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recent news
2012-13 Appreciation Banquet
May 3, 2013
We had a lovely evening of food, fun, and awards on Thursday! We had 26 people show up for a great night, and also held a silent auction as well!
Silent Auction Winners
Bookstore Collection 1 Donated by University Bookstore Doug Fogle
Bookstore Collection 2 Donated by University Bookstore Michael Raiford
Gift Card Collection 1 Donated by AITP at Texas State Officers Danny Jolly
Gift Card Collection 2 Donated by AITP at Texas State Officers Joseph Cantu
Dave and Buster's 1 Donated by Adrian Moreno Andrew Taylor
Dave and Buster's 2 Donated by Rick Robledo David Wierschem
Pampered Chef Grill Collection Donated by Jane Miller Spencer Miller
We also had guest speaker Billy Moyer come and give a great speech about leadership. We all definitely took away something great from the banquet, and we hope to see you next year!
Fall 2013 Officer Election Results
April 26, 2013
The results are in, and we have our new officers!
President: Liz Ulam
Executive Vice President: Elmer Huang
Treasurer: Weston Baxter
Vice President of Membership: Neal Dettling
Historian: Rachael Humphreys
Vice President of Information Technology: Nathan Ferguson
Vice President of Chapter Relations: Micah Gibson
Vice President of Chapter Promotion: Govanna Mata
Vice President of Corporate Relations: Joseph Cantu
We're excited for a new semester with our new officer board next fall; hopefully it will be another successful semester!
2013 National Collegiate Conference in St. Louis
Texas State really made a name for itself this year. Here are some of the details:
Number in Attendance 710
Number of students 507
Number of schools 63
Texas State had 34 nominees total.
- Business Analytics
- First Place: Weston Baxter and Govanna Mata
- Visual Studio .NET
- First Place: Spencer Miller and Elmer Huang
- Enterprise Systems
- Third Place: Abel Carmona
- Database Design
- Honorable Mention: Spencer Miller and Lauren Ogle
- Microsoft Office Solutions
- Honorable Mention: Nathan Ferguson and Weston Baxter
- Network Design
- Honorable Mention: Matthew Niemeyer
Texas State University won the coveted Top Monkey Award which is awarded based on a formula of distance traveled, number of students attending, and number of competitions attempted. We had 34 students travel 944 miles and compete in 90+ contests!
Mark Thomas on Cyber Security
March 5, 2013
During our last meeting, we were fortunate to have Mr. Mark Thomas come and speak on the topic of cyber security. He discussed his job and experience in the cyber security industry, and how it is a growing and interesting field within IT. He also talked about how to fight back against cyber crimes, as well as how he and others like him fight against fishing and other cyber vulnerabilities. We would like to thank Mr. Thomas for coming to speak!
2013-2014 Officer Nominees
March 6, 2013
We will be voting on our officers for next year at our next chapter meeting on April 2nd. Please refer to this document on voting procedures as well as who is running for each position. We hope to see you there on Tuesday!
Mark Thomas on Cyber Security
March 5, 2013
During our last meeting, we were fortunate to have Mr. Mark Thomas come and speak on the topic of cyber security. He discussed his job and experience in the cyber security industry, and how it is a growing and interesting field within IT. He also talked about how to fight back against cyber crimes, as well as how he and others like him fight against fishing and other cyber vulnerabilities. We would like to thank Mr. Thomas for coming to speak!
Movie Night!
February 22, 2013
Next Thursday, February 28th, we will be hosting a movie night in Boko's Lounge Movie Theater (in LBJ) from 5pm-8pm.
We will be showing "The Pirates of Silicon Valley"
So mark your calendars, and we hope to see you there!
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Windows 8 Workshop
February 21, 2013
Exciting news! There will be a workshop for Windows 8 game and app development for non-programmers Friday, March 1-2. A representative of Microsoft will be here for these two days to demonstrate app development to new and old programmers alike!
Event Schedule:
March 1 1:00pm-5:00pm McCoy 334
March 2 9:00am-4:00pm McCoy 334
Students must attend Friday’s session to be admitted to Saturday’s event. The cost for the event is $10. The event is limited to the first 56 paid participants. Payment can be made in the CIS & QMST Department office located at 404 McCoy Hall. Payment in cash.
If you plan on attending, you must create a Windows Store account prior to the event by clicking here.
We will also provide pizza for lunch. Interested students need to contact Dr. Wierschem to reserve their spot ASAP. On Monday any remaining slots will be offered to the rest of the College of Business and the CS department. to reserve their spot.
We hope to see you there!
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James Thorne of Red Hat
February 5, 2013
James Thorne, a Red Hat Consultant and Texas State & AITP alumni, came and spoke on his experiences through college and work. He described how his different experiences through various work experiences at Texas State helped him achieve success after graduation. We appreciate that he could come in at the last minute to speak. Thank you!
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First Meeting of 2013
January 22, 2013
We had a great time in our first student chapter meeting of the year! Our speakers this meeting included our officers, as well as the CIS department chair, Dr. David Wierschem. Our officers each spoke about different projects going on this semester, ranging from fundraising to website maintenance. Each of the officers need help, so feel free to contact any of them if you are interested.
Dr. Wierschem spoke on how choosing CIS as your major can be beneficial to your future, and what benefits and opportunities stem from participating in AITP and its events. Thank you, Dr. Wierschem!
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Welcome Back!
January 14, 2013
We hope you had a wonderful holiday, and are rested up for another exciting semester at Texas State! We have big things planned for this semester in AITP, so make sure you look out for our emails, as well as emails about any upcoming CIS opportunities.
We look forward to seeing you at our first chapter meeting next Tuesday in McCoy 243. For a complete list of events check out calendar out for more information! We will keep it updated for all AITP events.
Best of luck this semester!
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James Wroten of Verticsoft
December 4, 2012
James Wroten spoke to us about his cloud computing business, Verticsoft. He described how his business targest small businesses with a fixed cost IT solution, and effectively eliminate's customer's office server by replacing it with a cloud server. He also discussed how fast the cloud computer is evolving and says that they won’t be doing the same thing in 20 years that they are doing now. When asked about how students could stay up to date with cloud computing software, he recommended trialing VMWare. We would like to thank James Wroten for an informative presentation!
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Michael Yuan, CEO of Ringful Health
November 6, 2012
Michael Yuan, the CEO of Ringful Health spoke to us about his company's role in healthcare. Why healthcare? According to Yuan, the healthcare field makes up for 17% of GDP, and is currently undergoing major reforms to deliver better results. He also discussed how mobile technology could help through patient engagement, coordination of care, and capture and use of data at decision points. We would like to thank Michael Yuan for an interesting and exciting presentation
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6th Annual High School IT Symposium
October 29, 2012
We had a total of 275 attendees from 15 different schools, of which over 100 contestants competed in 5 different contests on Friday. Here are the contest results:
- Java
- First Place: Garrett Greenwood - (Boerne Champion High School)
- Second Place: Alex Johnston - (Boerne Champion High School)
- Third Place: Jacob Brown - (The John Cooper School)
- PC Support
- First Place: Logan Jennings - (ITSA-San Antonio)
- Second Place: Kenny Graves - (ITSA-New Braunfels)
- Third Place: Ruben Perales (ITSA-San Antonio)
- Finalists: Chris Doege - (ITSA-New Braunfels)
- Finalists: Edgar Garnica - (ITSA-San Antonio)
- Finalists: Julian Harris (ITSA-San Antonio)
- Excel
- First Place: Amy Dietrich - (Needville High School)
- Second Place: Kayla Mikel - (Needville High School)
- Third Place: Christian Aleman- (Lehman High School)
- Honorable Mention: Angela Mitchum - (Lehman High School)
- Security
- First Place: Maggie Schmeltekopf (ITSA-New Braunfels) & Julian Harris (ITSA-San Antonio)
- Second Place: Melissa Barranza (ITSA San Antonio)
- Third Place: Cory Lockhart-Nichols (ITSA-New Braunfels)
- Finalist: Antonio Paredes (ITSA-San Antonio)
- Finalist: Zachary Guney (ITSA-San Antonio)
- Access
- First Place: Kayla Mikel - (Needville)
- Second Place: Amy Dietrich - (Needville)
- Third Place: Brooke Martinka - (Axtell)
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AITP - Region 3 Student Conference
October 14, 2012
We had a busy weekend in at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, with 38 students competing at the Region 3 Conference. We had a total of 13 conference wins, including 1st Place Overall Conference Participation Winner for the third year straight! There was a total of 20 colleges & universities attending the conference with 300 total attendees. Here are the winners from Texas State:
- Systems Analysis & Design
- First Place: Michael Doggett & Jordan Sander
- Second Place: Jillian Taylor & Maggie Taylor
- Third Place: Weston Baxter & Justin Scott
- Microsoft Office Solutions
- First Place: Ben Parker & Elmer Huang
- Finalists: Kameron Close & Neil Dettling
- Finalists: Nathan Ferguson & Lauren Ogle
- Finalists: Brittany Keith & Liz Ulam
- Web Development
- First Place: Andrew Taylor & Spencer Miller
- Network Design
- First Place: Matthew Niemeyer & Josh Snider
- PC Troubleshooting
- First Place: Matthew Niemeyer
- Honorable Mention: Andrew Taylor
- Application Development
- Second Place: Jordan Sander & Michael Doggett
- Database
- Second Place: Spencer Miller & Michael Sprague
- Third Place: Brittany Keith & Meg Hinojosa
- Honorable Mention: Andrew Taylor & Liz Ulam
- Web Development
- First Place: Andrew Taylor & Spencer Miller
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Brian Hall of Clearblade
October 2, 2012
Brian Hall, COO of ClearBlade, introduced the concept of their tagline “Mainframe to Mobile” at the AITP chapter meeting. He discussed the many opportunities that lie within the company, with needs in enterprise modernization, mobile development, and data and analytics. ClearBlade is looking for people interested in learning things and that it’s not what you know, but what you can know that’s going to set applicants apart.
Contact Information:
Brian Hall
COO
ClearBlade
bhall@clearblade.com
LinkedIn Profile
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USAA Information Panel
September 25, 2012
USAA's Tom Beard of 25 years, along with recent alumni Claire Taylor and Erin Simpson lead an info panel on Tuesday, September 25 to discuss valuable information on USAA, the importance of IT, and how to prepare for a career. Hot topics discussed included the upcoming career fair, the difference between having an internship and not having one, and dressing for the job.
When Beard was asked about student involvement he said, "Get involved, be involved, stay involved." Thanks for the excellent advice and making the drive from San Antonio!
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First Meeting of the Year: Dr David Wierschem
September 4, 2012
We had our very first meeting of the year, with our own CIS Department chair, Dr. David Wierschem. Dr Wierschem spoke to us about the exciting aspects of the CIS field, and the long-term benefits of joining AITP. Thanks for an inspiring and engrossing presentation, Dr. Wierschem!
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John Plummer
April 2, 2012
It is with a heavy heart that we update on this day. John Plummer passed away Sunday after losing a fight with cancer. John came to Texas State as a CIS faculty member in 1990. He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M (1974), his MBA with an emphasis in Business Computing Science from Texas A&M (1980), and his PhD in Operations Research, Statistics, Information Systems (1986). He published in some of the top journals in his field with some of the top experts. These included Zsolt Ugray, Leon Lasdon, John Plummer, Fred Glover, James Kelly, Rafael Marti, Lynne Stokes Jonathan F. Bard, and Jean Claud Sourie. Journal and book chapters included:
- Computational Statistics and Data Analysis
- INFORMS Journal on Computing
- Chapter 2 of Metahueristic Optimization Via Memory and Evolution
- Chapter 2 of Multilevel Optimization: Algorithms and Applications
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AITP - National Collegiate Conference
March 29 - April 1, 2012
Wow has it been a busy weekend! Texas State AITP traveled to San Antonio this past weekend for a great time at the National Collegiate Conference. We had 21 students compete in 10 different categories. We did great! Here are the winners from Texas State:
- Business Analytics
- Honorable Mention: Lauren Ogle & Mike Estrada
- COBOL
- Honorable Mention: Jonathan Sallier & Dan Barta
- System Analysis & Design
- Honorable Mention: Stephanie Feliciano & Jonathan Garcia
- Graphics Communication
- Honorable Mention: Lauren Ogle & Nathan Ferguson
- PC Troubleshooting
- Honorable Mention: Ben McClelland
- Honorable Mention: Andrew Taylor
- Mobile Application Development
- First Place: Hayes Prevost & Edgar Garcia
- Second Place: Stephanie Feliciano & Jonathan Garcia
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Amy Horowitz with SoftwareOne
March 20, 2012
We would like to thank Amy Horowitz for returning and presenting again for us. She gave us great insight into her work experience at Software One. It was great seeing into a different side of IT. Thanks again!
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Jon Woo with eLEAD CRM
January 23, 2012
Jon Woo joined us from eLEAD CRM and gave us an insightful look into software development. He showed how eLEAD is working with automotive dealerships to help streamline the sale and purchase of vehicles, while maximing the use of the lot. He compared his personal experiences in development with what is generally taught and expected. We appreciate Mr. Woo for providing us with this invaluable insight into a small, service oriented company.
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