Message from BDPA Cincinnati Chapter President (May 2018)

Johnson, Harrigan, Harrigan and Murph

Good morning BDPA Members, I am prompted to give you this update because I attended a graduation celebration for one of our BDPA students last night. I will additionally update you on three other BDPA Students in attendance. This was Hadiya Harrigan’s celebration. From left to right Christian Johnson, Hasani Harrigan, Hadiya Harrigan and Austin Murph are shown in the photo.

Christian graduated this spring from North Carolina A&T State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and he has accepted a Product Engineering position at Microsoft in Dallas Texas.

Second from the left is Hasani Harrigan. Hasani is a junior at Tuskegee University majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Hasani has been selected for an internship at Boeing this summer.

Frank Hill

Third from the left is Hadiya Harrigan. Hadiya graduated Summa Cum Laude from Tuskegee University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Hadiya will be attending Duke University in the fall, pursuing Masters and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Hadiya will intern at P&G this summer.

Austin Murph is on the far right. Austin is currently attending the University of Cincinnati at Blue Ash. Austin plans to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Ohio State University in the fall.

As a long time, instructor for BDPA and Cincinnati State, I am continuously energized by the success of students that I have taught. I further believe that there is a great need for people to teach technology at any level and I encourage everyone to actively "get in the game". You are needed and your impact will last forever!

Have a great day!
Frank Hill
President, BDPA Cincinnati Chapter

BDPA Cincinnati Chapter Competes at 2016 HSCC Championship

2016 HSCC Team

by Frank Hill

BDPA Cincinnati Chapter has trained High School students at Cincinnati State Technical College for the past 8 years.    The camp has 2 phases. Phase 1 is a 13-week program that trains area students on a variety of technical topics (Software, Robotics, 3D Printing, and Automation).

The second phases lasts 30 weeks and takes place on Saturdays. This phase prepares students for competition in a National High School Computer Competition.  Up to 10  students are trained during this phase.  The top five (5) students are selected to travel to a conference and compete for prizes and scholarships money.  Students are also eligible for scholarships based on academic and community service accomplishments.

BDPA Cincinnati chapter HSCC team traveled to Atlanta for the 38th annual BDPA Technology Conference on August 10-13, 2016. Teams participated in a 7.5 hour programming activity that required them to complete a secure, mobile responsive web site from requirements set by corporate judges. Students develop an User Interface, Middleware and Database during this period.   Students were then required to present their project to a team of judges and their code was inspected to ensure proper implementation. 

BDPA Cincinnati chapter HSCC team was Yaw Asante (Walnut Hills HS),  Jacob Koeninger (Campbell County HS),  Jalal Sylvester (Mason HS), Julian Pierre (Lakota West HS) and James Whitfield (Walnut Hill HS).  Our team placed in fifth place this year.  The team gained broad exposure to successful IT professionals and inspirational entrepreneurs.  Additionally, two BDPA Cincinnati students were recognized with $3000 scholarships from The Oracle Corporation. A total of $146,000 in scholarship money was distributed to high school and college students from all over the country.   The two winners were: Yaw Asante and Hasani Harrigan (Tuskegee University). 

Cincinnati State Technical College was also recognized at the conference as a Silver Level sponsor for ongoing support of BDPA training programs. BDPA training programs have help launch many successful young people over the years and it would not have been possible without great support from many people at Cincinnati State Technical College.

We are extremely proud and grateful for the support!!

Cincinnati Students Earn $15,625 in STEM Scholarships at BDPA Conference

BDPA Cincinnati chapter, led by chapter president Dalric Webb (GE), sent a contingent of seven high school and college students to the 36th annual BDPA Technology Conference earlier this month in Indianapolis. Those students participated in a variety of STEM-based competitions that including a high school computer competition (HSCC), IT showcase and mobile application showcase. These young people came home from the conference with $15,625 in college scholarships!

The chapter trained 14 students at Cincinnati State Technical College in a computer camp that met for 4-5 hours each Saturday for the first six months of the year.  The computer camp was led by volunteer instructors Deborah Prince (xpedx) and Frank Hill (Hiltronics Computer Associates).

L-R: Dalric Webb, Yaw Asante, Jon Carr, Wayne Hicks,
Austin Murph, Deborah Prince, Hasani Harrigan, Frank Hill

Four high school students were selected to compete as part of the chapter's national HSCC team in a comprehensive 3-part competition (oral, written and 7-hour coding).  The The four HSCC students are: Yaw Asante (Walnut Hills High School), Jon Carr (St. Xavier High School), Hasani Harrigan (Seven Hills High School) and Austin Murph (Seven Hills High School). These four students earned a 5th place finish (out of 46 eligible teams) during two days of the competition. Each of these students earned a $500 Jesse Bemley Scholarship as a result of their high performance.

Hasani Harrigan added to his college scholarship booty by earning a $3,125 college scholarship from Oracle. The Oracle Corporation Scholarship goes to student members pursuing careers in engineering, computer and information science, computer engineering or mathematics. Hasani is a very deserving young man who has been engaged in STEM-training from BDPA over the past three years.

Dylan Gunn is a college student member who left Cincinnati to attend North Carolina A&T University. Dylan won a $5,000 Eli Lilly Scholarship for BDPA Students. The scholarship recognizes outstanding minority students, with an interest in information technology, who make significant contributions to society. Applicants must excel academically, show exceptional leadership potential, and make an impact on their communities through service to others.

Another remarkable talent who shined brightly during this annual technology conference was Itobore Odje (University of Cincinnati). Itobore participated in the 1st annual BDPA Mobile Application Showcase and came away with the silver medal as well as a $5,500 college scholarship funded by State Farm.

BDPA plans to honor each of these students ... including BDPA IT Showcase participant Brian Pulliam (Sinclair Community College) ... at its 18th annual BDPA Education Banquet on Sunday, October 4, 2014 at Receptions in Fairfield, Ohio. We encourage you to join us for this wonderful event in which we have a chance to celebrate the positive accomplishments of students and volunteers in our community!

Related articles

• Cincinnati Students Prepare to Compete at National BDPA STEM-based Championships
• HSCC Student Spotlight: BDPA Cincinnati
• BDPA and Eli Lilly Offer $2,500 Scholarship to Minority Students

Cincinnati Students Prepare to Compete at National BDPA STEM-based Championships

L-R: Brian Pulliam, Hasani Harrigan, Deborah Prince, Frank Hill, Austin Murph, Jon Carr and Yaw Asante.

BDPA Cincinnati chapter is sending six students to the 2014 BDPA Technology Conference to compete in the National High School Computer Competition (HSCC) championship, IT Showcase and Mobile Application Showcase.   These young people will leave Cincinnati on Wednesday, August 6, 2014 and our scheduled to return back to the Queen City on Sunday, August 10, 2014.

Itobore Odje

Itobore Odje represents Cincinnati in the 1st annual BDPA Mobile Applications Showcase. She is currently a student at the University of Cincinnati.

Brian Pulliam is an alumni of the HSCC program, finishing as high as 5th place in the 2013 National BDPA Technology conference. He is currently a freshman at Sinclair College. This year Brian provides moral support to the HSCC team while he competes for the first time in the BDPA IT Showcase. He plans to present on the topic, 'Telepresence Robotics in the Military'.

The four high school students that will represent the chapter at the National BDPA HSCC championship next month are new to the game. However, they are powerful coders who will do well. Cincinnati Bell sponsored the BDPA membership dues of the four students listed below as well as Brian Pulliam! Share some love for our 2014 HSCC team:

1. Yaw Asante is a sophomore at Walnut Hills High School. His interests are medical science, computer science and law. This is Yaw’s first year with competing in the HSCC championship.
   
   
2. Jon Carr is a freshman at St. Xavier High School. Jon likes computers, robotics and video games. This is Jon's first year with competing in the HSCC championship.
   
   
3. Hasani Harrigan is a junior at Seven Hills High School. Hasani likes music, engineering and is an outstanding baseball player. Hasani is the leader of the HSCC squad this year based on his prior experiences in both the 2012 and 2013 HSCC championships held in Baltimore and Washington DC, respectively.
   
   
4. Austin Murph is a sophomore at Seven Hills High School. His interests are golf, engineering and video games. This is Austin's first year with competing in the HSCC championship.
   
   

BDPA Cincinnati chapter is very proud of its Student Information Technology Education & Scholarship program.  

Deborah Prince (xpedx) and Frank Hill (Hiltronics Computer Associates) both dedicated untold hours to training these young people each Saturday from January thru July at the computer labs of Cincinnati State Technical College.

We need your support to move forward! Can you take a moment to make a secure online donation towards college scholarships for these STEM-centric young people? Just click here -- www.crowdrise.com/BDPACincinnati -- and help us as we try to help them!

Related articles

• HSCC Student Spotlight: BDPA Cincinnati

HSCC Student Spotlight: BDPA Cincinnati

2009 HSCC Team is Ready!  Simeon Ellis is second-from-right.

BDPA Cincinnati past president Frank Hill recently gave an update on some of the remarkable students who have participated in the chapter's Student Information Education & Scholarship program over the years.

• Simeon Ellis, 2007-2009 HSCC alumni graduated from The Maryland Institute of Art with a degree in Animation. Simeon loves to entertain people and make them laugh. As a child, the cartoons on television played a large role in the development of his personality, and those traits have stuck with him. Animation is the vehicle he uses to make people laugh ... and it is his chosen career path.



Frank Hill and Kamin Johnson

• Kamin Johnson, 2010 HSCC alumni graduated from Full Sail University with a degree in Game Development. Kamin moved to Austin (TX) to begin his IT career at Multimedia Games.

Curtis Mimes

• Curtis Mimes, 2011 HSCC alumni is in his second year of the Computer Engineering program at the University of Cincinnati. He recently returned from an internship at Oak Ridge Labs in Tennessee.

Hadiya Harrigan

• Hadiya Harrigan, 2011-2013 HSCC alumni graduates from Seven Hills High School with Honors this month. She plans to attend Tuskegee University in the fall, majoring in Electrical/Computer Engineering. Hadiya is one of the most decorated students in BDPA Cincinnati history as winner of Oracle scholarship and Aspirations in Computing Award from the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT). Hadiya was one of 35 national winners (out of over 2,500 applicants) for the NCWIT honor. Hadiya earned the Girl Scout Gold Award with her project focused on a tutorial for teaching web site development using MySQL and ASP.NET. Last year, Hadiya was honored as a 'Reaching for the Stars Leader of the Future' in Cincinnati.



Hasani Harrigan

• Hasani Harrigan, 2012-2013 HSCC alumni is a junior at Seven Hills High School. He is an outstanding student-athlete. Earlier this month, he won the 'Reaching for Stars Leader of the Future Award' at the University of Cincinnati. This award is given to outstanding high school students. Hasani is in his third year with the chapter's SITES program and he will anchor the team during the upcoming national HSCC championship being held later this year in Indianapolis.

BDPA Cincinnati seeks to advance the careers of its members from the classroom to the boardroom and we look forward to following these young people in the coming months and years! Please help us ... please make a secure online donation to the Brandon Berry Memorial Scholarship Fund!

Related articles

• Cincinnati.com, 1/6/2014 (Hadiya Harrigan)
• Cincinnati.com, 7/29/2013 (Hadiya Harrigan)
• Overview: BDPA High School Computer Competition

BDPA Cincinnati High School Computer Competition Team (2013)

These are the coaches and students that make up the 2013 BDPA Cincinnati High School Computer Competition (HSCC) team. They plan to compete in the National BDPA HSCC championship later this year in Washington DC.

L-R: Deborah Prince (Outreach Director), Hadiya Harrigan, Jada Brown, Hasani Harrigan, Brian Pulliam, Kiese Wambu, and Frank Hill (Instructor)