Sixty-five high school students will be learning about technology in the real world today as three Iowa State student groups seek to restore the spirit of Veishea.

The CyTech Challenge, in its second year, is coordinated by the Management Information Systems (MIS) Club, the Computer Science Club and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Dan Viall, director of the program, said the event was created by the MIS Club to replace its annual Veishea float.

“[The float] seemed to be a lot of money for what our organization was getting out of it,” he said.

“We decided to come up with an event that would really bring back to Veishea what we thought its original purpose was, showcasing Iowa State and the specific opportunities available here to high school students,” he said.

High school freshmen, sophomores and juniors from around the state will participate in three activity zones, one coordinated by each sponsoring student organization, that will expose them to technology uses, Viall said.

The MIS Club activity zone features a banking database simulation where students learn how databases affect their everyday lives. Students will get an introduction to robotics by working with Legos at the IEEE zone, and they can learn about Web development with the Computer Science Club.

Representatives from corporations utilizing technology will lead the teams of students. The representatives will serve as coaches and help apply the activities to real-life situations, said Brian Streich, corporate representative from Cerner Corporation.

Streich, who will be serving as a team leader for the second time, said the CyTech Challenge is a learning experience for the corporations as well as the students.

“I had to explain some things that were everyday actions in a different way to make the students understand,” he said. “The corporations can help develop where those things are used in the real world.”

Viall said CyTech aims to give students an engaging, hands-on way to learn about technology and the career opportunities available in the field.

“We’re really focusing on having them walk away with knowledge they can use to help make decisions about the programs and schools they’re interested in,” he said.

Linda Telleen-Martens, computer applications instructor at Ames High School, brought six students to the CyTech Challenge in 1998. She said her students enjoyed the interaction with people from other high schools and the interactive sessions.

“They loved the whole sense of being in the real business world,” she said.

Telleen-Martens said her students learned about possible majors in the technology field that they hadn’t considered before.

“All of them before that day were going to be computer science majors,” she said. “They got to see a lot of other avenues and how companies and corporations are using computers in their businesses.”

The high school instructors also participate in sessions throughout the day that allow them to network with other technology teachers from across the state, said Tiffany Thielen, CyTech instructor activities coordinator.

“We’re trying to get them excited about technology,” she said. “We want to give them some ideas of what they can do in the classroom.”

Awards for categories such as best teamwork and most enthusiasm will be given at the end of the day, but Viall said the focus is on learning, not on competition.

“It’s not a challenge in the sense that one high school is competing against another,” he said. “We really want to challenge them to think about what excites them.”