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August 2012
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The idea was to get a significant number of high school students to have a strong interest in computing and to be willing to pursue higher education in this area, such as degree programmes in Computer Science and Information Technology. So from July 23-27, the DCIT hosted its second annual Computer Science and IT Boot Camp for secondary school students, attracting 36 students, three times as many as last year. The Camp charged a registration fee of $1300 to cover costs like field trips and meals. The Organizing Committee invited students to apply for scholarships to cover this fee, and all of the 18 applicants were successful through contributions from several companies such as the Trinidad and Tobago Network Information Centre, Medullan, and Caribbean Retinal Eyecare Supplies.
Apart from the classroom and lab activities, a field trip enabled participants to see technology in action at Caribbean Airlines at key aspects of the operations of the airline including Command and Control, the Call Centre, and the Data Centre, with lectures on the importance of Computing and IT at the company. Campers saw technology at play at the IMAX theatre where they viewed the 3D documentaries Space Station and Under the Sea. There was also a session on Performance Capture which explained how computer technology was used in the making of popular movies such as Avatar and The Adventures of Tin Tin. The Boot Camp even featured a social evening where participants played games on the popular Kinect Xbox station.
On the closing afternoon there was a presentation from Dr. David Siguelnitzky, President of the Herbert Fletcher University, an online university based in Puerto Rico. Dr. Siguelnitzky was formerly a PhD student in Computer Science at The UWI. He spoke about his career as a Computer Scientist and his experience in online learning which ultimately landed him the job as President of the University. At the end, participants gave high ratings to most aspects of the camp, especially its technical content, with the online presentation from Malaysia being most popular. Several said the exposure improved their interest in ICT and many said the Boot Camp opened their eyes to new opportunities. Special thanks to all the members of the organizing committee, student volunteers and DCIT. For news on the 2013 DCIT Boot Camp, please visit the DCIT website at http://sta.uwi.edu/fst/dcit/. |