Microsoft Academic Road Show

Happy New Year! The year has kicked off with a flying start. For the past month I have been trying to organise an opportunity for Microsoft to run a Road Show that will provide you with an insight into what’s new with Microsoft and also hear from other academics, industry professionals and students on some of the things they have been doing with our programmes.

With that said, I have the pleasure of inviting you to our 2010 Academic Road Show happening during the week of mid-February.

Please view the details below, I look forward to seeing you at the event.

Date:

16th February – Christchurch

Venue: Room 111 in the Erskine building, University of Canterbury, Ilam Rd, Ilam, Christchurch

Map: https://maps.canterbury.ac.nz/home/browse/1136

17^th February – Wellington

Venue: Room MY632 in the Murphy Building, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Parade, Wellington

Map: https://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/about/maps/publications/kelburn_map.pdf

 

18th February – Auckland

Venue: Case Room 2, Level 2, Business School, University of Auckland, 10-12 Grafton Road, Auckland.

Map: https://www.sges.auckland.ac.nz/public/maps/city.pdf

 

Time: 1.00-4.30pm

Agenda Below:

Time	Speaker	Content	Summary
12.30-1pm		Registration	Please try and be seated by 1pm
1.00-1.15pm	Ryan Tarak	Introduction	I have been working for Microsoft for the past threes as the Academic Advisor, my role focuses on supporting IT departments, academics and their students get awareness on our technology. Programs such as MSDNAA, Dreamspark, Imagine Cup, MS Research Opportunities are some of the programs I manage within this space.
1.15 – 2.10pm	Bill Rogers	Overview on XNA Gaming	I have taught most aspects of computer science at Waikato since starting in 1978.  I'll describe the courses I have developed for 3rd and 4th year students, the compromises involved, and the kind of project work we have been able to do. I'll explain how XNA fits our needs, providing an approachable programming environment, giving detailed access to graphic cards, and supporting asset management for games development. Finally I'd like to show everyone two game projects from last week's Global Game Jam. I particularly like these projects because they have both programming and artistic strengths.
2.10 – 2.30pm	Andrew Eberhard	Imagine Cup	Andrew Eberhard is a Senior Tutor in the Department of Information Systems and Operations Management at the University of Auckland.  Andrew will be talking about incorporating the Imagine Cup into Information Systems courses at the University of Auckland and also about the University of Auckland’s in-house Imagine Cup competition.
2.30 – 2.40pm		Break
2.40 – 3.10pm	Local Imagine Cup Team	Present idea.	Two of the top teams in the 2010 competition, present their idea in preparation for the preliminary round on the 24th of February.
3.10-4.15pm	Sky Sigal	Overview on Silverlight	Sky Sigal, senior developer at Xero, maker of the world's easiest accounting system, has been programming on and off for 25 years, over 10 of those professionally, creating enterprise solutions in various languages, on different platforms. One of his passions is being involved with the community, and he is currently running the only Silverlight User Group in Wellington. Sky will be giving an overview on Silverlight and its uses.
4.15 – 4.30pm	Ryan Tarak	Conclusion	All attendees will also go in the draw to win a $200 Prezzy Card – drawn at the end of the event.

Please rsvp to confirm your attendance at this event. If you have any questions feel free to ping me directly!