UNO students later
hired by Gallup include, from left: Seth Warrick, Scott Blaine, Mike Brandon,
Derek Jensen, Vanessa Wagner. Gallup Chief Information Officer Philip Ruhlman
is at far right. The group posed outside Gallup University's riverfront
building.
Gallup internship program
bearing fruit
Students transition to full-time employees
One month after the Gallup Organization opened
its impressive riverfront university campus in Omaha, Chief Information Officer
Philip Ruhlman got a visit from Dr. Gerald Wagner, distinguished research
fellow at UNO's College of Information Science & Technology (IS&T).
"Dr. Wagner walked
into my office and said he had ideas that might work for us," Ruhlman recalls.
"He talked about data visualization and digital interfaces. He explained
several ideas that he wanted his students to be able to explore in a business
atmosphere."
Wagner asked Ruhlman
if he could incorporate the ideas and some IS&T students in an internship
program.
"Within a week,"
Ruhlman says, "we had 10 students here."
That was 2003. In
the four years since, Gallup has shown its commitment to making internships
available to UNO students, employing as many as 20 at a time.
"In technology and
in the areas of data visualization and utilization, you need to continually
bring in new ideas," Ruhlman says. "I want an environment where people say,
'Have you ever tried this?' or 'Have you ever tried doing it this way?'
"That's what I want
the intern program to do. Every six months to a year, we get a constant stream
of new ideas."
There's more. Gallup
has built a high-tech visualization lab at the riverfront campus where UNO
interns and Gallup associates team to develop ways to revolutionize the way
data is presented.
This fall marks the
third year Gallup has hosted Wagner's Visual Storytelling and Data
Visualization seminar series. Data visualization and visual storytelling refer
to the presentation through computer software of animated, interactive digital
images that enable a decision maker to better analyze and understand complex
information.
The series brings to
Omaha some of the brightest academic and business minds. The speakers, each an
expert in a variety information technology (IT) subjects, address the two dozen
students in Wagner's data visualization class held at Gallup, as well as make
presentations that are open and free to the public.
"The room for the
public seminars holds 120 people," Ruhlman says, "and we fill it."
Vanessa Wagner, a
Gallup technical project administrator (TPA), took the data visualization class
from Dr. Wagner (no relation) as an undergraduate. She says it provided insight
into the field and the Gallup organization — and got her hooked on both.
"The class is a
great combination, having the forum to exchange ideas and use the technology,
coupled with the exposure to Gallup," she says. "I loved it."
Ruhlman is proud of
Gallup's reputation for hiring top-quality, innovative people and treating them
as more than employees. "It's a career and it's a family. It becomes your life,
yet the company really stresses a balance between work and your private life."
He says 10 former
interns or UNO graduates now are Gallup associates.
Derek Jensen is a
former intern who works as a Gallup programmer. "The people here are great, and
their willingness to teach us about the business operations has been especially
valuable."
Scott Blaine agrees.
"The company is really a group of amazing people, very intelligent and very
visionary," says Blaine, a Gallup TPA and former intern who is a senior
majoring in management information systems (MIS) at UNO.
Mike Brandon earned
his master's degree in MIS from UNO and now works as a Gallup TPA. He says his
background in database management, as well as several courses taught by Dr.
Peter Wolcott at the College of IS&T, made becoming part of the Gallup
staff "an easy fit." Each points to Gallup's cutting edge hardware and software
as a draw for innovative young minds.
Seth Warrick, who
obtained his Gallup internship through his work with Dr. Wagner, says Gallup's
work environment nurtures new ideas. "With the real-world and international
projects I've been involved in and the technology Gallup makes available to us,
I know I've learned more working here than if I'd only taken the classes and
not had the additional opportunities and experiences."
The idea for
Gallup's visualization lab sprang from a meeting between Wagner and Ruhlman,
whose background includes significant theater work.
"I understand the
power of moving people through the visual medium," Ruhlman says. "That is where
we want to take Gallup and our clients.
"Dr. Wagner and I
share the concept of taking very gifted artists, whether their gift is art or
music or dance, and who also have a gift for technology, and bringing the two
together in an incredible partnership."
The UNO interns have
represented a wide range of disciplines, including fine arts, computer science,
MIS, communication, geography and mathematics. They are paid by Gallup.
The lab has served
as a high-tech workshop for them and for Gallup associates. "We have musicians
and painters, thespians and potters, computer science and MIS people all
working together, utilizing their particular gifts of expression to put data on
the screen for our clients," Ruhlman says. "We consider them digital artists."
Wagner also has
become a valuable part of the Gallup Organization as a member of the Gallup
Senior Scientist program.
The elite group
includes Dr. Daniel Kahneman, Princeton University professor of psychology and
public policy and winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics.
Ruhlman says that as
with the other members of the Senior Scientist program, Wagner was selected as
an expert in a specific field of study. "We consider Dr. Wagner to be a world
expert in the field of data visualization. He is leading Gallup into new areas
of design and development in data visualization."
Ruhlman was named
Gallup's first CIO in 2000. He was recruited to Gallup 17 years ago by his
wife, Jeannie. A student of theater, Ruhlman professes a love for the fine arts
and a particular fondness for directing.
"In computer
science, in business and in the IT side of business, every individual is like
an actor," he says. "At the end of the day, it's all got to come together in a
performance that works."
When he came to
Gallup, the corporation had a "handful of computers and maybe 10 people."
Today, the equipment is state-of-the-art and there are 175 people devoted to IT
in 52 offices around the world.
Despite the opportunities
the company presents, Ruhlman says Gallup is not an easy place to get hired.
"It takes talent to work here," he says, "and because of that, it attracts
talent."
Like the caliber of
students at the College of IS&T.
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Students and parents watch as two LEGO robots meet in a
circle on the PKI atrium floor. Instructor Eberly, in striped shirt at center,
rates the outcome.
IS&T workshops hits once more with middle school, high school
students
Computer programming, Web design, learning
Macromedia Flash MX and building LEGO robots all translated into fun this
summer for the 80 middle school and high school students who took part in the
College of Information Science & Technology summer workshops.
Six workshops, an increase
from four last summer, drew the maximum number of students for each week-long
session. Held from June 4 through Aug 3, most were filled by the first week of
May, says Judy Kelsey, IS&T student recruiter, academic advisor and
organizer of the workshops.
"This was our fifth
year and our third year in a row we've filled the workshops, now that more
parents and students have learned about them," Kelsey says. "Because of
software licensing, many of the sessions have limited seating. Those are the
ones that fill fast."
She says the
students, who ranged in age from 11 to 17 and came from a variety of area
schools, appreciated the opportunity to work on unusual projects, such as
building small robots in the LEGO Mindstorms workshop, and the chance to
utilize the classrooms and equipment at the Peter Kiewit Institute.
"The reviews overall
were excellent. In particular, the kids really heaped praise on the
instructors."
The instructors and
their workshops:
LEGO Mindstorms:
instructor Bill Eberly, sophomore majoring in computer science (CS), assisted
by Marty Ertz, a CS graduate last spring;
MAYA 3D Animation:
instructor London Yang, fine arts graduate spring 2007, assisted by Ertz;
Adobe Photoshop and
Flash MX: instructor Rick Knudtson, freshman majoring in CS, assisted by Brian
Glenn, a sophomore majoring in CS;
Web Development
& Design: instructor Jeff Blackmore, a dual CS/math major who graduated in
the spring and also serves as a part-time academic advisor, assisted by Brent
Horky, a freshman, and Scott Scholar, dual major in CS/math;
Blast to the Past in
Video Games: instructor Patrick Cavanaugh, a CS graduate in the spring of 2004
who also serves as a part-time instructor at IS&T.
Though he has served
as a teaching assistant for the Intro to Programming (CIST 1404) lab since
January 2006, it was Eberly's first time teaching the LEGO workshop.
"The best part for
me was seeing these kids so excited to learn," he says.
"I was really
surprised by how enthusiastic they were. Many of them would want to know what
we were working on the next day so they could go home and start thinking about
their designs. Quite a few even came back with printouts of designs they found
online."
Eberly says some of
his students suggested he teach a more-advanced workshop next year. "My main
goal was to show the students that computer science isn't a boring field and
that things like programming can be fun," he says.
"Based on the
enthusiasm and responses I got from both the students and their parents, I
think I did that."
More photos and some
of the students' work can be viewed online at www.ist.unomaha.edu/index.php?p=workshops/mainWorkshops
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New degree offered in Information Assurance
A new undergraduate
degree in information assurance continues to expand the opportunities available
at the College of Information Science & Technology.
Information
assurance (IA) is an emerging and rapidly expanding area of study that examines
the design, implementation and support of secure information systems. Dean
Hesham Ali says offering a bachelor of science in IA will help prepare UNO
students for sought-after positions in industry and research as well as provide
a solid foundation for graduate programs.
The need for secure
information systems has become a paramount concern as the computer-enabled,
Internet-connected, digital-based global society of the 21st century emerges,
Ali says.
"It's true that corporations and
organizations that do not concern themselves with computer security and
information assurance will not be in business for long," he says. "The
resources and faculty we have in place will make this a popular major almost
immediately."
Undergraduate
concentrations in IA first were offered at UNO in the fall semester of 2003.
Between fall 2003 and fall 2006, 24 students have completed an information
assurance concentration in either the undergraduate computer science or the
information systems degree program.
Courses that will
serve as the foundation for the new degree have seen strong and increasing
enrollments in the past few years.
The new degree will
benefit from the Nebraska University Consortium on Information Assurance
(NUCIA), headquartered at The Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI).
NUCIA (pronounced
"new-sha") teaches and trains IA students and professionals, conducts applied
research and forms partnerships with government entities, corporations and
organizations to collaborate on the theory and practice of information assurance.
It is a designated National Center of Academic Excellence in Information
Assurance by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security
Agency (NSA), and offers National Science Foundation Cybercorp scholarships for
UNO students pursuing an information assurance degree or concentration.
NUCIA Director
Blaine Burnham is an IS&T senior research fellow with experience in a
variety of IA leadership positions at the NSA, Los Alamos National Laboratory
and Sandia Laboratory.
"This degree has the
potential to offer a truly substantial career path to our bright young
students," Burnham says. "The computer security aspect of the degree will prove
especially intriguing to students who desire to tap into their cleverness while
working to thwart ambitiously wicked cyber criminals."
A degree in IA would
provide many employment opportunities, ranging from industry and government to
academic and research institutes. It also would afford students the opportunity
to fulfill their general requirements by including several focus areas of
study, including a Middle Eastern Focus, an Eastern European Focus, a
Post-Soviet Eurasia Focus, a Latin America Focus and a Western Pacific Focus.
"Many of our
students working in this area have been sought out to work at area businesses
and government agencies while still taking classes," Ali says. "Having them out
in the community has been a win-win situation for our students, our college and
the business community."
Ali says the degree
is consistent with the University of Nebraska's Strategic Framework, the UNO
strategic plan and the mission of IS&T and PKI.
"This new degree not
only gives our students a new and compelling education option, it also will
provide much needed experts for our area and regional businesses, agencies and
governments," he says. "It's a tremendously positive addition to the college
and the university."
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