iD News and Blog

Summer Technology Camp Joins List of Companies Assisting Stanford Scientists through Distributed Computing Project

CAMPBELL, CA – June 30, 2010 – iD Tech Camps, North America’s largest youth technology summer camp, has recently dedicated over 3,000 computers to running Stanford University’s Folding@home application.

The software – which allows all users to band together to form one large supercomputer – uses intensive computational methods to help scientists more thoroughly understand “protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases.”

Specifically, proteins are the underlying keys to biology, but before they can begin to work for our bodies, they must fold.  While the process is still very much a mystery, it is known that protein folding is linked to a number of diseases – when proteins fold incorrectly, results can include Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and many cancer-related syndromes.

In all of this, the role of the computer is to provide accurate simulations which permit scientists to better understand results – more so than if they were to gather information solely from experiments.  While the simulations don’t replace experiments, they are useful because they go above and beyond what can be seen in the lab, opening new avenues to hopefully finding cures and new preventions.

With an average of 50 computers at 60 different summer camp locations, iD Tech Camps powers these 3,000 computers each and every summer, giving kids and teens from all parts of the country the opportunity to take a course in video game design, programming, web design, graphic arts, robotics and more.

“We actually spend a lot of time planning, projecting and staffing to make sure there is never a need for our campers to share computers while working on their projects,” said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, President and CEO of iD Tech Camps.  “But, by installing the Folding@home app on our camp computers, as a company, we are very happy to share our computers with Stanford’s scientists.”

Because the Folding@home application runs in the background of the CPU, it utilizes otherwise unused CPU power, virtually working unnoticeably to computer users.

“We thought installing Folding@home would be a very useful way to take advantage of the many computers we use during the summer season,” adds Ingram-Cauchi. “While protein folding is a very complex subject to understand and unravel, every computer contributes at least a small amount towards gaining a better grasp on what it is exactly that causes such diseases and syndromes.”

As iD Tech Camps’ involvement shows, anybody can easily assist with the study of these diseases by simply running the piece of software.

More information about Folding@home can be found at http://folding.stanford.edu/.

About iD Tech Camps

iD Tech Camps is North America’s #1 provider of summer computer camps and technology camps for kids and teens with programs at 60 elite universities in the USA and Canada. Locations include Stanford, Princeton and Harvard. Established in 1999 in Silicon Valley, the company is family-owned and operated. iD Tech Camps offers technology courses including Video Game Design, 3D Game Modding, Maya®, Game Development, Programming in C++ and Java, Programming iPhone® Apps, Robotics, Web Design, Flash® Animation, Graphic Arts, Digital Photography and Video Editing. The summer camps consist of weeklong day camps and sleep away camps, and multi-week teen academies. Courses are appropriate for beginner to advanced learners. The company teaches the latest technologies from Apple®, Adobe®, Microsoft®, Autodesk®, Sony®, Valve® and more.

 

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Watch our Purdue University Camp location interview with WLFI Channel 18 Indiana

Reporter Laura Kirtley of WLFI Channel 18 in Indiana, visited iD Tech Camps held at Purdue University on June 24, 2010.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – The creative juices are flowing on Purdue’s campus as iD Tech Camp gets underway.  Campers are learning everything from web design to programming, and even video game animation.

The week-long camp gives kids a hands-on experience with technology and shows them how their hobbies can turn into potential careers.

“I wanted to learn more about technology because that is what I want to do when I grow up and I want to build video games for people who are bored and don’t have anything to do on their computers,” camper Tyra Holland said.

“I love working with the computers, it’s one of my favorite things to do,” camper Christian Amstutz said.

The kids can stay in the dorms on Purdue’s campus as they get immersed in C++, Flash, and Dreamweaver programs. 7th grader Justin Lueck is building his own gaming website. This is second summer at the program. He said he plans to come back year after year.

To read the full article click here.

 

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See what iD summer campers are up to during camp!

 

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Local Massachusetts Filmmakers Join Creative Partnership with National Technology Camp

CAMPBELL, CA (PR Web) June 20, 2010 – For their upcoming 12^th season, iD Tech Camps, the largest youth technology summer camp in North America, has partnered with local Massachusetts filmmakers to offer an extensive course in Digital Video Editing and Special Effects.

We’ve all been guilty of playing “arm-chair film critic,” sitting at home or in the theatre wondering how we would change the movie to make it our own.  A scene transition here, special effects and a new soundtrack there–even if it’s a wildly successful top quality film, the creative bug in all of us itches to make changes. While years ago it would never have been possible, kids and teens in today’s world now have an outlet to satisfy their creative need.

The course, geared towards students with an interest in filmmaking and film production, features Freedom Park, an award-winning, independent family comedy, which ran for a combined 15 weeks in 9 different Massachusetts theatres.  The film features Boston sports greats Louis Tiant, Lyndon Byers, and Jerry Remy, and follows two buddies, who after running into debt trouble with a Vegas crime boss, return to their hometown of Freedom Park, Massachusetts to start a gambling ring on Little League baseball to pay off their debt.

Within the weeklong video editing course–which is offered at various university locations including Harvard, Bentley and Merrimack in Massachusetts–students will use actual footage from Freedom Park to learn to mark and trim clips, add music, sound effects and other special effects with the industry’s top software and tools.  Also, at the end of each camp session, finished products will be showcased on YouTube^® and each student will take home a copy of Freedom Park on DVD to see how their edited version compares to the actual film.

The film’s Producer Andrea Ajemian and Writer/Co-Director Jon Artigo formed the company Artigo/Ajemian Films, which is based in Worcester, MA.  Their teen drama Still Green was released nationally on DVD in the fall of 2009, after winning “Best Ensemble” at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, as well as “Best Narrative Feature” at the New England Film and Video Festival.

Their latest feature film BoyBand: Breakin’ Through in 82’ was shot entirely in Massachusetts in 2008, and is currently playing in select theatres in Massachusetts.  The film is about a high school quarterback who quits his football team to turn his heavy metal band into the first ever boyband in 1982.

In addition to starring 11 Hollywood actors including Robert Hoffman (Step Up 2, She’s the Man), Ming Na (Stargate Universe, ER, The Joy Luck Club), Ryan Hansen (Party Down, Veronica Mars), Michael Copon (One Tree Hill, Scorpion King II), and Laura Breckenridge (Gossip Girl), over 30 local actors have roles in BoyBand.  Freedom Park Executive Producer Victor J. Melfa, Jr. recently Co-Produced the documentary The Lost Son of Havana, which was produced by the Farrelly Brothers and is the story of Cuban born Red Sox star, Louis “El Tiante”’ Tiant.

iD Tech Camps summer programs in Massachusetts have already started, and will be running through late August. Gaining hands-on experience with actual footage from Freedom Park, this summer season’s batch of inspired students hope to soon be the one’s in the director’s chair.

ABOUT iD TECH CAMPS

iD Tech Camps is North America’s #1 provider of summer computer camps and technology camps for kids and teens with programs at 60 elite universities in the USA and Canada. Locations include Stanford and Harvard. Established in 1999 in Silicon Valley, the company is family-owned and operated. iD Tech Camps offers technology courses including 3D Game Design, Digital Photography, 3D Game Modding, Maya®, Game Development, Programming in C++ and Java, Programming iPhone® Apps, Robotics, Web Design, Flash® Animation, Graphic Arts and Video Editing. The summer camps consist of weeklong day camps and sleep away camps, and multi-week teen academies. Courses are appropriate for beginner to advanced learners. The company teaches the latest technologies from Apple®, Adobe®, Microsoft®, Autodesk®, Sony®, Valve® and more.

 

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As appeared in The Journal & Courier – Purdue connects with kids at technology summer camp by Meranda Watling

June 26, 2010

By Meranda Watling

When Tia Termini arrived at Purdue at the start of this week, the 10-year-old Gary resident had never built a website before.

On Thursday she was polishing off her first website — a collection of links to dog shelters — and by Friday, she was showing it off.

“We went step by step. The hardest thing I had to do was try to get it on the Internet,” Tia said, noting it was hard to remember and execute the several steps it took to move her creation from Photoshop to Firefox.

“I was expecting to learn how to build a website, but I didn’t expect to actually make one.”

Tia was one of about 20 young students visiting Purdue this week as part of the iD Tech Summer camp. In addition to a Web design class, students learned about computer programming and video game design during the weeklong camp.

“These are the kids turned on by technology and computers, so the idea is to get them excited by it now, so when they’re older they can transition to a career path,” said DJ Weymuth, camp director.

That’s exactly how it worked for Drew McTighe, who graduated from Purdue this year with a bachelor’s degree in computer graphic technology. McTighe is one of the camp’s teachers this summer.

“I was a camper a few years ago, and I liked it a ton,” he said. “As soon as I felt I knew enough, I applied to lead a class.”

He was leading the video game design course where students like Jean Luc Vallejo, a 13-year-old from East Chicago, were learning about game design and how to build something.

Jean Luc said he still had a lot to finish of his game on Thursday. He wanted his game, “Crazy Good,” which he said involved the army, to be better. He hopes to be able to come back to the camp next summer to improve it.

“I always thought it would be pretty cool to do game design,” he said. “I’m keeping it simple for now, but I want to build on it.”

Jack Walsh, 11, of Crown Point came to the camp to build on the skills he was already developing. But he’s learned a lot about Web design this week.

He created a site for his friend’s comics to be posted online.

“I made (a site) last year and I liked it,” he said. “I wasn’t really using software, just a website, to make it. So I learned pretty much everything from scratch here.”

 

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