By Meghan Morgan
BYU information systems students shined at the recent Association of Information Technology Professionals National Collegiate Conference in Detroit, Mich.
BYU competed against more than 60 other schools. BYU students left the competition with a total of eight awards, more than any other university in attendance at the conference.
'I believe we displayed the excellent caliber of education that we receive at BYU,' said Jeff Jenkins, a junior from Rigby, Idaho.
Jenkins said the students were divided into teams of two for each competition. During the three-day competition, each team competed in five events. The events ranged from system analysis and design to application development, he said.
'At the beginning of each competition we were given a scenario and during the next four to five hours, we were expected to find a solution to the scenario,' Jenkins said. 'It normally took us the whole allotted time to finish the problem.'
Jenkins said each group met several times to prepare for the conference and create strategies for each competition. The teams compiled past projects and other resources that could be accessed quickly during the competitions.
'We also spent time to make sure that our laptops had all of the essential programs and libraries that would be needed to compete in the competitions,' Jenkins said.
'We competed from about 8 a.m. ''till midnight some days,' said Craig Marshall, a junior from Colfax, N.C. 'With no more than an hour break for lunch.'
Marshall said the teams worked very hard at the competition and played very little, which paid off in the end.
'I am very happy about our success,' Marshall said. 'It was a great experience and I am happy that we can throw some good light on the university as a whole, as well as the ISYS program.'