Central Oregon students explore computer science careers at OSU-Cascades showcase
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- About 60 Central Oregon high school students spent part of Friday at OSU-Cascades exploring the computer science field, meeting with college students and seeing how the industry is evolving.
The event, held in Tykeson Hall, was part of OSU-Cascades’ community engagement efforts to connect local high school students and teachers with the growing campus and open the door to future collaboration.
During the visit, students from Madras, Bend, Summit and Mountain View high schools viewed capstone projects developed by OSU-Cascades undergraduates. Those projects included software designed to detect defects in chip manufacturing, an app for planning camping trips, a system that could help visually impaired people hike outdoors, and a tank system used to grow and monitor seaweed above water.
Abbey Hankins, a senior at OSU-Cascades, said the showcase was meant to challenge a common misconception about artificial intelligence and the future of programming.
“In the computer science industry, there’s a big rhetoric that artificial intelligence is taking a lot of low-level development jobs,” Hankins said. “But that’s not the case at all. There’s actually going to be more of a need for low-level programmers and junior developers.”
One college team said it tried using artificial intelligence to streamline its project, but ultimately discarded 500 lines of AI-generated code and replaced it with just three lines written manually.
Rory O’Shay, a senior at Bend High, said the visit made OSU-Cascades more appealing as a college option.
“Today was really cool. It definitely makes OSU, if not, OSU look more attractive as a school, particularly for undergrad,” O’Shay said.
Students also showed interest in projects that used hardware and sensors, technologies they said they have not yet worked with in their own classes.
OSU-Cascades will be holding more, similar events in the future. You can sign up for email alerts for events here.
