Bishal Niroula
Staff Writer
The Troy University IT Society is hosting a Global Azure Bootcamp on Saturday, April 27 in Bibb Graves Hall starting at 8 a.m.
The Global Azure Bootcamp is an annual global event sponsored by Microsoft which aims to spread enthusiasm and knowledge about Microsoft’s cloud service Azure.
According to Sven Aelterman, the director of information technology and lecturer of information systems, the bootcamp provides an opportunity for students to network with IT professionals.
“It provides one of the best opportunities to put yourself in front of IT professionals and say, ‘I don’t just have a resume on paper, I am actually standing in front of you.’”
“Fifty percent of our attendees come from the IT industry who are coming just like our students to learn about Azure,” Aelterman added.
This year, 21 speakers are invited to participate in the bootcamp, including six Troy faculty members and five Microsoft professionals. The keynote speakers will be Doug Turnure, Charlie Butler and Jayson Berger, all of whom are Microsoft professionals.
This is the sixth year of the Global Azure Bootcamp, and Troy University IT Society has hosted the last four of the events.
Everyone who attends will receive a certificate of attendance.
According to Mary Joann Rouse, a lecturer of information systems and a faculty adviser for the IT Society, Troy University faculty members will also be attending the event.
“It’s important to know that our faculties are participating in the event,” Rouse said. “It allows the faculty to demonstrate you have to grow professionally all throughout the career and gives them a better point to interact with the students.”
Phyllis Kiarie, a faculty adviser for the IT Society and a lecturer of information systems, said this is an opportunity to gain knowledge outside of a classroom setting.
“(We hope) the students meet with those experienced people, interact and network with them and find out how they can translate what they are learning in class to workplace experience,” Kiarie said.
In addition to sessions about Microsoft Azure, the bootcamp also features a “Women in Technology” panel composed of four professional women in the IT industry. The panel includes Sandra Thomas and Phyllis Kiarie (both lecturers at Troy University), Angel Johnson, the director of information technology services at Troy University and Robin Hunt, the co-founder of ThinkData Solutions.
“We will be having a conversation about what we do and what to expect in the industry,” Kiarie said.
The Troy University IT Society is a student-led group which organizes events like this. The group decides during the fall which events to organize throughout the year.
