350+ students converge on Digitized 2013

Submitted by Brittany Melnyk
Internship and Outreach Coordinator
Department of Computer Science

Digitized is a one-day event for high school students to promote innovation, career opportunities and higher studies in Information Technology (IT).

The Department of Computer Science invites students who express an interest in computer science from across Saskatoon and surrounding areas to participate in Digitized. Throughout the day, students participate in various activates such as hands-on workshops in the computer labs on campus.

These workshops include iPhone & Android mobile programming, robotics, animation, digital media, and creating video games. Students also attend speaker presentations, from experts in the industry, with topics such as gaming, mobile, entrepreneurship, software development, cyber-security and bioinformatics.

This year’s keynote speakers were Jordan Schidlowsky and Arlin Schaffel, from Noodlecake Studios in Saskatoon, who recently released the highly addictive and popular Super Stickman Golf 2 mobile game. Students had an opportunity to explore various video games that were developed by upper-year Computer Science students at the University of Saskatchewan.

Overall, 350 high school students were in attendance, ranging from grade 10, 11, and 12. The event wouldn't be a success without the help from over 40 volunteers, a number of high school teachers and sponsors. The Department of Computer Science organizes Digitized in collaboration with the Saskatoon Industry-Education Council (SIEC).

We celebrated the 10th year anniversary of Digitized in 2013. Digitized has grown substantially over the past decade as technology has become ubiquitous and integrated in our daily lives. The demand to attend Digitized is at its peak, we have developed student waiting lists during registration over the past few years.

“Digitized allows us to reach out to high school students with ranging levels of interest in Computer Science, and inform them of all the possibilities – from solving everyday real-world problems to building the next addictive social media tool," said Brittany Melnyk, outreach coordinator and organizer for Digitized in the Department of Computer Science.

"Encouraging the next generation to explore Computer Science will make the future an exciting place. Through Digitized, our goal is also to bring awareness to high-in demand and exponentially growing career opportunities in Computer Science. ” 

By creating IT awareness among high school students, Digitized hopes to spark an interest in the field of Computer Science and encourage them to explore the endless opportunities in IT.