A little over a year, on December 11, 2012, the auditorium of the Rectory, Campus AC Simões, in Maceió, was completely packed with students excited about the possibilities that were emerging in the area of ??Information Technology. On occasion, launched the first BlackBerry Technology Center in Latin America, located at the Federal University of Alagoas. The BlackBerry is a Canadian company that produces a line of smartphones and tablets, focused on the corporate market.
At the ceremony, along with representatives of the company came from the United States and Canada, this was the representative of the BlackBerry in Brazil, Demian Borba, who is an alumnus of the Institute of Computing Ufal. A student UFAL reach a high position in a company of information technology has become a stimulus to students who were attending the launch, with many projects for the future.
During the year 2013, the Tech Center UFAL assembled a team of teachers, under the coordination of Professor Leandro Salles, and students at all levels of training. The Blackberry encourages the discovery of new talent in development, can contribute to the development of innovative products with good market acceptance, and the Ufal Technology Center is serving the purpose. “Here we have about 25 students, between fellows and other volunteers, the beginning of the course to master, and even some high school students,” said Leandro.
coordinator highlighted the developments in the academic production and marketing provided by partnership with Blackberry. “We are producing products for use by the company and the experience of coping is shared in the form of scientific papers, ie, it is a stimulus for entrepreneurship and for the academic and scientific training of these students,” said Leandro Salles.
Rodrigo Peixoto, Professor integrating laboratory staff reported the training promoted by the company. “Students participate in meetings where the language used is English, already involving people from all over the world. They discuss real projects, focused on the development of innovative products, and already begin life faced academic challenges they will encounter in the labor market. This is very important for training them, “said the teacher.
Among the various products developed in the Blackberry Tech Center, the team highlights the development tool that is currently used in the centers of Balckberry had a contribution from the Ufal group. “The company also created a competition between the four centers currently exist in Brazil, for creating games for the Blackberry platform, and we present 160 proposals. Moreover, we have an app for Fitness, for smartphone, with step count and setting goals, being very well accepted, “said Leandro.
Opportunities
Students who are part of the Technology Center are very excited about the opportunities. Philip Crispin is one of them. “I’m preparing better for future work in a technology company, with opportunities to present innovative proposals to contribute and stand out. Viewing products that you created in the shops and feel the feedback from the public is a rewarding experience,” said the student.
Larissa Artemis is the second period of graduate and is now in the laboratory. “It’s a completely new area for me. Passed a Blackberry and started training a month ago. Computing is a vast area and it takes experience to feel the various possibilities and before deciding the playing field,” mused the student . Even younger, Yan Ramos, 16, already feels veteran. It is high school student in the college of Correia Neves in the Prado, and is in the group since the beginning of 2013. “I did a technical course in the area and has worked as an intern in startups. Now I’m having this experience of working in a lab at the University,” said the student.
Other partnerships
cooperation with Blackberry opened doors for the approximation with other companies in the area of ??Information Technology. “Today we are here at IBM, Epson laboratories and more recently established a partnership with MikroTik, soon to install a Tech Center company in Ufal. Brazil We are the first university to participate in the Academy program Mikrotik,” reported Professor Leandro Salles.
According
Rodrigo Peixoto, companies provide equipment, financial support and scholarships. “And the most important is that we have freedom of labor and ownership of what is produced in Ufal. Accordingly, we have more conditions positioned well our students in the job market, and he also has the option to continue their academic and devote to research. To create a product it takes a good level of research, yielding preparation of articles. Accordingly, academic training is also driven, “says the teacher.