Steve Anderson ('02), Nick Huhn ('00) and Ken Toy ('00) have found themselves working together in capacities much more cerebral than they ever had while mulling around the SAE house during their tenure at Centre.

     What first started as a series of great innovations from Ken Toy’s software development brilliance has turned into a team of talent and synergies working toward improving your next experience at the airport. Ken Toy accepted a position at Innovative Electronic Designs (IED) shortly after getting his feet wet at another software development company after graduation. Toy continued to groom and augment his skill set in his new opportunity and then utilized his creativity to invent new ways to display dynamic information on large plasma screen monitors.

     Ken’s software drives the engine behind a new product known as IED’s Visual Information System. VIS is essentially a complete system of computer-controlled displays and networked software that broadcast a wide variety of important data. These displays are currently presenting dynamic flight, gate and announcement information to airport visitors here in Louisville and a handful of other airports nationwide.

     Upon seeing Ken Toy working hard one night at home (Ken and Nick split the rent with some other Centre folks), Nick commented on how cool yet absolutely ugly the software’s visual output was, not knowing he had just bashed Ken’s countless months of toil and trouble. Nick was miserable in watching his own employer’s venture evaporate like Friday night sobriety levels back in college, so he used his web development and artistic skills to infuse some enhancements into the visual appeal of the display in the hopes that it might turn into a new job opportunity.

  

     Ken’s supervisors were presented the enhancements Nick developed and they were excited about the increased possibilities for the sign systems. An interview was soon scheduled, and within weeks Nick and Ken were working together to integrate both Ken’s technical skill and Nick’s artistry into the dynamic displays.

     As Steve Anderson graduated from Centre and moved to Louisville to pursue graduate studies in computer science, he found an opportunity at IED after both Ken and Nick strongly encouraged their supervisors to welcome Steve’s incredible software development talents to their team. Steve manages the interaction between the massive database of airport and flight information and the integration process of this information into Ken’s software.

     Installations of these sign systems are popping up all over the nation so be on the lookout for these helpful information displays on your next trip!