, highlight a section of text or even write out a whole new lesson using electronic "markers" that are able to write on the boards screen.

The expo's contingent of in-house representatives came to show off their technology, too.

"(The expo) helps other people on base see what exists at other courses," Mr. Brite said, "it gives them the chance to get their hands on it."

One of the seemingly-popular in-house booths belonged to the 982nd Maitenance Squadron's trainer development flight.

The flight supports the 82nd TRW by producing and maintaining instructional trainers, according to the flights mission statement.

The 982nd MXS training support flight had some of the tools they use to accomplish this mission on display at the expo. These included a hand-held digital scanner used to scan physical objects and render them in three dimensions in a computer. The fused deposition modeler, another piece of the 982nd MXS's training tech, can then turn these renderings into highly-detailed training replicas.

Luther Ponder, a technical writer with the 982nd MXS training support flight, said that using this technology can save both time and money in creating training aids.

For example, the fused deposition modeler can create a mock-up of a $10,000 predator missile, at a cost of only $75, plus time.

"The only limit to it is size," Mr. Ponder said. "Some of the larger ones have to be made in sections and then put together."

Whether created by an outside firm or the results of hard work by Team Sheppard members, the goal of every gadget and gizmo at the expo was to help train world-class Airmen.