Nonprofit recycles old technology for a new future

KINGSPORT — Old computer parts and other kinds of technology fill rooms in the Holston Business Development Center. As Tim Siglin opens the doors to these forgotten parts, he's also opening another — a door to a world where those parts are given new life. Siglin, who has worked in the video-streaming industry for 28 years, is the founder of the Help Me Stream Research Foundation. It's a nonprofit that takes old technology like computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets into a lab instead of a landfill. The goal: getting streaming technology — what makes it possible for people to stream videos — to people who don't have it, domestically and around the world. "The idea is, keep stuff from going into landfills, take what we would consider 'throw away' technology here — and figure out how to build systems that would work for people in other countries that aren't as fortunate as we in the U.S.," said Siglin. In an age where large data centers are popping up across the country, sparking concerns about energy use and sustainability behind our everyday digital habits, Help Me Stream focuses on making streaming technology sustainable. "At the end of the day, if we're not doing it in a way that's sustainable, we're just adding to the problem, as opposed to trying to find a solution with the old first-world technologies," Siglin said. Help Me Stream accepts donations in and around the Tri-Cities region. Donations even come miles away, from streaming companies who are moving onto new technology, giving the organization access to tech it otherwise couldn't afford and could have ended up in the trash. "There have been times where Tim has driven, up the coast or wherever, and stopped a couple places along the way to pick up equipment from streaming companies, streaming tech vendors or the companies that actually do the streaming, that he could then use for Help Me Stream," said Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, former editor at Streaming Media magazine. Students are at the heart of that effort. Help Me Stream brings them into the fold, whether it's through organizing software or brainstorming ways to repurpose older technology. Those students are guided by Siglin and his partner Michelle Fore-Siglin, as well as mentors from outside the region. They spend about four to six hours a week working on their respective projects. "The students, myself and Michelle, will sit down with mentors — who are other people in the industry who don't physically live in the Tri-Cities — to come up with ways that we can make those older systems more energy-efficient and more robust from a computing standpoint," said Siglin. Help Me Stream interns come from high schools across the area, including Dobyns-Bennett and Volunteer as well as Walters State and ETSU. The organization hopes to supplement the education they're getting at school, which Siglin said he's "really grateful for," with guidance from mentors who have worked in their area of interest. "You're relying on the different education systems around here to give them the basics, and then you come in and say, 'Okay, now that you got those basics, what other things do you need?' said Siglin. Parker Monette, now a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, held a 3D-printed project he workshopped to fit into an older piece of technology. It would allow for more concentrated computer power instead of storage. "We were looking at the server saying, 'What's one thing we can do to make it more efficient?'" said Siglin. What would've been a 12-year-old server headed for the trash could become new technology with 10 to 13 times the computer power it originally had. "There were a lot of things I had to consider when making the model for this," Monette said. His project took several iterations of printing, figuring out what fit best. It also included thinking about the bigger picture and how it could be produced on a larger scale alongside mentors with that experience. While Monette worked on finding ways for older technology to work more efficiently, Dobyns-Bennett High School student Gage Hutson was thinking about ways to lower the noise that servers often make when they run, specifically due to the fans that run to keep them cool. "Gage and I spent three weeks just listening to fans, literally putting fans up with a little wind measurement and noise measurement, to figure out which ones were efficient in terms of blowing air, but also quiet," Siglin said. The Inventor Center and Create Appalachia in downtown Kingsport work with Help Me Stream, helping students 3D print their models and design prototypes, respectively. Working with recycled materials presents another challenge for students trying to give technology a new spark. Donated items don't always come in "pristine condition," Michelle Fore-Siglin said, which makes more for another task: figuring out what does and doesn't work. "They have to go through and test things, see what works, what doesn't, and then disassemble, reassemble, and then figure out if things need to be put together, different ways to get something that does operate and operate for the use that they need at the time," she said. The next step is to test the technology created through Help Me Stream in environments overseas. Siglin hopes to bring the technology that's been transformed from "e-waste" into an improved product, into emerging markets overseas by the end of 2026. "Help Me Stream is the only organization doing this sort of thing … and it's a testament to Tim's vision that he recognized this need and then began working on ways to address it," said Schumacher-Rasmussen.