Summary

On the evenings of May 17 and 18 the Medical team on Mt. Everest will host a science class from 17,500 feet. The educational program is aimed at high school students with a keen interest in the sciences.

In keeping with the use of E3, the program is being referred to as the Everest Educational Expedition. These two evenings will be the showcase of the overall sponsorship and generous support provided by Olympus America and St. Charles Hospital. The presentation was developed by Olympus with assistance from Dowling College on Long Island.

Participants

Dan Biondi and Dr. Nick Craig, who are members of the expedition team, will be back from Mt. Everest and will serve as the hosts for the two evenings along with the co-organizers of the event, Claudia Biondi and Jenise Craig. In addition, the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services, a school for physically challenged children affiliated with St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center and the California Science Center in Los Angeles are expected to participate. Pediatric patients and other guests will also participate from St. Charles Hospital. These locations will be linked to the expedition via a videoconference bridge through Connexus, Inc. Cisco Systems will simulcast the event over Internet2 (the next generation Internet) to a number of Universities. On Monday, May 17, the program will also be simulcast over the Internet by Broadcast.com.

Content

The program each evening will consist of two parts:
1) Background Presentations
2) Interaction with the E3 Team at Mt. Everest Base Camp

The background portion consists of a presentation developed by Olympus America and Dowling College. This presentation will be given by Dan Biondi and Dr. Nick Craig. This presentation was developed as an educational overview for high schools students on the scientific and medical aspects of the expedition as well as some geographical and cultural aspects of Nepal and Mount Everest.

Dr. Peter Angood from Yale University will present the clinical aspects of Telemedicine and Brett Harnett from the NASA program will speak on the technology enabling this link with Mt. Everest and the various participating locations.

There will be a short break and then the link goes live to Mt. Everest. Expedition Leader Scott Hamilton along with physicians and technicians will discuss high altitude acclimatization, physiology and technical issues. Jim Bruton will provide the participants with a scenic overview of Base Camp and then open it up for questions and answers. The folks at Olympus America will facilitate the Q&A session allotting a certain number of minutes or questions to each location. Selected questions submitted by students connected via Internet2 will also be addressed.

Schedule

(Eastern Daylight Savings Times)

7:00-7:30	Exhibitors/seating
7:30-8:20	Presentation
8:20-8:30	Brett Harnett: Yale University Technology
8:30-8:45	Dr. Peter Angood: Yale University Telemedicine
8:45-9:00	Break
9:00-9:45	Live from Mt. Everest Base Camp