2015 Practicum: Great Projects, Great Weather, Great Teamwork

This year's Practicum was a huge success. With assistance from the National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education Division, twenty students and eight instructors came together in Missoula for the annual two-week hands-on course.

 Pictured from left to right are the Solar Thermal Water System, Photovoltaic System Trainer, Micro-hydroelectric Power, and Solar Thermal Air System. Students from the University of Montana Energy Technology Program, Browning Community College, Blackfeet Community College, Big Sky High School, and Sentinel High School attended.

Students Receive the President's Outstanding Senior Recognition Award

Information Technology students Sean Langley and Naomi Branson and Energy Technology student Reeve Tinnel received the 2015 President's Outstanding Senior Recognition Award presented by the UM Penetralia Chapter of Mortar Board for their outstanding academic achievement and service to the community and the university.

Information Technology – Information Systems Management AAS Degree
Naomi Branson graduated with her Associate of Applied Science degree in Information Technology with a specialization in Information Systems Management, Associate of Art in General Education, and her Certificate of Applied Science in Computer Support in December. She has a 4.0 in her field of study and has successfully completed industry certification as a CompTIA A+ Computer Support Specialist. Naomi is a member of the Phi Kappa Theta Honor Society for two-year colleges, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, and the All Nations Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. She has demonstrated outstanding service to her classmates by providing tutoring services to Missoula College students for several semesters. According to her supervisor at the Missoula College Academic Support Center, “Naomi is a person other students actively seek out when looking for assistance with their studies”. Naomi Branson will continue her education toward a Bachelor of Applied Science and can be found on the Missoula College campus as the Administrative Associate for the Department of Applied Computing & Engineering Technology.

Information Technology – Network Management AAS Degree
Sean Langley is graduating with an AAS degree in Information Technology with a specialization in Network Management and his CAS in Computer Support in May. He has a cumulative GPA of 4.0, and has successfully completed industry certification as a CompTIA A+ Computer Support Specialist and Network+ Networking Professional. Sean  is a member of the Phi Kappa Theta Honor Society for two-year colleges. Sean has demonstrated an outstanding service through his field work in providing general computing support service to both the general community and his fellow students.

Energy Technology - AAS Degree
Reeve Tinnell achieved a 4.0 GPA over the course of earning his associates degree in energy technology with a concentration in biomaterials, bioenergy, and renewable fuels. Reeve also led the University of Montana's Shell Eco-Marathon team with its entry in the 2014 Urban Concept event. Through his Energy Technology internship at Blue Marble Biomaterials, Reeve earned a position at the innovative local company.

IT Professor Recognized for Student Service

The UM Division of Student Affairs recognized IT Professor Tom Gallagher this week for his service to the students at the University of Montana. Professor Gallagher was one of a handful of faculty members to receive this annual award during the 2015 academic year. The Division of Student Affairs recognizes faculty and staff members across the University of Montana for exception service to students. Professor Gallagher received commendations for his work in advising students and assisting veterans.

Congratulations to Professor Tom Gallagher!

                               

Interested in Cybersecurity? See our course offerings for Fall 2015!

ITS 275.50 Border / Perimeter Network Security
ITS 277.50 Software Assurance & File System Internals
August 26—December 13 (Online)

Click Here For a Better View

If you would like to know more about our Network & Information Security Program and our Cybersecurity Certification click here!

New Course Offering This Autumn Semester: Energy and Climate

If you are seeking an integrative look into the relationship between technological energy production and its effect on earth's climate, please consider registering for NRGY 291: Energy and Climate.

For more information about this course please view our flyer here.

Energy Technology Student Wins the "Verizon Employee Environmental Excellence Award"

William Stahlman, Energy Technology student, wins the Verizon Employee Environmental Excellence Award in recognition of his 2014 sustainable efforts in the office and in his community. 

Nomination Excerpt:

From the onset of our department, William has spearheaded our group’s green initiative. He proactively sought resources within Verizon to establish a recycling program and procure recycling containers for our office. William has created recycling signs that he has placed in our kitchen area to educate fellow employees on the benefits of recycling and the types of materials that can be recycled. 

His dedication and contribution to the environment extends beyond Verizon. William is a small business owner who operates an outdoor recreational business that allows people to experience the benefits of biking, boating, kayaking, and other outdoor activities. Over the past several years William has also dedicated much of his personal time to pursuing a college degree in renewable energy.

As the supervisor of Verizon’s Video Hub Office in Harrisburg, PA I am extremely appreciative that William has championed our group’s green initiative and brought awareness to recycling, energy savings, and other green initiatives to our employees. It is people like William Stahlman who will work vigorously to ensure our Earth’s natural resources will remain for future generations. I can’t thank him enough for all of his efforts.

Cybersecurity DDoS Student Research

IT student José Antonio Rodríguez Fernández presented results of his research project at the University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UM-CUR). His presentation entitled Analysis of Recent DDoS Attacks: An Application of Mirkovic and Peng Taxonomies provides a methodology for categorizing DDoS attacks. Jose is an international student from Spain visiting the Applied Computing and Engineering Technology department. Professor Tom Gallagher is serving as Jose's research mentor.

Abstract
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) is a threat for all companies. Every second that the company is offline, a tremendous amount of money is lost. Since the introduction of the Internet, DDoS attacks have been a common occurrence, yet solutions to counter them have been limited. This research project analyzes the recent DDoS attacks based upon the financial, societal and technical impact. Besides that, the taxonomies of Mirkovic and Peng will be used to classify details of recent DDoS attacks with the goal of identifying common characteristics. Mirkovic's taxonomy analyzes in a very technical depth the DDoS attacks meanwhile Peng's taxonomy is more generic. Both these taxonomies are quoted by several authors although nobody has used them to create a classification of attacks. This research project is useful to individuals interested in developing solutions for computer network and information security since there is no classification made or any method for classifying them.

2nd Annual Montana Cyber Triathlon

The Montana Cyber Triathlon is a single-day competition open to Montana high school and college students.  The triathlon consists of a digital forensics puzzle, a data analytics puzzle, and a penetration testing puzzle. The goal of the competition is to find a “coin” hidden somewhere on the University of Montana campus. The answers to each of the three parts of the Cyber Triathlon will lead students to the Cyber Coin. The first team to solve all three parts of the Cyber Triathlon and find the Cyber Coin, wins. No technical experience necessary.

Read more about the 2nd Annual Montana Cyber Triathlon from our flyer here!

For information about the preparatory help session please visit the UM News page here.

If you would like to register click here.

Our own Brian Doughtery

For all of you who felt the chill in the AD building recently, you'll be glad to know that Brian Dougherty, a current Energy Technology student and Facilities crew member is working on the 40-year-old boiler in the basement.

At your service! Energy Technology's own Brian Dougherty comes to the rescue.

Professor Layton had a chance to catch him in the act as he was switching on a pump to clear fluid from a ruptured line. Keep up the great work Brian!

MontPIRG Students Lobby Legislators in Helena, MT

MontPIRG students, including the Missoula College's own Brian Davis, testified in committee at the state capital to lobby legislators to raise the net metering cap and expand net metering across the state. 

(Above: Brian Davis)

The Montana Public Interest Research Group (MontPIRG) is a student directed, non-partisan, non-profit organization located on UM campus since 1981, and is dedicated to affecting tangible, positive change through educating and empowering the next generation of civic leaders. 

MontPIRG Students in Helena, MT

(2nd from the Left: Brian Davis)

In addition to earning up to 3 upper division credits, MontPIRG interns learn from the best and most dynamic activists Montana has to offer. MontPIRG alumni have gone on to leadership positions in student government, major non-profit and advocacy organizations, state government, the state legislature, political campaigns, and have even held senior positions at the White House.

If you are interested in MontPIRG please visit their website. 

White House Unveils America’s College Promise Proposal: Tuition-Free Community College for Responsible Students

Nearly a century ago, a movement that made high school widely available helped lead to rapid growth in the education and skills training of Americans, driving decades of economic growth and prosperity. America thrived in the 20^th century in large part because we had the most educated workforce in the world.  But other nations have matched or exceeded the secret to our success. Today, more than ever, Americans need more knowledge and skills to meet the demands of a growing global economy without having to take on decades of debt before they even embark on their career. 

Today the President is unveiling the America’s College Promise proposal to make two years of community college free for responsible students, letting students earn the first half of a bachelor’s degree and earn skills needed in the workforce at no cost. This proposal will require everyone to do their part: community colleges must strengthen their programs and increase the number of students who graduate, states must invest more in higher education and training, and students must take responsibility for their education, earn good grades, and stay on track to graduate. The program would be undertaken in partnership with states and is inspired by new programs in Tennessee and Chicago. If all states participate, an estimated 9 million students could benefit. A full-time community college student could save an average of $3,800 in tuition per year.

In addition, today the President will propose a new American Technical Training Fund to expand innovative, high-quality technical training programs similar to Tennessee Tech Centers that meet employer needs and help prepare more Americans for better paying jobs. These proposals build on a number of historic investments the President has made in college affordability and quality since taking office, including a $1,000 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to help working and middle class families, the creation of the $2,500 American Opportunity Tax Credit, reforming student loans to eliminate subsidies to banks to invest in making college more affordable and keeping student debt manageable, and making available over $2 billion in grants to connect community colleges with employers to develop programs that are designed to get hard-working students good jobs.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

NSF ATE Project: "Sustainable Energy Technology Program Enhancement at Missoula College: Partnering for Success" off to a good start.

The New Year brings promise for Energy Technology's future with an industry panel round table luncheon and a planning meeting with our Blackfeet Community College partners.

 Industry panel with representatives from I.E. Recycling, Missoula Electric Co-op, Ravalli Electric Co-op, NCAT, Satic and Saturn, along with our local staff and friends from Blackfeet Community College.

Cheri Kicking Woman, Peter Mcdonough, Nicky Phear, John Pickens, Lola Wippert, Cheryl Madman, Marla Ollinger and Bradley Layton pause for a pose after their meeting at the Payne Native American Center.

Computer Science Education Week

December 8-14 is Computer Science Education Week. In recognition of the importance of computer programming everyone is encouraged to spend one hour writing code. The Hour of Code website has an introduction to computer programming that’s both fun, free, and appropriate for all levels of learning. Join this international effort to address the shortage of computer programmers by encouraging everyone to learn an hour of code. Details can be found at 
http://hourofcode.com/us 

Hewlett Packard Information Session - 12/4/2014

George Milliken, Director of Helion Cloud Engineering, will talk about Hewlett Packard, including company overview, personal background and industry experience with HP, and HP's key initiatives in cloud computing.

On campus interviews are slated for December 5th.

George Milliken is a 30 year veteran of the computer industry who lives in Thompson Falls, MT.  Previously, Mr. Milliken served as Director of SaaS Service Management at CA Technologies, Inc. from 2009 to May 2013. Prior to joining CA Technologies Mr. Milliken consulted in enterprise transformation efforts at Pacific Gas & Electric. He has founded and sold two companies; farm9.com, an Internet Security MSP, and Napier Corporation, a consulting firm. Mr. Milliken is an expert in Oracle database technology and started his career as a developer (C and SQL).

WHEN – WHERE – CONTACT
Information Session: Thursday, December 4th, 2014, 5:00 PM, ISB 110
On-Campus Interviews: Friday, December 5th, 2014, Career Services – EL154
Contact: Janay Whisman – 243-2239 with questions about signing up for an interview!

 

Outstanding Students Selected for 2014 Mortar Board

The Department of Applied Computing & Electronics announced its most outstanding students from the 2014 graduating class. Energy Technology graduate Tim Chester, Information Technology graduate Jeremy Haacke, and Electronics Technology graduate Chad Whiteley were selected as Mortar Board recipients. Mortar Board is a national honor society recognizing graduating students for their exemplary scholarship, leadership, service and distinguished academic achievements.

(pictured L/R Steve Shen, Tom Gallagher, Chad Whiteley, Penny Jakes, 

Jeremy Haacke, Tim Chester, Brad Layton)

Undergraduate Research: Driving Electrolumiescent Panels

Electronics Technology student Chad Whiteley delivered the results from his research project Driving Electrolumiescent Panels, in a symposium presentation at the 2014 Undergraduate Research Conference in April. Whitelely's project investigated methods for powering and controlling EL panels. Whiteley completed the project under the direction of faculty advisor Dr. Steve Shen.

Undergraduate Research: Realistic Synthetic EHR

Information Technology student Russell Klein delivered the results from his research project, Generating the Demographic Attributes of the Realistic Synthetic Electronic Health Record, in a poster presentation at the 2014 Undergraduate Research Conference in April. Klein's project is a part of a larger research project with international partner Massey University aimed at developing Realistic Synthetic Electronic Health Records (RS-EHR) for secondary uses such as training and system development. Russell (right) is shown below with his faculty advisor Tom Gallagher (left).

ACE IT Students Tour Data Center

Applied Computing & Electronics IT students spent the afternoon touring the Data Center for Washington Companies. Discussions revolved around cloud architecture, virtualization, and the IT triangle platform strategy of Compute - Network - Storage.  A big thanks to Tim, Eric, Andy, and Chris for hosting these UM students.

 

Solar Potential for Missoula Schools

Solar Potential for Missoula Schools

U.S. DOE and Solar Foundation have a new report that shows that schools provide a great opportunity for rooftop solar. The report includes an interactive map that shows which schools in each state have solar and those that are the best candidates for solar. Pretty cool. 

(It looks like the system that Eric Scott installed at Hellgate High has not yet been reported)

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/18/3569005/seia-solar-report-schools/

Hydrogen Fueling Station Heading to Storage

NRGY 242 Solar Thermal and Wind Systems students Jesse Cooney, Adam Coppock, Dustin Armstad, Ryan Carson and Joe Bauer (in truck) deconstruct the hydrogen fueling station. Not pictured: Kevin Bissett, Cory Monroe, Ernest Orr, Will Stahlman and Timothy Chester.

The University of Montana's hydrogen fueling station, which was constructed and commissioned from 2006 - 2010 has served as a flagship for the Energy Technology Program. The brainchild of former Missoula College Dean R Paul Williamson, the hydrogen fueling station is currently being refurbished as part of the new Missoula College building in Hellgate Canyon. Overall goals include: giving Sustainable Energy Technology students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with renewable energy technologies, work towards a carbon-free energy future, and to provide hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles such as those being developed by Toyota and Honda. In the past, the fueling station has been used to provide hydrogen for technologies as diverse as the ZEUS mining vehicle and a lighter than air wind turbine. Another potential use is to provide lift for NASA's Borealis Project.