Member Spotlight: Adam Curl
There aren’t many college students that get to work in their field of study while in undergrad, but Adam Curl is one exception. As a senior Computer Science major at Middle Tennessee State University, Adam works remotely as a web and software developer for Sodium Halogen at theCO, and has been a CO:member for the past two and a half years.
What is a hackathon?
Jackson will see its first ever hackathon this August, and theCO is excited to host it. But you may be thinking—what is a hackathon?
“Hackathon” is pulled together from the words “hack” and “marathon” and typically last several days while people (in this case, developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and engineers) meet to collaborate on computer programming. This hackathon will be an entire weekend event, lasting from Friday, August 17th at 5:30pm to Sunday, August 19th to 5:30pm with the theme being “It’s Always Been Done This Way” in an effort to encourage hackers to use their ingenuity and creativity to come up with new and improved tech solutions to old problems.
Dev Catalyst Celebrates Its Fifth Annual San Francisco Trip
During the start of the 2017-2018 school year, high school students began applying to theCO’s Dev Catalyst program, a curriculum designed to cultivate and grow the abilities of students with technological talents in the greater West Tennessee area. Throughout the course of the program, nearly 800 students participated in one of three categories (Novice Web Development, Advanced Web Development, and Data Development) in order to learn teamwork skills, develop professional skills, network with tech professionals, and hopefully win the grand prize trip to San Francisco, California.
Coding Skills Give Students Endless Job Opportunities
Dev Catalyst is committed to preparing high school students for profitable careers in technology-based fields, such as advanced manufacturing.
According to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, over the last five years, Tennessee has ranked in the Top 10 for the largest percentage increase in the United States in manufacturing GDP, which reached $49.1 billion in 2016, making it 17% of the state’s total GDP. Advanced manufacturing job creation in Tennessee, in particular, far outpaces the rate of national growth.
Technology has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. The incorporation of robots on the assembly line has led to quicker, more efficient production. Companies have also streamlined the manufacturing and production process by using computer-aided design software.
Programming Languages Meet the Written Language
This summer, four Dev Catalyst students took on Jackson-Madison County Library’s Big Read website. Students from schools across West Tennessee were hand-selected to develop the official website for the project, an effort to get the nation reading.
Dev Catalyst Alumni Spotlight: Steven Prescott, SP Creative
Steven Prescott is a standout alumnus of Dev Catalyst. Prescott began the program in 2013 under Vicki Deloach’s computer class at Madison Academic Magnet High School. The program was new to both West Tennessee and Prescott, but the product of a semester of work would lead to lifelong impacts.
Dev Catalyst was a brainchild of the founders at theCO who noticed a need for educational development.
For Prescott, Dev Catalyst created friendships and freedom.