hi from Iowa

tom cole

n3wb
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
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Pleasantville, IA United States
Hi,
My name is Tom Cole. I live in Iowa – south of Des Moines. I'm a retired mechanical engineering tech and high school shop teacher. I'm interested in starting a for-profit company (going to call it NashCott) here in the upper Midwest – with two missions - software application development and development of specialized woodworking equipment. The software will be based on four relational databases that I have semi-developed over the last three decades - based on working and problem solving in four different environments (classroom teaching, public sector engineering, agribusiness and small-scale manufacturing). The woodworking equipment [working title is My Woodshop in a Can (MWIC)] - is intended for folks that may not thrive in a conventional woodshop (or machine shop) - the very young, mentally and physically challenged - and some seniors. [I was born without my right hand and have been building stuff (cradle-to-grave) forever - that is part of the inspiration for MWIC. But setting that aside, as an educator, I'm really interested in looking at cradle-to-grave building (sawdust on the floor) as an integrated classroom activity in core curricula classrooms - math, science, literature, social studies. To be an integrated activity in a conventional classroom, MWIC will need to be safe, quiet, clean, have a small footprint - and probably occupy kids in groups. Working on it. You're welcome to visit my website:

http://theburlproject.homestead.com

I'm 68 and would like to see a bit of the world before I pass on. So I'd like NashCott to be a place where young engineers, engineer techs, hands-on prototype developers (tool and die etc.) - and application developers can move my ideas to market and then hopefully develop some ideas of their own. In shaping NashCott, I see my main contribution as creating a good collaborative environment that will attract and KEEP young talent. And I hope the firm will play a role in helping this country to live creatively in the presence of automation. That also is addressed on my website.

I will be ready to purchase or lease property and buildings for NashCott by March 2022. In the interim, I am dusting up those relational databases, working on my design prints for MWIC and developing a floor plan for NashCott main building. And that brings me to this forum - security for the main building and any outbuildings. I have taught photography in high school, so I have working knowledge of analog and digital cameras. I am behind on networking technology - have been catching up in the last few weeks. I have a cabin in northern Wisconsin that would benefit from some security cameras as well. So I thought I would get my feet wet by addressing the security needs of the cabin first.

MWIC came about as part of a six-year involvement with Iowa State University - a very expensive involvement. So I will need to be frugal in all my expenses until I can float a prototype and (hopefully) secure some investment capital. So you will probably see me pursuing mid-level hardware (while mentally drooling over product lines like Panasonic).

One last note – a thanks to everybody who put together Wiki/Dahua, the Cliff notes and the other super helpful resources. Very nicely done. regards tom
 

NickTheGreat

Pulling my weight
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
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Location
Iowa
Howdy neighbor! Sounds like a fun vision you have, and I wish you the best with it. :cool:
 
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