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University videoconferencing technology connects Illinois families, soldiers stationed in IraqParents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, wives, and children who had not seen their loved ones in person in months have gotten the next best thing, as more than 630 family members have participated in free, private videoconferencing sessions that allowed them to see and talk to soldiers stationed at Camp Al Asad and Camp Taji/Cooke in Iraq. See Your Soldier events were held in December 2005, July 2006, and December 2006. The events were sponsored by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and University of Illinois Extension in collaboration with military technicians and have been coordinated by Nancy Komlanc, director of education for the Technology Research, Education, and Commercialization Center (TRECC), which is funded by the Office of Naval Research and administered by NCSA. Komlanc promotes the use of videoconferencing technology by K-12 educators, and her experience in that area inspired her to apply the same technology to bring families together. Videoconferences have taken place at the NCSA Building in Urbana and at Extension offices in Carbondale, East Moline, East Peoria, Edwardsville, Grayslake, Macomb, Mount Vernon, Princeton, Rockford, Springfield, Wheaton, and Yorkville. Many of the people who participated wrote to express their gratitude: "I just wanted to send out a thank you in appreciation for making it possible for my husband to see our 3-month-old daughter once again," said Michelle Sosin of her July 2006 teleconference; at the time, Anthony Sosin, stationed at Camp Al-Asad, had not seen his daughter since she was 2-weeks-old. "This teleconference meant more to him then anything else in that moment, because he got to see how big our daughter has gotten and so much more about her that he's been missing (what her eyes look like, who she smiles like etc.)." To read media coverage of the event and to see video footage, click on the links below.
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