TeChNews | Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

 

IEEE participates in events in and around Chicago

Vijai Baskar
COPY EDITOR

The Institute of Electrical and Elec-
tronics Engineers at IIT (IEEE@IIT) have an
array of events planned for the Fall 2014 se-
mester which will largely benefit the student
community of IIT.

IEEEXtreme is a 24-hour coding
competition where you are given a set of cod-
ing problems to solve. Teams from various
parts of the globe compete in a one-day contest
to solve complex programming problems. The
worldwide winning three-person team gets a
trip to an IEEE event anywhere in the world!
To make things interesting, the Chicago Sec
tion is putting up a $1,500 prize to the team
that wins in Chicago.

Last year, there were 2000 teams
around the world, with seven from Chicago.
IIT students hope to make a good showing this
year. Teams can consist of three IEEE National
student members. IIT, being a local competi-
tion site, will host teams from our college and
will also provide food and refreshments dur-
ing the competition. Information about the
competition is on the IEEE website at www.
ieee.org/xtreme. Stay tuned for further details,

3D printers arrive in Galvin Library

Shriram Anhalagan
TECHNEWS WRITER

If you were to walk by the group
study suite on the first floor of our very own
Galvin Library, you would see the newly set
up “Exploration Space” which houses two 3D
printers meant exclusively for IIT students.
They can be used to print anything from an-
ime figurines to a working model of an engine.
It would be hard to miss the brightly colored
AirWolf artistically sculpting a model of the
Willis Tower, the timing carriage moving over
the printer bed from one side to another.

Upon speaking to Pattie Piotrowski,
Assistant Dean of Public Services, the motiva—
tion behind the project became clear. She says
that the idea to make 3D printing an accessible
service for students is twofold. Firstly, numer-
ous students have been finding it hard to print
their models for coursework (primarily archi-
tecture and material science majors) at the 3D
printer over at the Idea Shop, which at times
involved a long waiting period. Secondly, the
whole idea of acquiring a printer at the library
was the brainchfld of the Dean of IIT Libraries,

 

including the proctor. Registration closed on
Monday, October 6.

If you are interested in solving com-
plex problems in a workplace filled with inno-
vation and change, Goldman Sachs is hiring
within Technology for 2015 Summer Analysts.
There are some exciting things happening in
the Technology Division at Goldman Sachs
like “Collaborative Engineering Expo for 2014

Summer Analysts”. Goldman Sachs is looking

specifically for undergraduate juniors graduat-
ing in December 2015 or May 2016. If you are
interested in interviewing on campus for sum—
mer analyst roles, email mallory.leib@gs.com
with your resume.

Internships at Intel are another op—
portunity for students at IIT. Intel has a broad
range of BS, MS and PhD opportunities in
technical disciplines such as Electrical Engi—
neering, Computer Engineering, Computer
Science, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry,
Physics, Mechanical Engineering, and Materi-
als Science.

Intel offers multiple programs that
allow for trying out a variety of roles, gain—
ing a wide range of experience, and exploring
multiple opportunities. Visit Intel’s Student
Center and check out what’s in store for you.

Sharon Bostick , who has been considering this
project for quite some time now. Peer libraries
have been providing opportunities for students
to explore and learn, such as North Carolina
State University’s Hunt Library and others. Pi-
otrowski, while observing that IIT has always
been a breeding ground for technology, said,
“IIT students are very unique,” being both cre-
ative and technology-minded.

In recent times, the library has
evolved to more than just a place for books and
studying. It is a union of creativity and learning
in all aspects, with the Exploration Space being
proof of this. Piotrowski said, “We believe that
the library continues to be an innovative space,
and it’s both experimental and experiential.”
She says that our students deserve the right to
be creative in any form of learning, be it study-
ing on their own, as a group in one of the li-
brary’s group study suites or getting creative
in any way they choose. The library recognizes
that IIT students are creative and inventive,
irrespective of their majors. The Exploration
Space is meant to foster creativity and develop
learning with play, which has always appealed
to the millennial generation.

Also, make sure you don’t miss your chance to
chat with Intel’s hiring teams at a local campus
near you. Visit their recruiting events calen-
dar today to find out when they’ll be in your
neck of the woods. If they are not able to visit
your particular school, don’t worry, you will
still have an opportunity to connect with them
virtually. Watch for virtual events to be posted
soon. Make a difference at intel.com/jobs

The IEEE Hack Chicago Challenge
2014 (HCC’14) is an upcoming online hack-
athon event that focuses on developing apps
that provide a service that is friendly, conve—
nient, and will enhance services for Chicago
and the Chicagoland area. The goal of this
event is to encourage the development of cre—
ative applications to engage and serve Chica-
goland’s diverse community, while using data
from the City of Chicago’s data portal. Partici-
pants can create a mobile or web-based appli—
cation which enriches the activities of Chicago
residents, businesses and visitors. This event
is open to all individuals or teams, who will
compete for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in three
contest divisions namely, Youth (ages 13-17),
Collegiate (18 or over, and enrolled as univer-
sity students), and Professional. Submissions
are due by October 15, 2014.

We can expect to see a lot more tech—
nological equipment in the Exploration Space
and the library environment in general. The
library is looking into acquiring state-of—the-
art gadgets like Google Glass, GoPro cameras,
Arduino Robotics kits and media editing soft-
ware. These would propel hands-on learning
and give IIT students a chance to be as creative
as possible. The number of projects is unlim-
ited and exploring and inventing will be every
student’s favorite thing to do in the library.
However, buying all the gadgets with the al-
located budget will be a task. Budget man—
agement is always a tricky thing but once the
decision is made, library staff tries to find the
money.

The 3D printers have been opera-
tional for a little over two weeks now. They
work on a first-come, first-serve basis. Stu-
dents can submit print jobs by going online
and submitting print requests in the required
format. An email with an estimated cost is then
sent to the student, but the charges for print—
ing are very nominal and are meant only to
recover the cost of the filament. The current
printing cost is ten cents for one gram, which

Award ceremony for winners will
be on November 6, 2014 at the IEEE Chicago
Section Symposium 8r Exhibition hosted by
Motorola Solutions in Schaumburg. HCC’14 is
hosted by the Chicago Section as a proud par-
ticipant of a worldwide initiative of the IEEE
Computer Society STC on e—Government in
support of globalization. Sponsors include
Google, Midwest Real Estate Data, Server
Central, Innov8tec, Stratus Concepts, Motor—
ola Mobility, Angel Hack, and Illinois Science
8: Technology Coalition. Registration is free.
Sign up and details at tinyurl.com/ieeehcc14.

Northwestern University’s IEEE Stu-
dent Branch is sponsoring WildHacks, another
hackathon event. On the weekend of Novem-
ber 22-23, more than 400 of the most talented
student developers are going to gather together
to build things like mobile apps, websites, and
hardware devices to show off their skills. The
section is also organizing speakers and tours,
trying to include as many members as pos-
sible. This event currently needs branch men-
tors, sponsors and speakers. If you have any
questions or would like to help, please send
an email to robert.burke@ieee.org or robert.
burke@culligan.com.

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would mean roughly $5 to $10 for most small
objects like models or phone cases. Softwares
such as MatterControl and NetFabb are used
to modify the files and eventually print them.
The printers are currently operational Monday
to Saturday. In the future, it is expected that a
specialist will be available to help students out
with designing customized models on a con-
sultation and appointment basis.

Apart from the 3D printers, the Ex-
ploration Space also has badge/button makers
which students can use for any purpose they
see fit. Student organizations can make the
most out of this for their school events and
campaigning. Recently, a student organization
made badges for the “Paint IIT Pink” campaign
and other clubs can make use of this nominally
priced service. 3D printing and badge/button
making are intended for personal purposes
and for fundraising as a student group, but
should not be used for commercial purposes.
More information can be found on the guide
for 3D printing at http://guideslibraryiit.
edu/3DPrinter.

Photos by Shriram Anbalagan
_