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Career Services’ Computing and Engineering Fair crushes it!

11/30/2015 by Nick Thomas Leave a Comment

STEM students showed up in droves at Career Services Computing and Engineering Fair in Hargreaves Hall Reading Room. The echo of collective networking bounced off the marble walls and created a literal buzz of excitement.

Some students simply passed through, getting a feel for employers and their internship process. Other students dressed for success in business suits and power dresses, and they carried their resumes and portfolios.

Clearly, this event is a big deal–and it's just one of many career fairs on campus each year!

Dozens of regional companies such as Avista, Itron, and Chief Architect represented the all aspects of the tech industry. The event offered EWU students a chance to quickly explore a variety of career and internships opportunities. This time the Technology and Construction major was emphasized.

So who are the companies? One is Itron, a global company utility meter and analytics software company headquartered locally. They have over 500 employees in nearby Liberty Lake. Besides hiring interns, they regularly hire EWU grads full time. In fact both Itron recruiters are EWU alumni.

Even Running start high school students showed up to learn about the many opportunities, too. Running Start student Kayla Lambert is a high school senior. As a future Computer Science major, she came to the Fair to get a look at her future job prospects. Kayla’s favorite company she talked to was Gravity Jack, a software company specializing in the new field of augmented reality marketing, especially for mobile apps. Kayla likes how the technology “incorporates real life.” Their apps let you view products as though it’s actually right in front of you.

ANR Group explained how their staffing company hires over 150 students and connects them to full time paid summer internships with the 300 + contractors at Hanford Nuclear Site. These jobs are valued for their highly technical experience. Sometimes students are offered extended contracts upon graduation. Another benefit of ANR is that interns have the opportunity to try different jobs each summer.

Senior Andrew Decker was certainly impressed with the Fair. Kaiser Aluminum and Kaufman Engineering are two companies that stood out to him. The mechanical engineering major has already benefited from a year round internship at Altek in Liberty Lake where he makes parts for medical, fitness and aerospace.

Most all the companies at the fair hire interns throughout the year and accommodate student schedules, and all were interested in gathering resumes. Some were even scheduling interviews for entry level positions.

Washington State Chinese Lantern Festival lights up Spokane

11/23/2015 by Nick Thomas Leave a Comment

The arrival of The Washington State Chinese Lantern Festival marked Riverfront Park's biggest event since the World's Fair was in Spokane in 1974. It was the first Chinese lantern festival ever held in the United States.

A team from Sichuan Province in Southwest China spent two months constructing and hand-painting the thousands of illuminated fabric sculptures.

The Chinese Lantern Festival is a wonderland of light and color

Lanterns came in all shapes. Windmills. Flying dragons. Fruits of the fall harvest. Castles. A recreation of a traditional Chinese wedding. Hundreds of dinosaurs, zebras, pandas, ants, and more. Such a wonderland rivals the best Christmas light displays.

The event featured cultural dancing and music on the main stage, and a covered restaurant served authentic Chinese food that rotated weekly to showcase the wide variety of options. Judging by the awestruck visitors arriving from across the Northwest, the festival organizers hope to make it an annual event.

And for those of you interested in studying Chinese, EWU offers first-year Chinese in the Modern Languages Department.

chinese lantern festival — Traditional music plays from this display while the fish on top spouts water into a flower (Nick Thomas photo)

EWU's newest arts event: SpoYo

11/10/2015 by Nick Thomas Leave a Comment

Arts and literature are everywhere at EWU, and EWU leads the region in supporting artists and writers. As a student you have a chance to attend and support nationally recognized events like Get Lit! and the Spokane International Film Festival. You can even listen to some of your professors on Public Radio.

On a sunny Saturday fall morning this year, the campus of EWU Spokane buzzed with activity. Children, teens, and parents from around the region converged for a day of celebrating books. They also attended workshops, made crafts, and listened to author readings.

It was all part of SpoYo, the Spokane Youth Books Festival. This is a new event hosted by EWU, and it’s another way EWU students and professors get involved in the Spokane community.

Authors travel to Spokane from all over the country, like Nick Bruel, famed author of the Bad Kitty series. They meet with their fans, give master classes for aspiring writers, and read from their books.

Bad Kitty author Nick Bruel talks books with young fans (Jeff Bunch photo)

The event was organized by graduate students in the MFA creative writing program, and undergrad and high school students volunteered. The event is actually an offshoot of GetLit!, EWU’s week-long literary festival held each spring. It’s a great chance for EWU students to mingle with authors and get behind-the-scenes access to the authors and ideas that change our world.

If you’re interested in studying with EWU’s award-winning writing and English professors, be sure to check out the EWU English website.

The art scene in Spokane: Terrain 8

11/02/2015 by Nick Thomas Leave a Comment

For the past 8 years, the nonprofit Terrain organization has hosted their hugely popular interactive art events in funky locations around Spokane. This October was the biggest yet: over 8,000 people visited throughout the single night event. And as you might expect, EWU students and faculty could be found nearly everywhere.

terrain1 — Spokane Poetry Slam organizer Isaac Grambo stokes the crowd

Chris Leja

Terrain showcased 300 works of art by more than 150 regional artists. The event also featured live music, a poetry slam, author readings and artwork of all types. The event took place in the beautifully refurbished 120-year-old Washington Cracker Co. warehouse near EWU’s downtown Spokane campus.

Nearly every artwork boasted an orange “sold” sticker, and the event brought in over $10,000 in sales for local artists. Many of these artists are EWU students, alumni and faculty. One of them is Monica Hoblin, a senior in EWU’s highly respected graphic design program. You can see some of her projects on Behance.

Around the corner from Terrain, EWU professors Lisa Nappa, Roger Ralston and colleagues had installed a sprawling video projected onto the street level windows of the historic Ridpath Hotel. The project combined technology and design to transform the empty windows of a normally quiet city street into revolving fields of color.

terrrain2 — Apollo astronaut spaces out on abstract art

Terrain was held on an already busy First Friday, which is the monthly art celebration in Spokane. The city’s galleries, restaurants, and cafes fill with crowds of all ages enjoying artwork and live music.

Access to a major city’s nightlife and art scene is just one of the key benefits of life as an EWU student, and it helps explain how EWU’s poets, artists, filmmakers, and designers are able to build dynamic portfolios even before they graduate from EWU

A Springtime Photo Tour of Campus

06/01/2014 by eschroeder Leave a Comment

When I visited EWU's campus, it was windy and rainy and the middle of winter. I wan't even certain students went outside if they didn't have to. I should have visited in the spring.

@alexa3723

After being cooped up indoors during the winter, campus comes alive once the snow melts. Students take advantage of the awesome weather to get some fresh air and enjoy the fact that EWU has four real seasons.

@jslemm11

Students work on homework between classes or sit in the sun to energize themselves for the rest of their day. Taking a break and getting some good Vitamin D helps refresh and rejuvenate the mind and body.

@vitorolsouto

Some students participate in slack lining. A slack line is tied a foot or so above the ground between two trees and students tight rope over the grass. Plus jumping. And turning. And laughing a lot. No one has to worry about feeling ridiculous if they want to give it a try. It’s like being Tigger: no one judges you for being bouncy.

After classes, some students throw a Frisbee in the large grassy areas around campus. If you’re not into Frisbee, you can try whiffle ball instead. Groups of students get into teams and have a blast outdoors pretty much any time the sun shines.

@vincehamilton1

College campus radiates inspiration. Especially after winter, students want to get outside and change things up a bit. Seeing other students enjoying their college experience definitely helps enhance mine.

Attending college robot-style

04/11/2012 by jlittleton1 1 Comment

Based on the decibel level and the foot traffic at Reese Court last weekend, you would have thought Eastern was playing an archrival and that the score was close. Real close. Buzzer-beating close.

You would have been wrong.

It was robots. Lots and lots of robots hooping it up on the basketball court.

Over the last few weeks, the EWU campus has been home to FIRST Lego robot builders and FIRST Robotics competitors, and this weekend Eastern will host hundreds of students competing in the Washington State Science Olympiad.

Besides being genuinely fun to watch, these events also create a profound love of science in young students. It’s a hardcore, full-on geek love that cannot be stopped by Jersey Shore or Ke$ha or the newest Internet time-suck (I’m looking at you, Ridiculously Photogenic Guy).

It’s the type of love that can make even the hardiest, most overworked, about-to-graduate EWU science major smile out of sheer joy.

Remember the first time you fell in love with a book or a sport or a song? Remember how you just couldn’t stop? That’s what these kids have.

Eastern is quickly becoming a top home for regional science activity. Part of it is the increased emphasis the university places on helping EWU students become fantastic engineers, programmers and designers.

Part of it is the recently built Computing and Engineering Building. It houses robots. Complex machines for testing thermal dynamics and fluid mechanics. Cyber security laboratories. Sweet 3D graphics and animation equipment.

It all comes together to make Eastern a perfect place for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

EWU students are passionate about their studies in STEM, which is why so many of them volunteer for these events. It’s a great way for EWU students to share their love of science and help educate the next generation of American scientists and inventors, but it’s also a great way to test real world skills.

After all, if you can explain difficult scientific theories and principles to children and their parents, you can definitely explain them to your peers and professors.

We’ve all read the stories about the decline of science and math education in the United States, but these are the types of events that reverse the trend.

It’s time to get your geek on.