Students can take a break from their classes Friday and jump into a tech playground in front of the Marston Science Library.
Beats by Dre headphones, 3-D printing and laptop GPS trackers will be on display at the first Student Tech Fair on Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is hosted by UF Information Technology and Smathers Libraries.
Jameson Johnston, IT manager for UFIT, said about 20 on-campus organizations will participate in the event to showcase the services available to students.
“Students aren’t aware of all the different types of services available to them, whether it’s the UF Help Desk or the computer labs across campus,” he said. “We want to make sure that students are aware of the technology offered.” UFIT, along with the UF Bookstore, computer labs and libraries will be in attendance.
The idea for the fair came from Chloe Finch, a 21-year-old journalism senior and employee at UFIT, said Bobby Brito, a political science, history and international studies senior and member of the Tech Fair planning committee.
The fair will highlight Library West’s one-week iPad rentals, the Collaboration Commons study space in Marston Science Library and UFIT’s Adobe Creative Suite 6 labs.
Brito said he is looking forward to seeing students embrace UF’s free technology.
“I’m not a STEM major, so it’s nice to see what services are offered through the university that I can use,” Brito, 21, said.
University Police will introduce the FrontDoorSoftware Laptop Loss and Recovery program that allows students to remotely lock and track their laptops in case of theft.
Lynda.com and UFApps, a software application that provides students with free access to Microsoft software and AutoCAD 2014, will also be promoting their tech services.
Tracy Gale, UFIT communications manager, wrote in an email that the goal of the fair is to bring campus IT services together in one place.
Johnston said only a small portion of the tech services at UF are not used by students.
“We’re looking to get feedback about our services and see what else we can offer the students,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 10/8/2014]
