Last year I helped develop a web site for Raytheon. Raytheon worked on a roller coaster simulation that opened at Disney’s Epcot center last Fall. They also support a really great cause, teaching kids about math. The goal was to build a web site that could mimic the Disney ride experience, and also integrate some educational challenges for kids. The result is a highly animated game that lets visitors solve math problems to build a roller coaster. The kids then “ride” the coaster they build. This is very similar to how the Disney experience works at the park.

The web site was submitted to the 2010 Webby awards competition, and has been selected as one of the top 5 choices in the “Youth” category. Now its up to the general public to vote for their favorite. We have some really tough competition since the other sites are basically extensions of TV-based media. We are up against PBS Kids, National Geographic Kids, and BBC Blast. So if you are reading this (and I know you are), please consider voting for “Sum of All Thrills” by Raytheon. You can vote here, and you will find a link to the Web site there as well.

Michael Shaffner was nice enough to invite me back for another presentation. Last Fall I spoke to the group about the GAIA Flash Framework. This time it’s all about physics in Flash. I had the opportunity to use the AS3 port of Box2D on a very recent project that is set to launch on 1/15/10. It was a tricky package to learn, but I was able to find some great tutorials on the Web. Hopefully I can put together some coherent thoughts on how to get a kick-start into coding this stuff, and present that to the group.

The best resources I found were some samples posted by Emmanualle Feronato. He was kind enough to provide demos and code samples for many of the basic concepts in Box2D. From there I was able to produce a few class files that are generic enough to jump start any Box2D project I might want to develop. The original C++ code was written by Erin Catto, and the AS3 port was made possible by Colin Northway.

So I am planning to put something together that I can post here as well. Maybe not another full-blown SLide_rocket presentation, but some samples and a link to the web site we hope to launch soon. The AUG meetup is on January 18th, downtown.

I’m a big fan of the GAIA Flash Framework by Steven Sacks. So when the Chicago chapter of the Adobe User Group asked me to present a demonstration, I was stoked. These are the slide from my presentation, which also included some live examples in Flash. Unfortunately we didn’t capture the live demo, but I tried to put some extra info in the slides. The presentation was intended to touch on the very basics of GAIA, keeping things pretty high-level in order to serve as an introduction. I was thrilled to hear that many attendees were motivated to go to the GAIA web site and learn more about it.

It All Adds Up! Raytheon’s Sum Of All Thrills™ Experience Opens Today
New exhibit at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot® showcases math in action as students design and experience their own ride using math fundamentals

In addition to the experience at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot®, Raytheon today unveiled a virtual Sum of all Thrills™ experience on-line at MathMovesU.com. The Sum of all Thrills™ world, aimed at middle school students, combines the three ride elements of the theme park experience into one multidimensional ride. Students answer math-related questions to unlock elements that enable them to build their own ride online.

Sum of all Thrills™ is the latest initiative in Raytheon’s MathMovesU program, which is committed to increasing students’ interest in math and engineering by engaging them with activities they enjoy most, such as sports, fashion and music. Sum of all Thrills™ joins Raytheon’s other MathMovesU programs including the “In the Numbers” game, partnership with the New England Patriots on display at The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon, the company’s three year sponsorship of the National MATHCOUNTS competition and the MathMovesU scholarship and grant program, which provides more than $1 million in funding to students and teachers each year.