iConnect Magazine
Breaking down barriers: Trauth and colleagues examine gender and race in STEM fields
Dr. Eileen Trauth, professor of information sciences and technology, is exploring the ways in which cultural norms and expectations influence people’s interest in STEM careers through an innovative course that she began teaching in the spring 2011 semester.
Start-up Week
Start-up Week, which was held April 9-13, featured a group of entrepreneurs from around the country who are making an impact in the technology field. The speakers gave classroom talks on various topics related to information technology, and also mingled with students and faculty members during networking sessions.
Sharing success: David Rusenko
While visiting the College of Information Sciences and Technology during Start-up Week, David Rusenko (IST ’07), co-founder and CEO of Weebly, shared his insights with students on building successful start-ups. To further inspire them to pursue their passions, he went one step further by donating a $400,000 gift—the largest from an IST graduate in the College’s 13-year history—to create the David Rusenko Entrepreneur-in-Residence Scholarship and Emerging Entrepreneur Scholarship which will help IST students to launch their own companies while they are still in school.
What Costa Rica can teach us about emergency management
In the past few years the way we think about emergency preparedness and response has been changing in significant ways. To gain first-hand knowledge of these changes, I travelled to Costa Rica for six months as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar during a sabbatical from Penn State. Costa Rica is a “perfect storm of change” that, to a scholar of technologies emergency management such as me, presents the perfect opportunity to study all four changes at work.
IST THON team adopts family, raises $37K for 2012 Penn State Marathon
Taking part in this year’s efforts, a THON team of almost 40 students from the College of Information Sciences and Technology contributed more than $37,000 to the campaign and forged a special bond with a family that is benefitting from the fundraiser.
IST advisory board member Bob Morgan: On giving back, and why he loves Penn State
Co-founder and CEO of MorganFranklin Corporation, Bob Morgan directs corporate strategies with global reach. As a Penn State alumnus, Morgan credits his degree with opening doors that allowed him experiences such as working with the U.S. Navy, the White House Communications Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. To give back to his alma mater, Morgan serves on the IST Advisory Board. In addition, he and his wife Tammy created a trustee scholarship to benefit IST students. iConnect recently caught up with Morgan to learn more about why this scholarship—and IST—is important to him and his family.
Beyond the Personnel File: Melissa Hicks
IST staff member Melissa Hicks talks with iConnect about instructional design, tweeting, Garth Brooks, and her impressive Mr. Potato Head collection.
Meet Craig Cuyar, IST advisory board member and global CIO of Cushman & Wakefield
Dr. Cuyar, who recently joined the Advisory Board of Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology, brings to the table an understanding of the role that technology plays in a global economy.
Where are they now? Neilye Garrity (IST '04)
One of the most significant, and potentially stressful, decisions for an individual is choosing what to do with his or her life. As co-founder of Candid Career, a video-based career exploration website that hosts informational interviews with industry professionals, Neilye (Stoner) Garrity (’04) tries to make that process easier by helping college students gain first-hand knowledge of various careers from the men and women working in those fields.
