Guest Speaker - Joel Stanley

On the 5th of August 2009, our control technology class met another guest speaker. This guest speakers name is Joel Stanley. He is a electrical engineer who is still learning at the University of Adelaide.

Rather then the usual speeches that guest speakers give, Joel Stanley decided to turn it into a Q&A session to give us the chance to find out what ever we wanted to find out from him.

Here is a list of Q&A's that were asked to Joel Stanley:

What do you do?

I am currently a student at the University of Adelaide studying Electrical Engineering or also known as Computer Systems Engineering

How did you decide to learn engineering at university?

I decided in Year 10 when I went on a camp which showed us all the campuses in the University.

What is your relation with the XO machines?

For ten weeks I was assigned to test what temperatures the XO's could handle without damaging the hardware. I did this by purchasing a pie warmer and boiling water in there with several XO's on the racks. We tested the XO's at 65 degrees Celcius and discovered that they were still 100% operational. I was also assigned to test several XO's using machines to find out which hardware component used the most power. I also had to make sure that the same amount of power usage matched the amount of AC flow that was coming in and figure out how to make the power usage as low as possible.

What was the most power hungry component in the XO?

The display is generally the most power hungry component in laptops and then the CPU comes second.

What are the maps and arrows shown on the projector?

There are three maps. This map shows where the XO is being distributed to and/or tested with children around the world. This other map shows where Masachusetts is. For three months I had an internship at MIT ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to work with many other very smart engineers on the XO. This last map shows where Romania is. I flew to Romania to talk to the local children about the XO to explain why the XO's exist and why they are so good for them. I learnt that alot of them havent heard of Linux and that the country is Microsoft exclusive because Mac is simply too expensive for them.

Did you like going to MIT to learn?

I found it very enjoyable because it wasnt really like a job and I had a lot of fun. I got to work with many smart people in America on a really cool project. It was great to know that your working to help children and helping them change their lives for the better.

Do you prefer Microsoft or Linux?

Linux because I support open source software and Windows really annoys me.

Are all XO's Tested before distribution?

About 1 in 1000 XO's are tested to ensure that the day's production has no defects. There is always the case that there are some defects that aren't found because we would have to pay people to check every single XO which is alot of money.

Who makes the XO's?

The assembly line is Taiwan, where women assemble each XO by hand. The leaders of the LPC (Wearing yellow hats) project such as Mary Lou Jepson and Richard Smith, watch over the workers to make sure everything is right. Mary Lou Jepson was the woman who designed the screen which is being used in all the XO systems and Richard Smith worked on the hardware and low level parts of the machine

Is it easy to fix an XO?

Yes it is because there are only three main components: the motherboard, screen and casing which only has eight screws. When I was in America, I was asked to teach a ten year old to take apart an XO and assemble it. The next day I met two children aged ten and eight who could only speak French. I did not explain to the children step by step how to assemble the XO but rather showed them a Wikipage with images to follow. The two children were able to take apart the XO and assemble it back together in only thirty minutes. I made a youtube video about these children and it proved to be very popular around the world.

What other projects are you doing?

I am currently working with the Google Summer of Code. I am working on the Google Chrome browser to help develop it and make it work on Linux

Will XO's be available in shops?

No because the XO is aimed to be a low budget project with the main purpose to assist children in third world countries to learn. If we were to sell XO's in shops it would cost alot of money due to all the marketing which would need to be done such as advertising and making it known.