Ackerley Scholars Guest Lecture Program

The Ackerley Computer Science and Technology Scholars Program benefits students of computer science and information technology at Graceland in a number of ways. One of those ways is to facilitate events that all CS/IT students can participate in, such as bringing in guest lecturers. Typically these are jointly sponsored by the student chapter of the ACM and the Ackerley Program. In reverse chronological order below are the special lecturers who have been our guests.

ACM/Ackerley Program Guest Lecturer Bob Billings Garmin International www.garmin.com Title: Products, Projects, and Careers at Garmin Place: 146 Science, Tues, Oct 10, 2007, 8 p.m.

Bob Billings graduated from Graceland in 1986 with majors in Computer Engineering, Computer Science with minors in Physics and Mathematics. After graduation, he worked for King Radio designing integrated flight management systems for business jets and light commercial jets and was involved in development of LORAN and GPS receivers. He joined Garmin International's Avaiation department in 1995 doing embedded systems programming and design on aviation devices such as panel mounted GPS receivers and integrated GPS, communication and NAV receivers. In addition to these stand alone units, Bob was involved in designing and developing the G1000 Integrated Avionics System (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=6420). He was involved in the development of the interface adapter unit, engine and airframe unit, weather radar system, transponder, audio panel, controllers and auto pilot system. Bob spoke about various Garmin products and the efforts involved in their engineering and development. Bob encouraged students to get internship experience and any outside project work. He was impressed with students' robotics projects because of problems solving challenges and embedded systems programming that students would have to experience.

ACM/Ackerley Program Guest Lecturer Terry Chown MITRE Corporation Title: Intelligence Work at MITRE Place: 146 Science, Thurs, Sept 21, 2006, 8 p.m.

Terry Chown graduated from Graceland in 1987 with majors in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering (via Liberal Studies), and a minor in Physics. Terry served in U.S. Army intelligence before joining MITRE Corporation as a civilian. He is currently assigned to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as an Associate Department Head. He has had major involvement in testing our missile and space warning networks, orchestrating an annual test of the U.S. Missile, Atmospheric, and Space Warning networks and implementing military exercises that simulated large nuclear strikes against North America. Terry and his staff work on various security projects that involve a number of intelligence agencies. He spoke about intelligence careers in general and the professional climate at MITRE Corporation. He pointed out that security and intelligence work is in a growth phase since 9/11, and he spoke highly of the sense of purpose and mission which such careers provide. Terry reflected on his years at Graceland and its impact on his life. He shared one piece of advice, Don't delay graduation by adding too many majors like I did. You will gain more by finishing up and doing additional study later on a master's degree... plus your employer may help pay for it!

ACM/Ackerley Program Guest Lecturer David Linkletter Special Agent with State Fire Marshal, Bureau of Arson and Explosives Iowa Department of Public Safety Title: Robots in Law Enforcement Place: 146 Science, Tues, March 14, 2006, 8 p.m. photos

David Linkletter is a Graceland alumni (Sociology/Human Resources, 1994) who joined the Iowa Department of Public Safety after graduation. As a special agent with the Bureau of Arson and Explosives in Iowa he has been trained and works with the Robotec Andros F6A. David spoke generally on the roll that robotics plays in law enforcement and shared some interesting stories. The highlight was the demonstration of the Andros F6A as he sent it up several stairs in the lecture hall and out the door to seek unsuspecting students working in the CS Lab. He answered questions that were of interest to the many students involved in robotic projects at Graceland about the design and controls of the robot. David was an interesting speaker with a great sense of humor. He joked about his limited science-based classwork at Graceland and the nature of his work now (gotta bomb situation... this calls for a sociologist). Clearly, David enjoys what he is doing, work that is both critically important and often dangerous. In a step climbing demonstration, David stopped the robot after several steps to avoid damage saying I could take it to the top but your steps would be trashed... something I would not care about in a real situation.

ACM/Ackerley Program Guest Lecturer Tony Crandell Principal Associate Access Integration Specialists, Co. Lamoni, IA Title: The Iowa Communications Network (ICN) and State-Wide Communications Place: 146 Science, Tues, Nov 29, 2005, 8 p.m.

Tony Crandell was the first employee and senior designer for the Iowa Communication Network (ICN), a statewide fiber optics network. He continues to be a consultant to the State of Iowa on WiMAX, radio interoperability, and homeland security issues. Iowa was the first state to create such a network, connecting all of its 99 counties to facilitate communication and resource sharing in government, health care, education, and other non-commercial services. Its supreme offering is its provision for high quality full motion, two-way interactive video. The ICN has been studied by other states and countries as a model for similar projects. Tony said that Iowa was a leader in this area because of it commitment to education and the relatively low cost to lay new fiber cable here. On this latter point, he said with some hyperbole: you can pull a plow from one end of Iowa to the other without hitting a large obstacle. His talk included a history of the ICN and Iowa State Communications, specific political and managerial challenges that were faced, what we have learned, interesting stories in how it is being used, and predictions for the future. He closed with a demonstration of a web-based prototype that interconnects separate emergency radio networks in the state. Tony is a Graceland alumni (1969) and long-time Ham Radio operator.

ACM/Ackerley Program Guest Lecturer Bill MacNaughton Project Consultant Perficient, Inc. Houston, TX Title: Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) using TIBCO Place: CSLab & 103 Science, January 3-20, 2005, 9am-3pm daily

Bill MacNaughton was guest instructor for Winter Term 2005, offering the same TIBCO Boot Camp taught to IT professionals. Students were trained to use the TIBCO toolset (including Rendezvous, BusinessWorks, Hawk Administrator, Portal Builder) to implement EAI solutions based on a publish/subscribe messaging model. Bill has over 20 years of IT experience and is a senior consultant and chief trainer at Zettaworks (www.zettaworks.com) a company founded by Bob and Lee Ackerley (Smith & Assoc). Days prior to class Zettaworks was acquired by Perficient, Inc. (www.perficient.com). In addition to the hands-on training, Bill shared his experiences with Enterprise-level projects, politics, successes, and mistakes. He advised students to learn how business enterprises work and become comfortable communicating in that realm. He told us not to be flustered by high-level development environments that make it difficult to operate at the level of detail programmers are accustomed to. It is the wave of the future, especially for EAI.

ACM/Ackerley Program Guest Lecturer Terry Patterson ProCurve Networking Business Hewlett-Packard Company Overland Park, KS Title: Networking Industry - Products, Issues, and Predictions Place: 146 Science, Tues, Oct 26, 2004, 8 p.m.

Terry Patterson was a 1986 Graceland graduate who majored in Computer Information Systems (a forerunner of the IT major). He works for Hewlett-Packard in the Kansas City area (http://www.hp.com/rnd), currently offering HP's ProCurve Networking solutions to clients. Terry discussed the networking industry in general terms including trends, futures, security, and hot topics in the market. He answered questions and discussed what companies, like HP, look for when hiring people. Terry gave career advice for surviving and thriving in a volatile industry during uncertain times. His advice was to be a visionary and to stay alert to what is going on at the highest levels of an organization, being ready to move to where the opportunities are, adding "it's hard to hit a moving target."

Distinguished Ackerley Scholars Program Lecturer Homecoming'04 - 30th Anniversary of Computer Science Larry Fairchild Deputy Director, Enterprise Operations Directorate National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Title: Computer Technology for Global Intelligence Place: 218 Zimmermann, Fri, Oct 1, 2004, 11 a.m.

Larry Fairchild was the first computer science graduate from Graceland, receiving a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics in 1974. Since then he has worked in federal service with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), beginning as a scientific programmer and systems analyst, moving to an analytical role when offices emerged to address global issues, and taking on several senior-level posts including Senior Advisor for Science and Technology, Director of Advanced Analytical Tools, and Director of Advanced Information Technology. He is currently on loan to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as the Deputy Director of the Enterprise Operations Directorate. Larry spoke of the important work being done in Intelligence and of business partnership opportunities through In-Q-Tel. He also spoke about job opportunities, his career, and the secrets of his success.

ACM/Ackerley Program Guest Lecturer Ryan Carver Media and Web Designer LookAndFeel New Media Kansas City, MO Title: Flash Programming for Game Design Place: Helene Center MacLab, Tues, Apr 27, 2004, 7 p.m.

Ryan graduated from Graceland in 2000 with a BA in Commercial Design Art and a minor in Computer Science. He works for LookAndFeel New Media [now Barkley Interactive at www.beap.com) creating websites that capture attention for clients. His snowflake website, featured on countless sites and the city newspaper, reached 90,000 hits per day with many millions of visitors who have created flakes. His Duncan Man game was a promotional piece for Duncan Yo-Yo Company's 75th anniversary. Ryan's presentation covered the technical and artistic aspects of both websites, noting that he had to learn some linear algebra for the snowflake design. Ryan said that Data Structures was an important course in his background and he advised any serious game or Flash developer to take all the programming courses possible in school.

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