It is always important for computer science students to stay up to date on all the latest technology and products available on the market. But with the help of Microsoft, one student at ETSU not only takes this idea to heart but provides his fellow students the chance to do the same.
Adam Ogle, a senior in the computer science department, was recently chosen as the Microsoft Student Partner-Technical Representative, a position more popularly known as the Microsoft Student Ambassador, for ETSU.
Ogle applied for this position after Dr. Don Bailes, a professor in the computer science department, recommended it to him last semester. “People [in the past] who have filled this position have been outstanding students, or at least students that know what they are doing,” Bailes said. “They have to be outgoing enough to meet with students and go to Microsoft meetings . Adam fit that mold.” Microsoft describes the students who normally fill this position on their Web site as “a select group of undergraduate and graduate students in technical majors who share two passions – a passion for software development and a passion for sharing their knowledge with other students.”
Ogle said, “The goal of the position is to promote Microsoft’s products as solutions for students. Students will listen to another student before they listen to a marketing person.”
Ambassadors are informed of upcoming Microsoft solutions and are trained to use them and asked to recommend those solutions to students.
“I’ve found that the best way to inform students of Microsoft solutions is just by word of mouth,” Ogle said. “I’ll catch conversations about how people want to try out game programming but find straight DirectX or OpenGL code extremely confusing. I just mention XNA and they usually ask a few questions about it . it is nothing revolutionary but it gets the word out, and that is what I enjoy about it.” XNA is a game development studio driven by C# and .NET.
Some may wonder if this position is solely about praising Microsoft and their products, but Ogle claims otherwise. “I know everyone will want to know if I’m a ‘Microsoft fan-boy’ . but to my surprise, the program recommends that you don’t try to be one. If there is another product that can do the task required better than Microsoft’s then use it.”
Being a Microsoft Ambassador for Ogle has meant developing a partnership with the ETSU Association of Computing Machinery student chapter. “One of the suggestions from Microsoft was that I partner with a student club, usually clubs need speakers and events and I need people to attend them . so it works out rather well,” Ogle said.
Ogle will be organizing many events and presentations during his time as Ambassador including this Friday’s Halo 3 event. This Halo event, organized by Ogle with the help of Microsoft and the ACM, will be held Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. in Nicks Hall, Room 110. There will be prizes given away to students including Halo 3 and other Xbox 360 games. “And I am going to do a short blurb on XNA and on the Imagine Cup,” Ogle said, “just enough to get people interested, I’ll be doing more in-depth talks on both at a later date. Basically, we’re celebrating the launch of Halo . underneath we want to get students aware of me and my purpose.”
“I’ve always loved playing with new technology . learning new languages and techniques and such,” Ogle said. He also recommends this position to other students who may be thinking about applying in the future. They should be outgoing and also love technology and be willing to talk to others about it, he said.
“He [Ogle] is very accomplished in what he does, he is very well liked by faculty and other students which we consider important in this role,” Bailes said. “He has a great work ethic … I think he is doing a great job.

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