Hanscom Education and Training Center goes wireless Published Oct. 10, 2007 By 2nd Lt. C. Michaela Walrond 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HANSCOM AFB, Mass. -- The Education and Training Center now has wireless computer capability, allowing for additional academic courses and helping to reduce Temporary Duty costs since students will no longer have to travel for some courses. The new capability follows a year-long collaboration amongst the Education and Training Center, the 66th Mission Support Group Communication and Information Division and the Defense Acquisition University. The idea behind the partnership was to see where technology was going and to get out in front of it, said Michael Boudreau Education and Training Center program manager. "Now, with the new capability, we really are out in front, as far as our continuing training and education services." Some of the more technologically demanding courses, such as acquisitions, contracting and finance related courses, Mr. Boudreau said, couldn't be held as easily at Hanscom because the Ed Center didn't have the computer assets necessary to support them. Many of the acquisitions related courses require students to be in workgroups, and to gather around computers to work on projects as a team, Mr. Boudreau said. "Before the wireless capability, the computers were all hardwired to the wall and constrained to only two rooms." "The idea behind this project was to expand our student-based information technology connectivity from just two rooms to facility-wide access. We are now able to move things around, which provides us with more flexibility in our education and training model," he said. "Now that we are wireless, classes can be divided easily into groups and can even move around in different rooms -- which is necessary, because many courses require multiple break-out rooms to work on projects. Wireless capability allows the groups to move around in the building and bring their computers with them," said Carrie Woolpert, Education and Training Resource director. Ms. Woolpert said the new capability allows students to take the courses in-house instead of traveling to locations where classes are offered. "We lost potential training opportunities before because we couldn't support that learning model. As a result, many students would have to go TDY to take the courses. We are now saving money on these travel costs, because students no longer have to go to Ft. Belvoir or other installations to take the courses. It is a win-win situation for everyone involved that attends these Department of Defense courses," she said. This new capability has not only allowed the Ed Center to provide more courses, it has also brought about a significant number of academic resources. As a result of the collaboration for this project, the Education and Training Center had a meeting on Sept. 13 with the academic deans from DAU. "After they saw what we could do with the new wireless capability, they liked it so much that they are buying 18 more computers for our facility to use," Ms. Woolpert said. The new computers are expected to arrive by the end of October. Another benefit of going wireless is the ability to accept fiber optic technology within the next couple of months, Mr. Boudreau said, which allows for heavy volume traffic, such as streaming video, to come through faster and more frequently. The new configuration also impacts education as well. Students who attend classes from the three universities housed here can bring their computers, as long as they are wireless configured, into any room of the Ed Center and do research, homework or even take an online test, Mr. Boudreau said. For more information on the Education and Training Center or courses offered, call (781) 377-3120.