UDCC-Open-House

With the soaring popularity of cloud computing and the need to store big data, it only seems natural that the University of Utah would begin offering a program covering these important areas. Indeed, last year, the College of Engineering launched a certificate program in data center engineering.

The Utah Data Center Consortium (UDCC), a collection of industry leaders formed to help students further their education in data center management, is holding an open house Wednesday, Sept. 17 for engineering students interested in pursuing this new, high-tech certificate. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Catmull Gallery at the John E. and Marva M. Warnock Engineering Building.

Students from computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering are encouraged to look at this fascinating curriculum comprised of courses that can give them a leg up when looking for work with big companies dealing with big data.

“We want to recruit students for the certificate as well as for internships,” said Valerio Pascucci, Director for the Data Center Engineering Certificate.

Companies who have big data centers will be on hand to talk to students, including XMission, eBay, Dean-Flour, Goldman Sachs and more. The first hour will be devoted to a workshop on resume writing, and John Dehlin, co-founder and CEO of KualiCo., will deliver a keynote address. At 12:30 p.m., panel discussions will be held for students to discuss the future of data centers.

“We also have people floating around from Career Services as well as other industry members who will be answering questions,” said Brenda Peterson, academic manager for the Data Center Engineering Certificate, who is organizing the event.

Pascucci, who also is the director of the Center for Extreme Data Management Analysis and Visualization at the University of Utah, said companies that store huge volumes of data have been asking the University of Utah on how to better prepare students for this emerging field.

“We had industry people come to us and ask us to create something that would produce graduates who are ready to be placed with a company,” Pascucci said. “We are the first in the west to have a certificate and to get it successfully launched. We’ve had good response so far, and it’s growing.”

For more information on the event, contact Brenda Peterson and Valerio Pascucci at info@utahdata.org or visit utahdata.org.