The School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI hosts Summer Workshops each year as a way to introduce informatics and computing to area high school students and provide them the opportunity to discover their interests in technology in a variety of ways.
This year’s workshops were held June 8 through July 24 and included new sessions to engage junior high students as well, with exciting results. The workshops, taught by faculty and students in the school, covered topics in Media Arts and Science, Informatics, and Bioinformatics.
“Informatics and computing is prevalent in so many different fields including health and life sciences. So we wanted to include workshops for junior high students to introduce them to informatics and computing and allow them to explore, and also include something for high school students that have an interest in science as well as technology,” said Angela Madden, high school specialist for the School. “With the new changes, registration doubled from last year and more registered for multiple workshops, which shows how the interest in informatics is growing.”
The workshops offered hands-on experience on everything ranging from game design, 3D animation and app development for smartphones to exploring a human genome.
Students were able to work and become familiar with the latest technology, production equipment, and software during class sessions.
At the end of each workshop, students gave a project presentation. Those in the bioinformatics workshop did a team presentation that detailed their research and provided data visualization of their findings, giving students real world experience. “Presentation skills are important to have not only when preparing for college, but for a career too,” said Brian Benedict, Director of Career Services for the School of Informatics and Computing at IUPUI.
Each workshop was Monday through Friday, with class sessions going from 8: 30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Classes were open to any student entering, currently enrolled in, or graduating from grades 7-12.
The workshop series is scheduled annually mid-June through the end of July.
Visit the Summer Workshops page for more information.
Media Contact
Joanne Lovrinic
jebehele@iu.edu
317-278-9208