Speaker Discusses Emerging Arctic Technological Capabilities

The February chapter luncheon kicked off with chapter corporate sponsor Copper River donating $1,100 toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) grants and an additional $400 table sponsorship. Lt. Col. Dave Elder, USA, chapter president, then provided a quick update on progress toward the 2013-2014 chapter goals and upcoming events. The guest speaker, Hans Roeterink, chief operating officer of Quintillion Networks, spoke about emerging arctic technological capabilities to support the ever-increasing demand for global data. Quintillion is partnered with Arctic Fibre of Canada to lay a 9,600-mile international submarine fiber cable from London to Japan through the arctic region north of Alaska and Canada. By taking the northern route, the cable covers a shorter distance and will be protected from man-made incidents by the ice cap eight months out of the year. Each fiber pair within the cable transmits 80 distinct colors, 1 terabyte of data, great distances without attenuation. There will be 22 landing sites along the cable, seven of which are planned for remote sites along western and northern Alaska. This will not only provide more affordable access to rural villages within Alaska, but redundant paths for data leaving Alaska. The first phase is scheduled to go live in 2016. To wrap up the meeting, Col. Elder presented a certificate of appreciation to Sandy Brewer with the BP Energy Center for her continuous support in scheduling and organizing the monthly luncheons.

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