Technology Exploration Sessions

9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Check your registration packet for your specific assignment.

3D Game Development, Room 145
In this popular, long-standing technology exploration session, students will be introduced to the basics of game development as they create a Pac Man-style game in PlayCanvas that interacts with the user.
Facilitated by Garritt Grandberg, Vice President Technology & Engineering at Visionary and indie game developer

3D Web Apps, Room 147
Students in this technology exploration session will be introduced to the three.js JavaScript 3D library used for creating and displaying animated 3D computer graphics as they create a Minecraft-style mini game.
Facilitated by Jessa Sparks, Sr. Software Engineer at Principal Financial Group

Finch Robots, Room 1168
A favorite session before the pandemic, students in this technology exploration session will program Finch 2.0 robots to sense, think and act as they complete fun activities and challenges. Robot soccer anyone?
Facilitated by Aisha Steege, Professional Software Consultant at Lean TECHniques

Intro to Programming with Python, Room 148
This session introduces first-time Tech Camp students to the Python programming language and basic coding principles as they create simple, interactive programs.
Facilitated by Kiara Moyer, Sr. Software Engineer, and Sampada Teggihal, Software Engineer, at Coviance

Maker Camp: Agile Manifesto & Methods (Part 2), Room 1170
Veteran Tech Camp students will learn about the various methods of Agile as they develop a special product to be used by all Tech Camp students later for a group challenge on Thursday at lunch.
Facilitated by Michelle Lange, Director of Product Management and QA, and Elliott Beetz, Product Manager at International Association of Better Business Bureaus, with technical guidance from Shayne Rich, Staff Engineer at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group

Lunch & Grade Activity

12:00 noon to 1:00 pm, Fellowship Hall/Cafeteria

Fazoli’s pasta

Technology Exploration Sessions

9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Check your registration packet for your specific assignment.

Arduino, Room 143
In this technology exploration session, students will be introduced to Arduino, an open-source hardware platform for building digital devices and challenged to explore different applications.
Facilitated by Shayne Rich, Staff Engineer at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group

Data Analysis & Visualization, Room 145
Students in this technology exploration session will get a sneak peek into the world of data science with Python and visualizing data with interactive Jupyter notebooks.
Facilitated by James Bartlett, Sr. Business Intelligence Analyst at Des Moines University and Erin Howland, Masters in Data Science from Bellevue University

Intro to Web Development, Room 148
This technology exploration session introduces first-time Tech Camp students to the basics of web development including HTML, CSS and JavaScript as they complete a simple hands-on project of creating a digital piano. Ta-dah!
Facilitated by Kevin Holmes, Sr. Technical Architect and Devon Kooker, Software Engineer at QCI

Maker Camp: Projects (Part 1), Room 1170
Making is cool and fun
Veteran Tech Camp students will decide on a cool and fun project and then bring it to life with the maker mindset.
Facilitated by Shun Yoshida, Sr. Technical Product Mgr at Compressor Controls Corp

Web Sites with React and Next.js, Room 1168
Students in this technology exploration session will see how quickly they can create their own personal web site by using Next.js (a React JavaScript framework) and some other tools web developers use on daily basis.
Facilitated by Luke Dunscombe, Software Consultant at Lean TECHniques

Lunch & Group Challenge

12:00 noon to 1:00 pm, Fellowship Hall/Cafeteria

Cactus Bob’s BBQ sandwiches

Technology Exploration Sessions

9:00 am to 12:00 noon

Check your registration packet for your specific assignment.

Chromebooks for Developers, Room 145
Learn how to install and use the development flow of Visual Studio Code and Git on a Chromebook with Linux developer tools.
Facilitated by Ethan Spoelstra, DevOps & Infrastructure Engineer at Lean TECHniques

Design Thinking and User Experience, Room 1168
Students will explore how companies like Apple and Google design awesome products by learning about solving problems and validating ideas through the proven process of design thinking.
Facilitated by Barry Closser UX Consultant at LeanTECHniques

Intro to Electronics, Room 143
In this technology exploration session, students will be introduced to the basics of electronics and designing a circuit with a breadboard.
Facilitated by Shayne Rich, Staff Engineer at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group

Intro to Physical Computing, Room 148
First-time Tech Camp students are introduced to the BBC micro:bit computer and its capabilities in this technology exploration session of physical computing.
Facilitated by JJ Sandvig, Director of Product Engineering at Bunchball

LED Wall, Room 147/Auditorium
Students will learn about the use of LED walls in event production and rendering content to display on various configurations.
Facilitator: Pete MacNaughton, Production Manager at Bow & Arrow Communications

Maker Camp: Projects (Part 2), Room 1170
Veteran Tech Camp students will decide on a cool and fun project and then bring it to life with the maker mindset.
Facilitated by Shun Yoshida, Sr. Technical Product Mgr at Compressor Controls Corp

Lunch & Group Pictures

12:00 noon to 1:00 pm, Fellowship Hall/Cafeteria

Pappa John’s pizza

Wear your Tech Camp 2022 shirt with all your new friends as we get some snaps.

Closing Session

1:00 to 3:00 pm, Auditorium

In this closing camp session, attendees will hear the story of the Chief Technology Officer from a local FinTech startup. The closing session will also include special recognition of seniors and scholarship recipients as well as student project demonstrations from Tech Camp 2022. Family is invited.
Keynote by Anthony (Tony) Kioko, Engineering Manager at John Deere

Celebration

After closing ceremony, Fellowship Hall/Cafeteria

Celebrate camp and enjoy some yummy cake! Family is invited.