The Cougar Tech Expo, going from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 19, is the first event of its kind at BYU and is designed to inform students what tech resources are available to them.
Students will have the opportunity to interact with the people responsible for these services and to provide feedback to make them better said Michael W. Brown, director of enterprise, account management and communications.
(Photo courtesy the Information Technology Department)
The expo is open to anybody who wants to come, but returning students are the main target audience. The students who think they know everything that campus has to offer but have never taken advantage of services offered are those the expo wants to target, explained Brown.
BYU faculty member Joe Allred said the expo “is a one-stop, dive-in-and-get-this-info place” to give students the resources they need to succeed.
There are three ways a student/faculty member can participate in the event. The first includes attending eight presentations, with topics varying from the new myBYU system, how it works, why the changes were made and how BYU is trying to be more “mobile,” as well as other varying topics.
One of the presenters of the BYU mobile app, Scott Hunt, who is the managing director of the Office of Information Technology, said, “We will talk, first, about what has changed, and, second, give the students a chance to face the developers and to give feedback and to see how they can make it better.”
The second way to participate includes 24 mini classes These are hands-on classes with 50 or more people who can help students emerge with skills that will help them become more technologically efficient. These classes vary between learning how to use an iPad better on campus to learning how to edit video and photos.
The third option is the vendor showcase, which includes 40-plus booths with representatives from many different tech companies like Adobe, Apple, Skullcandy and myBYU.
Brown also said the event is meant to be fun as well as informative. Prizes will be given, and there will be drawings. These prizes range from t-shirts, water bottles, iPads and gift cards.
“If they (the students) can get familiar with one or two services and come away with a sense of … ‘Now I can print anywhere on campus,’ or, ‘Now I know I can download software for free,’ I want the students to come away with one or two things that they didn’t know about or a new skill.”
For more information visit cougartechexpo.byu.edu.
