In 2002, Savannah’s beloved and nationally acclaimed College of Art and Design (SCAD) expanded into international territory by assuming the Lacoste School of the Arts in Lacoste, France.

Now they’re conquering Asia.  I realize I am probably the last one to tell you about their newest international expansion into Hong Kong, but we couldn’t let it go without giving them props.

From the land of Cantonese culture, cosmopolitan consumerism and martial arts comes a collegiate infusion of digital media production for SCAD.  The college will open its four-year branch campus there in 2010, occupying the historic North Kowloon Magistracy Building, which will be restored at SCAD’s hands (see rendition below).  The Hong Kong satellite will offer majors in animation, interactive design and game development, motion media design, visual effects, advertising design, photography, graphic design and illustration.

The process to acquire the building was a competitive one, with SCAD being selected out of over 100 other applicants.  Said SCAD President Paula Wallace,  “SCAD will be the first U.S. university to establish a degree-granting campus in Hong Kong, and we believe SCAD-Hong Kong will become the preeminent site for the study of digital media in Asia.” (View SCAD’s trailer on their move to Asia.)

This week there is one more cool thing happening that you need to add to your calendar: the Carbon Motors Tour is stopping in Savannah, one of only 17 places across the country where they’re exhibiting their new Carbon “E7” vehicle.”  From 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm, the car will be on display and open to the public at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center. (Read the full article in the Business Report & Journal).

The E7 is the Carbon Motor Company’s newest design and trend-setter in the realm of law enforcement.  The vehicle was designed with the assistance of over 2,700 law enforcement officials nationwide and is the first purpose-built vehicle for law enforcement.  Instead of being a traditional retrofitted retail passenger car, the E7 was designed from the tires up to best serve and protect the public.  And since law enforcement is the reason for the car itself and not an afterthought, the E7 could end up saving money for local, state and federal governments.  FYI, the average police cruiser, once retrofitted, could end up costing around $80,000.

Remember that scene in Total Recall when the Governator and his dark haired sidekick beauty evade the bad guys by projecting 3D images of themselves that the bad guys unknowingly shoot at while the real Schwarzenegger saves the day? Remember watching it and thinking “Yeah friggin’ right?” Obviously that level of futuristic technology does not exist.

Well if it did it would be because of these guys: Geomagic, a worldwide software and services company specializing in digital shape sampling and processing (DSSP).

And what, pre tell, is DSSP?

Enabled by advanced optical measurement systems and 3D-data processing software, DSSP is the process of digitally capturing physical objects and automatically creating accurate 3D models. Everyday, Geomagic software enables engineers and designers to transform scan data from physical objects into highly accurate digital models for applications ranging from ensuring the NASA space shuttle Discovery STS-114 mission’s safe return, to reconstruction of legacy parts and molds for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, to new processes that speed quality inspection for companies such as Schneider Electric and Alcoa Howmet.

If Fred Kent got you thinking about building community through public spaces, then you’ll want to bring your coffee mug, thinking cap and idealist enthusiasm over to the Sentient Bean tonight.  Because the recently-launched World Peace Through Inclusion Tour is coming to town, taking community to an all-inclusive and international level (literally), with your mind, creativity and spirit as conduit for change.

Tonight, the Tour presents “A Night of Inclusion – Civil Rights and Beyond,” beginning at 7pm at the Bean.  The event will feature a lively and interactive story- and music- based evening, complete with shared histories of very different journeys that have taught the same lessons about segregation and discrimination and their effects on children.  The evening’s speakers include Benetta M. Standly, Director of the Northeast Region ACLU Foundation and Judith Snow, Inclusion Activist and Social Inventor.

The tour itself was started by Snow, a lifelong quadriplegic who has been instrumental in the Inclusion movement, building coalitions such as the Inclusion Network, the Marsha Forest Centre, the McGill Summer Institute for Integrated Education, the Toronto Summer Institute for Inclusive Community, and, locally, the Southern Collective for Inclusive Citizenship.  Snow is also a faculty member of the Asset Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University, committed to promoting communities that acknowledge citizen capacity and thrive from the rich exchanges that develop when citizens build their own social and physical environments.