UNK Department of Computer Science and Information Systems,
Area high school students recently got a chance to upstage Bill Gates at “Build a Computer Day,” hosted jointly by the University of Nebraska at Kearney and ESU 10 TECHS.
“’Build a Computer Day’ was a great opportunity to collectively come together and work on a project,” said John Stritt, director of Tri-Valley Distance Education. UNK sponsors for the event included the Departments of Industrial Technology, MIS/Marketing, and Computer Science and Information Systems.
The event, which was held at the UNK Ockinga Seminar Center, taught students how to build a computer by assembling each individual component required for a computer to function. Students installed the Linux operating system along with appropriate drivers and software. The student computer engineers will now carry computer administrative responsibilities for their schools.
According to UNK associate professor of computer science and information systems Dr. Sherri Harms, the computers the participants built during this event were given to their respective schools through the ESU TECHS program.
Dr. Tim Obermier, Department of Industrial Technology faculty member, said the overall objective for the event was to orient students to the ESU TECHS program and to show students how a computer is designed and assembled.
“In addition, the students learned a few concepts about how computers are networked,” Dr. Obermier said.
In all, 41 high school students from Central Nebraska took part in the computer-building challenge. According to Dr. Obermier, a number of the student participants indicated an interest in a career related to computers.
The following area students attended “Build a Computer Day”:
Amherst: Josh Bauer, Cody Gillespie & Jacob Hall
Broken Bow: Robert Staab
Cozad: James Flores, Kody Faringer, Justin Grabenstein, Eddie Jasso,
Jake Knauss, Adam Maaske, Wyatt Morse, David Niles
& Jock Scroggins
Elba: Dustin Brumbaugh
Elm Creek: Jarrod Daake, Erin Hays, Blake Hild & Dustin Johns,
Gibbon: Zach Peters, Tyson Pierce, Austin Steele & Jared Yendra
Pleasanton: Eric Albrecht, Amber Giffin, Jason Long & Brady Pritchard
Ravenna: Patrick Joy & Blake Teichmeier
Sargent: Charmagne Bitterman, Ian Cox, Jeff Mannlein, Neal Mattox,
Marie Roberts & A.J. Ropers
Spalding: Quintin Mueller, Kurtis Ray & Ricky Stromp
St. Paul: Thomas Holtz, Mike Kowalski, Karl Stefanowicz & Tim Ward
