Human Network Labs working on mobile social networking products at Enterprise Center

Human Network Labs CEO Carlos Garcia with interns Shu Wen Yang and Natalie Chew.

This story is completed in partnership with Temple University’s journalism capstone class Philadelphia Neighborhoods. Students Tracy Galloway and Maria Zankey will cover technology issues through December.

In the basement of the Enterprise Center, located at 45th and Market streets in West Philadelphia, Shu Wen Yang and Natalie Chew are working on a new technology that could transform the meaning of social networking.

Yang and Chew are interning for Human Network Labs, a company that has developed a new technology for localizing persons and objects without the use of the Internet.

“Human Network Labs has come up with its own technology and it is something really different from other companies that I’ve seen so far,” said Yang.

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Technically Not Tech: Sustainable learning with Solar States

Kensington-based solar startup Solar States fuses education with a unique business plan. Photos courtesy of Solar States.

The growth generation of the region’s solar-tech work force is going to be trained in Northern Liberties, if solar startup Solar States has anything to do about it.

This Saturday is the first of a four-session training course called “Green by Example” held in the NoLibs Community Center by Solar States. The $350 class, taught by LEED For Homes expert Sam Klein, will give participants the shot at learning the latest in solar technology and weatherization. Guest speakers from top green building companies will join the party, too.

It’s the education arm of a fully-fledged solar business.

See, Solar States Solar States aims to become an independent solar power producer by 2010, and the plan is to do so with the help of Philadelphia high school graduates and others who might want the work but don’t have the training.

Saturday’s beginning of the adult vocation course is another step in that mission of developing this city’s sustainable workforce.

But the company is more than education. Its founders say what they’re developing will help shape the solar energy industry for the better.

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