MATC IT TEAM PLACES IN TOP TEN AT NATIONAL COLLEGIATE COMPETITION
Two teams of information technology (IT) students from Madison Area Technical College (MATC) placed in the top ten in a national PC Troubleshooting competition hosted by the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) at its National Collegiate Conference in Detroit last month. The students, members of the Madison Information Technology Association (MITA) student club, competed against 121 teams of students from 70 schools representing both two- and four-year colleges.
Both MATC teams qualified for the finals round by first earning combined team scores among the top ten on a written exam. In the final stage of the competition, students met the challenge of fixing a PC that did not function due to 15 different problems. Judges evaluated students on how quickly they resolved problems and how well they documented repairs.
The competition offered MATC IT students an opportunity show off their skills in hardware, software and network maintenance that will lead many to lucrative careers in the industry. The average starting salary for PC maintenance and administration professionals is about $36,000.
MATC IT students Quang Duong and Jake Vondra, both of Madison, earned third place; and the team of Steve Hallet and Tanner Schultz, also Madison residents, received honorable mention for placing among the top ten teams. Three other MATC teams competed in the Network Design area of the competition including the teams of Aaron Storm and Pablo Lues, both of Madison; Juan C. Villanueva of Madison and Robert Betts of Belleville; and Steve Hallet and Tanner Schultz. Most of the students are in MATC's IT-Network Specialist and IT-Network Security programs.
The IT-Network Specialist program prepares qualified individuals to administer, install, maintain and troubleshoot data and voice networks. The IT-Network Security program provides comprehensive instruction in those aspects of computing systems and networks that have an important impact on data confidentiality and assurance.
IT instructor and MITA club advisor Mac Robertson congratulated the teams and thanked the college community for its support, "These achievements reflect the quality of the curriculum at MATC. Our students' ability to participate is enhanced by the support they've received from faculty, staff and our Technical Service department."
MATC is one of the largest of the Wisconsin Technical College System's 16 colleges. It provides "real world smart" education through a comprehensive curriculum of technical, liberal arts and science, adult basic education and life enrichment studies and activities, as well as customized employee training. MATC offers associate degrees, vocational diplomas and certificates, and non-degree courses in more than 140 programs of study. The college serves parts of 12 counties in southcentral Wisconsin and offers instruction through five campuses and numerous community locations throughout the district.
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Modified:
April 30, 2007
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