Topics at a glance: Live video conferencing now easier than ever at UTDB    … UTDB Development staff welcomes new executive assistant  … UTDB faculty member gets Rice appointment  … Clean out your closet this weekend Dress for Success Annual Suit Drive is March 31 to April 4  … SMILE! It’s time for graduation photos … New Building Info Blitz  … CORRECTION

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Live video conferencing now easier than ever at UTDB

Thanks to new equipment at the Dental Branch, it is now possible to host and/or receive real-time video conferences with full audio and two-way interaction via the Internet, linking people here with others across campus or around the world — anywhere the Internet can reach.

The newly arrived Tandberg unit has features that make video conferencing easier than ever before. Although it looks like a TV set, it’s really a 42-inch widescreen computer monitor with a camera, computer, remote control and Internet connection. A microphone picks up audio. The screen also has “picture in picture” technology so you can see the image you’re transmitting, as well as the image you’re receiving.

Several other facilities in the UT Health Science Center at Houston already have Tandberg units, so it is now possible to meet with them via the Internet in real time, with live audio and video. The Dental Branch’s unit is currently stationed in Room 346, and while the unit is portable, it should be moved as little as possible. The room is available for use by reservation.

“(The Tandberg) does have wheels, but it’s a big, delicate piece of equipment,” said David Taylor, Ed.D., director of Educational and Technology Services. “With it, you can see and be seen in real time.”

The Tandberg costs between $12,000 and $14,000, and it was provided through the university’s LERR (Library, Equipment, Repairs and Rehabilitation) funds. The Dental Branch will pay about $600 annually for maintenance on the unit. LERR funds are being used to update all video conferencing capabilities for the UTHSC.

Muhammad Walji, Ph.D., assistant professor in Diagnostic Sciences at UTDB and adjunct assistant professor at the UT School of Health Information Sciences, said that with appropriate software on a home computer or laptop, UT employees could join a video conference from their offices or even from home.

Because the Tandberg is a computer, it can project and share PowerPoint presentations or other media. “You can share your presentation with a wider audience, not just who’s in the room,” Taylor said.

The Tandberg doesn’t record the presentations and conversations it projects. By comparison, Taylor said streaming video can be recorded but has a 15-20 second delay that makes real-time conferencing difficult. With the Tandberg, communication is instant.

To learn more about the Tandberg’s capabilities or to schedule its use, contact Taylor at Ext. 4535.

Tammy Keidel, executive assistant, UTDB Development Office

UTDB Development office
welcomes new executive assistant

Tammy Keidel is the new executive assistant in the UT Dental Branch Development Office. Formerly with the UT Medical School’s Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, she has 26 years’ experience as an office professional and transferred to her new position at UTDB on March 17.

A native of Dearborn, Mich., Keidel has lived in Sugar Land since 1984. She’s been a Texas resident for 30 years, and thanks to an interest in long-distance cycling, she’s seen a lot of the state up close. Keidel has completed six MS 150 rides, including four tours from Houston to Austin and two from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. She is interested in most anything outdoors, loves to laugh and is an avid reader. She has three daughters, ages 16, 19 and 21.

At the Dental Branch, she’ll be working with Development Director John Greer and Open to Health Chairman Stephen Schwartz, D.D.S., to coordinate the school’s fundraising activities. To contact her, call Ext. 4386 or stop by the Development Office, B-28, to say hello. Her e-mail address is Tammy.Keidel@uth.tmc.edu.

UTDB faculty member
gets Rice appointment

Neel Bhatavadekar, B.D.S., assistant professor in the Department of Periodontology at the UT Dental Branch, has been appointed to an adjunct faculty position in the prestigious Bioengineering Department at Rice University. He will be investigating new biomechanical techniques for analysis of dental implant surfaces.

Bhatavadekar earned a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Florida at Gainesville, plus a certificate in periodontics and a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His clinical research interests involve biomaterials, biomechanics and public health. He will continue to be part of the Periodontology faculty at UTDB and is optimistic that his new appointment will help bring in industry contracts and collaborative research. He said dental students interested in participating will have an opportunity to contribute.

Neel Bhatavadekar, B.D.S.

SMILE!
It’s time for graduation photos

Graduation is approaching, and the Office of Student and Alumni Affairs has asked that all graduating dental and dental hygiene students get individual photos taken in Instructional Media Systems (Room 161). The portraits are both free and required, according to Kelly Linder of Student Affairs.

Students can sign up in the Student Affairs office in advance to have their photos taken at a specific time, or they can simply go to Room 161 during the specified times for their class photos. Walk-ins will be served after those with appointments. The dates and times for each class are as follows:

DDS
• Monday, March 31, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 1, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 2, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Thursday, April 3, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Dental Hygiene
• Tuesday, April 1, 2-4 p.m.
• Friday, April 4, Noon to 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 8, 1-3 p.m.

For more information, contact Student Affairs at 713-500-4431.

New Building Info Blitz
Executive Associate Dean John A. Valenza, D.D.S., (left), discusses plans for the new Dental Branch Building with Professor Jerry Bouquot, D.D.S., chairman of the Diagnostic Sciences Department, at one of six information sessions hosted at UTDB in March. Faculty, staff, students and other UT personnel were invited to come by Room 346 to see architects’ drawings, get information and make suggestions. Second-year dental hygiene student Patricia Mitchell won the raffle prize, a $50 gift certificate to Trevisio.

Clean out your closet this weekend
Dress for Success Annual Suit Drive is March 31 to April 4

CORRECTION:

In the March 20 edition of eFlash, Professor John Powers, Ph.D., of the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials was incorrectly identified as a former UT Dental Branch faculty member. Although he now lives in Michigan, he is still a part-time faculty member at UTDB.