Spring 2013 CSIS Outstanding Graduates
The CSIS Department selected Josh Brummer and Daniel Houle as the outstanding graduates for spring 2013. This award is based
on scholarly activities, academic achievement and service to the
department, university and community.
Josh Brummer- Josh graduated in May 2013 with Mathematics Comprehensive and Computer Science Comprehensive majors.Josh
represented the CSIS Department at the 2013 IT Breakfast for businesses and at
the 2013 Kearney area First Lego League competition for middle school students. Josh
served as the Vice President of Recognition of the National Residence Hall
Honorary for two years, where he created a database system for
tracking membership activities for this organization. He
served in multiple roles for the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, including roles as
Scholarship Chairman, Recruitment Chairman, and Corresponding Secretary. Additionally he held the position of
President of his residence hall for two years and led his hall to two
Homecoming sweepstakes victories. Josh
completed a summer research experience at Kansas State University where he
designed and developed an application for running 5 separate tests on conduit
strength for the USDA. Josh presented a portion of this research at the 2012
UNK Student Research Day.While
being active on campus, and dedicated to his academics, he also maintained a
part-time software developer position with Morris Printing Group here in
Kearney. Josh will be attending graduate school at Kansas State University starting in the fall of 2013.
Daniel Houle- Daniel graduated in May 2013 with an Applied Computer Science major and Business Administration minor. Daniel has a passion for mobile app
development. For his senior project, he created a gamed called Inflatable
Defense that you can download from Google Play. In this game, the user must
stop the “evil” balls from floating across the screen. The balls use better and
better artificial intelligence as the user gets to higher levels. Daniel
represented the CSIS Department at the 2013 Kearney area First Lego League
competition for middle school students, where he demonstrated his Rag Doll app.
For
his software engineering project, Daniel and another student created a textbook
exchange website and Android app for UNK students. Students can scan ISBN
numbers directly from their phone, and their software automatically updates the
website on textbooks the student wants to buy or sell. Another
example of his creativity is the location finding app that he completed for his
programming languages course. The user just has to enter the search term, such
as “golf”, and his software will open a Google map showing the directions to
the nearest golf course.
Fall 2012 CSIS Outstanding Graduates
The CSIS Department selected Rachel Decker and Ryan Levell as the outstanding graduates for fall 2012.
Ryan Level- Ryan graduated in December 2012 with a Computer Science Comprehensive Bachelor of Science degree. Ryan was a research assistant for the Geography Department during 2010 where he developed software to estimate the evapo-transpiration of satellite images and co-authored a presentation at the 2011 Nebraska Academy of Sciences, Aeronautics, & Space Science. As community service, Ryan has refereed community flag football and assisted with peewee and high school wrestling in Cozad, NE. He also served as a math and computer science tutor. Ryan completed a software quality assurance internship with Xpanxion Inc., where he earned his ISTQB Certified Tester Certification. He is currently a software development intern with Hollman Media, LLC also here in Kearney.
Rachel Decker- Rachel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology with an Emphasis in Web Development and a minor in Family Studies in December 2012. Rachel represented UNK at both the 2012 Rocky Mountain Celebration of Women in Computing and the 2010 Colorado Celebration of Women in Computing. Rachel is a member of Phi Eta Sigma - National Honors Society. She is a girl scout leader, and holds the International Software Testing Qualifications Board Foundation Level certification. For her senior project, Rachel worked with a team of students to develop an online inventory tracking/management site for the multiple store locations of Bruce furniture. She has completed multiple web development projects and is currently completing employed at Buckle, Inc. in Kearney.
2012 CSIS Alumni Inducted into UNK Athletic Hall of Fame
Bob Brindamour, CSIS class of 1994, was a four-time All-American in cross country and track for the Lopers in the 1990s. As a sophomore, he placed 14th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and led UNK to a national runner-up finish. As a junior, he placed 13th at the national meet with the UNK team placing third. As a senior, Brindamour finished 23rd and the Lopers finished fourth at the meet hosted by UNK. In 1994, Brindamour was one of the top distance runners in track setting the UNK indoor record in the 5,000 meters (14:43) and the outdoor record in the 10,000 meter (30:08.87).
At the 1994 NCAA Outdoor Championships, he placed fifth in the 10,000 meters to earn All-American honors. Bob is a Software Engineer at Baldwin Hackett & Meeks, Inc. in Omaha.Congratulations Bob!
Spring 2012 CSIS Outstanding Graduates
TYLER ADELUNG - Tyler Adelung graduated summa cum laude with honors, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science Comprehensive and Mathematics Comprehensive. Tyler served as a math and computer science tutor at the Learning Commons. He served as the vice president of ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) at UNK and is a member of KME (Kappa Mu Epsilon - Math honor society). He also worked on a Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF) project, mentored by Dr. Hastings, which he presented at NCUR (National Conference for Undergraduate Research). Last summer he participated in a Research Experience for Undergraduates at UNO funded by NSF and DOD. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison for M.S. degree in Computer Science.
KELSEY BARD - Kelsey Bard graduated summa cum laude with honors, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Computer Science and a minor in Management Information Systems. Kelsey completed an URF project, mentored by Dr. Harms, where she designed and implemented an information system for the UNK Aviation program. She then expanded this work by completing a usability study of the system. Kelsey presented this research at the 2011 and 2012 NCURs; and at the 2011 and 2012 UNK Student Research Days. Kelsey also participated in the Midwest Instruction & Computing Symposium 2011 robotics and programming competitions, held in Duluth, MN, and in the 2010 Colorado Celebration of Women in Computing, in Denver, CO. She also participated in the past three international ACM programming competitions. For the past two years, she has served as the student advisor on the CSIS Advisory Council and as the CSIS College Fellow. She also served this past year as the president of the UNK student chapter of the ACM. While being active on campus, and dedicated to her academics, she also maintained a part-time software quality assurance position with Buckle, Inc. here in Kearney, where she is currently employed.
DANIEL FARLIN - Dan Farlin graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics. Dan served as a Computer Science and Math Tutor for the past three years. He also participated in four international ACM programming competitions, placing as high as fifth place in the Midwest region. The CSIS Department hired Dan to teach our CSIS 130 lab course for the spring 2012 semester. He had full responsibility for this course, including preparing the labs, communicating with the students, maintaining the course Blackboard site, and grading the labs. While being active on campus, and dedicated to his academics, he also maintained a part-time software development position with Zyantus, here in Kearney, where he is currently employed.
- Holly Esquivel, Computing Research Association’s Outstanding Undergraduate Award, Honorable Mention, 2007.
- Holly Esquivel,CRA-W Distributed Mentor Program, Summer 2006.
- Davin Jones, Dustin Kozal, Aaron Graddy and Brett Chloupek, Peter Kiewit Student Entrepreneurial Award, 2005.
- Dustin G. Kozal, Computing Research Association’s Outstanding Undergraduate Award, Honorable Mention, 2005.