Project:	Computer Refurbishing
Project Name:	Technology Assisting People In Need
User Group Name:	Cincinnati PC Users Group
Location:	Cincinnati, Ohio

WHAT we do

Project Description:
Cincinnati PC Users Group's Hardware Special Interest Group has worked in facilities provided by Technology Assisting People In Need for nearly six years. TAPIN, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, collects donated computers and peripheral equipment from businesses, etc.; cleans, repairs and upgrades the equipment; and gives it to deserving individuals who cannot afford to purchase the computers they need, to handicapped persons, and to social service agencies which assist them.

Since 2002, Hardware SIG members have worked with TAPIN on a project which annually provides free computerized science experiment kits to high schools in economically disadvantaged areas. These packages have been placed in rural counties in Ohio's "edge of Appalachia," and the initial experiments have been in biology, consistent with the agricultural base of the economy there. Computers refurbished by Hardware SIG members are equipped with sensors, probes, analog-digital converters, and software for capturing and comparing data. A teacher's manual explains how to use the equipment to conduct the science experiments.

The goal is to interest the students in science, in order to encourage them to complete their secondary education and to continue in studies which will have an impact on their lives and the economy of their area. The project has proven the concept, and the technique can be expanded to other schools and other fields of science, at minimal cost to the schools.

How we will use award money:
Funding is urgently needed for hardware (replacement parts for computers, off-the-shelf attachments), software (operating systems, applications to manipulate the data), and administrative expenses (phone calls with science teachers, rent for TAPIN space used for the project, fuel and associated expenses for delivery and exchange of units with other schools), and expansion of the program to other sciences and/or other schools.

Assistance in the form of a Jerry Award would be greatly appreciated by the user group's Hardware SIG members and others who volunteer their time at TAPIN, and by the science teachers and their students.

Supporting Documentation:
See this page for pictures.