Just Imagine!: The IS Area, in cooperation with our corporate partners, sponsored an event for high school sophomores on Friday November 13 called Imagine IT!. Fifty eight students from Confluence Academy, Francis Howell, Rockwood District and Soldan participated in this all day event. Students spent the morning at Boeing, Edward Jones, Monsanto or St. John's Hospital, had lunch in the Millennium Center, and spent the afternoon getting to know each other and the IS Area. You can see more information on our website. This group will get together again next Fall to talk about career paths. The students are shown below.

Good Business!: The College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri - St. Louis has been ranked among the nation's best business schools by The Princeton Review. The College is featured in the guidebook "The Best 301 Business Schools," 2010 edition, released last week. Keith Womer, dean of the college, said the recognition is an honor. "Our faculty and students are outstanding," he said. "The dedication of both continues to strengthen our top-notch programs and make our college the premier supplier of business graduates to the St Louis region." The Princeton Review surveyed students at the college, and several students described UMSL's business programs as "quality education for a reasonable price." Students also said the college has a "strong international presence" and professors who are "accessible."

Mentoring and Internships: The IS Mentoring Program will hold its next meeting on Thursday, October 22 at 5:30 in Grace's Place (204 CCB). The topic of the meeting is "Internships." So, if you are looking for an internship in IS, want to know why to look for an internship in IS or are looking for an IS intern, join us for the meeting. There will be a panel discussion, food, and lots of time for networking! Everyone is welcome!

Is your head in the Clouds?: The next meeting of the IS Programming Club will be held on Thursday, October 29 at 5:30 in 103 CCB. The speaker for the meeting will be Krishna Kumar of Microsoft, who will talk about Cloud Computing. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Solving Technology Problems: Alumna and former President of the IS Advisory Board Sheila Burkett was featured in an article in WE Magazine entitled "This Business Woman Helps Clients Solve Everyday Technology Challenges." The article discusses her career path and her current role as President & CEO of Tuxedo Park Management, LLC and SheSolvesIT.com. The article can be read here.

Congratulations!: Kyootai Lee has completed all the requirements for his Ph.D. and has successfully defended his dissertation. The dissertation entitled, "Why Do Small To Medium Sized Software Firms Stay In Strategic Partnerships?" was chaired by Dr. Kailash Joshi. Kyootai will be joining Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Korea beginning this Fall as Assistant Professor. He is the third student to finish our doctoral program.

Are you IS material?: The Association for Information Systems sponsored a competition among students in Information Systems around the world to make a promotional video that would attract people to the field. The winners are now posted on our website. Check them out!

Xtreme IT: Xtreme IT! is the summer high school academy that exposes students to a wide range of IT applications as well as life at the University. This summer we have 15 students: 7 from Soldan International High School, 1 from Clyde C. Miller Academy, 1 from McCluer South - Berkeley, 1 from Duchesne, 3 from Francis Howell, 1 from Ladue Horton Watkins and 1 from Webster Groves High School. They are about half rising juniors an half rising seniors. The schedule can be found on the XIT page. Our partners to run this program include: Ameren UE, The Boeing Company, EDS -- an HP Company, Edward Jones, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, EPC Recycling, Express Scripts, Greater St. Louis Works (RCGA), IBM, MasterCard Worldwide, MEMC, Metro St. Louis, Microsoft, Monsanto, Schnucks, TALX/Equifax, Tuxdeo Park Management, UMSL's Information Systems Department, UMSL's College of Business, UMSL's College of Fine Arts and Communication, UMSL's Information Technology Services, UMSL's IT Enterprises.

A Fellow: Dr. Joseph Rottman has been selected as a fellow at the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences. He will spend the fellowship at the Institute of Quantitative and Technical Economics in Beijing from June 24-July 8, and will also go to Dalian from June 16-June 23. During his time in Beijing, he will be matched with one or more faculty with interest in Chinese IT and sourcing, and they will pursue projects together.

Excellence in Outreach: Dr. Vicki Sauter was awarded the Gateway to Innovation Community Outreach Award for her work in creating a series of high school outreach programs. The core program, Imagine IT!, provides high school sophomores a view of the opportunities of the IS Profession. Students visit corporations to learn about opportunities at those companies and in IT, and share those experiences with students from other schools while visiting UMSL. Xtreme IT! is an intensive week-long experience for high school students exposed students to a range of IT applications and life in dorm living and at a University. Students saw firsthand how IT is being used from tuning a race car to managing power outages (and more!). In the classroom they learned some programming, and saw how businesses were using Social Networking tools that emulate Facebook and MySpace. Finally, Imagine IT Reunion! brings together the students to meet again as they enter their junior year. The students experience a "learn and fun" event to learn more about IS careers and to enjoy an x-box party (complete with pizza).

St. Louis Companies: Our annual summary of where our alumni work is now available.

Before Computers....
     Typewriters were the Communications Machines

Visit the current special exhibit of vintage typewriters at Grace's Place
(a gallery preserving the history of computers and information technology)

204 CCB on the UM - St. Louis Campus M - F 8am - 9 pm Sa & Su 10am - 5 pm Admission is free

Software! Students in the Information System Area may now get most Microsoft Software (not including Microsoft Office) for free. Check our MSDN site for details.

History Relived! Babbage's Difference Engine #2 has been built: View the video.