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Thursday, May 6, 2010

Recompute: the Cardboard Computer, (new product)

In the 1967 film “The Graduate” Dustin Hoffman’s character, Benjamin Braddock, is given the following words of advice regarding his career aspirations by a well meaning friend of the family, “plastics”… ”there’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?” The family friend was correct, in 1960 less than 1% of municipal solid waste, (MSW), was plastic, while in 2008 the annual total of plastics in MSW was 12%, about 30 million tons, and this does not include all durable plastic waste products that were discarded, (EPA, 2009).

Plastics are manufactured in basically two different forms; thermoset plastics which are molded irreversibly and are used for their durability and strength and, thermoplastics which are non-durable and are easily recyclable. Although there is a market for recycling plastic, only about 6.8% of the plastics generated in 2008 were recycled, (EPA, 2009). According to the EPA the U.S. manufactured about 11 million tons of durable thermoset plastic materials and about 7 million tons of non-durable thermoplastics in 2008.

One use for these durable plastics is in the manufacture of electronic products. About 2% of the MSW in 2007 was comprised of used or end-of life consumer electronics, (EPA, 2010). In 2009 Brenden Macaluso introduced a computer manufactured in part of post-consumer recycled corrugated cardboard called the ReCompute, with the first of these computers manufactured by Montoroso and available for sale in April, 2010. Cardboard was chosen due to the fact that it is at the extreme end of the life-cycle amortization product sustainability spectrum, (L.A.P.S.), meaning that among the most sustainable of products, additionally it is a recyclable product, and is made out of brown kraft paper which utilizes recycled materials. In addition to cardboard being less energy intensive to produce than thermoset plastics and easier to manufacture, utilizing less manufacturing operations, and the computers are easier to disassemble at the end of their life-cycles. Cardboard is also safer as a material and is much less toxic and much more heat resistant than plastic, having an ignition point at 800⁰ Fahrenheit, while the plastics currently used in the manufacture of computer casings ignite at much lower temperatures, (additionally the cardboard utilized in the manufacture of these computers is treated with a non-toxic flame retardant), (Macaluso & Montoroso, 2010).

The EPA estimates that over 40 million computers became obsolete in 2007, approximately double the figure of a decade ago, and that figure is steadily increasing while recycling of consumer electronics is holding at about 18%, primarily as a result of mandatory state recycling initiatives, (EPA, 2010). As sustainability issues become of increasing importance throughout America and the world, the need to produce more environmentally conscious consumer electronics constructed of more sustainable materials is something that governments and consumers will demand. If The Graduate were made in 2010, one wonders if the family friend would have advised Benjamin Braddock that there is a great future in corrugated cardboard, “Think about it. Will you think about it?”

References:
Macaluso. B., & Motoroso. [2010, February 11]. Recompute: Sustainable Computer FAQ. Retrieved from http://www.sustainable-computer.com/faq/

Nichols, M. (Director), Willingham, C. (Writer), &, Henry, B. (Writer). (1967). The Graduate [Motion Picture]. United States. MGM/UA.

Environmental Protection Agency. (2009, November 23). Plastics. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/plastics.htm

Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, March 1). Statistics on the Management of Used and End-of-Life Electronics. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/manage.htm

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resume

David Hector Thibodeau

1045 Wylie Street SE • Atlanta, GA 30316

• davidhectorthibodeau@gmail.com



Professional Experience:



Georgia College & State University - Milledgeville, GA 31061 2008 - Present

www.gcsu.edu



­Serials/Acquisitions Coordinator

­• Establish policies and procedures for the efficient operation of the Serials and Acquisitions Department, oversees database maintenance and quality, and processing of materials.

­• Supervise full-time faculty, staff, and student positions.

­• Manage electronic serials collection using electronic management software systems.

­• Update bibliographic holdings for serials collection using standard library utilities.

­• Direct all major projects and daily activities involving the management of the serials collection.

­• Oversee participation in National Library of Medicine’s DOCLINE ILL program.

­• Meet with department faculty to review their acquisitions needs and serve as a library liaison with academic departments.

­• Provides assistance and advice to the Dean/University Librarian in the overall administration of the library, including strategic planning and the establishment of overall goals and objectives.

­• Assist library administration in monitoring the budget and expenditures, recommends equipment, supplies, personnel, and other needs. Perform fiscal period close in Voyager integrated library system.

­• Serve as primary liaison to vendors and as the technical contact for electronic databases, including setting up trials, negotiating licensing agreements, managing SLAs, and authoring RFQs and other correspondence.

­• Participate in collection development to support the curriculum by recommending acquisitions and participating in the evaluation of current collections.

­• Develop and prepare statistical and narrative reports.

­• Provide reference services as assigned.



KPMG LLP - Atlanta, GA 10/2003 - 10/2007

http://www.kpmg.com/



­Southeast Area Library Associate

­• Relocated from Miami to Atlanta by KPMG due to assuming additional offices in 2006.

­• Reference, research, and collection management for fifteen Southeast area libraries.

­• Developed on-line training sessions for proprietary accounting research platform.

­• Set up, developed, and administered SharePoint internal collaboration web site.

­• Liaison to National Operations teams on SharePoint development.

­• Redeveloped external acquisitions web site to be high functioning and suitable for firm-wide use.

­• Collaborated with marketing department to improve collateral for delivery to clients and targets.

­• Account contact and administrator for firm-wide on-line subscription.

­• Coordinated development of the Latin American Tax Handbook between the European Tax Centre, the Latin American Tax Center, and the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation.

­• Led a team to develop an electronic tool to survey library users.

­• Appointed Work Environment Initiative Local Action Committee Representative in South Florida.

­• Promoted from Area Library Coordinator to Area Library Associate and relocated from Boston to Miami in 2003; originally responsible for library collections, acquisitions, vendor relations, and accounts in 13 Northeast area offices.



KPMG LLP - Boston, MA 03/200- - 10/2003

http://www.kpmg.com/



­Northeast Area Library Coordinator

­• Implemented integrated library system software in area libraries.

­• Assisted in creating a collection development database on MS Access to track expenditures.

­• Substantially decreased print purchases through resource sharing and eliminating duplicative materials.

­• Developed electronic process for Partners to select and order professional literature annually that resulted in $60K savings in the Northeast in the first year, (project adopted firm wide).

­• Piloted on-line access to tax literature platform in Northeast Area that resulted in over $25K cost savings in Northeast area and a wider distribution of resources, (project adopted firm wide).

­• Coordinated and developed training programs for Lexis/Nexis, Westlaw, and other information platforms for professionals and support staff, (project adopted firm wide).



Education:



American Intercontinental University

­• 2010 – Present, MBA – Project Management Concentration



­Simmons College--Boston, MA

­• Summer 2000; audited - Knowledge Management

­• Summer 1999; audited- Management of Information Technology

­• 1996-1998 MLIS, Graduate School of Library and Information Science



­Boston College--Newton, MA

­• 1984-1988 BA, College of Arts and Sciences: Double Major: English and Psychology





­Hebrew University--Jerusalem, Israel

­• Summer 1988 & summer 1990, Assistant Archaeological Field Supervisor and associated graduate level classes.



Leadership:



Georgia Leadership Institute – State Personnel Administration

­• 2009 – The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People



­Florida Library Leadership Program -- Tallahassee, FL

­• 2005-2006 - Year-long comprehensive series of learning sessions that focuses on developing an understanding of leadership, within a conceptual framework and practical applications.



Certifications:



Emory University - Center for Lifelong Learning – Atlanta, GA

­• 2008 - Emory University: Management Certification.

­• Courses included: Essentials of Personnel Management, Win-Win Negotiations, Essentials of Supervision, Essentials of Motivation, and Essentials of Coaching for Managers.



­New Horizons--Boston, MA

­• 2002 - Certified Internet Webmaster – Foundation Fundamentals

­• Courses included: Networking, Internet, and Web-Page Authoring Fundamentals.



Professional Memberships:

SLA Georgia Chapter Board Member 2009 - Present

­Tennis Club II Condominium Association President, Fort Lauderdale, FL 2005-2006

­Member: ALA, NASIG, CIP



Skills / Strengths:

• Lexis/Nexis, Westlaw, Factiva, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, & other information databases.

­• Conversational French, some Spanish

­• MS office: Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, SharePoint, Visio, and Project.