Meet Ian

Ian Cinnamon is a high school Junior from Sherman Oaks, CA. This teen programming phenom was inspired by what he learned at iD. He then used his new knowledge to write a book entitled Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius, create an iPhone application and more! Read below and be inspired. The sky is the limit to what you can accomplish and iD Tech Camps will help you begin your own journey to do something big!

iD: What high school do you attend?
Ian: I’m currently a Junior at Harvard-Westlake School (Los Angeles Area).

iD: Which iD locations did you attend?
I: UCLA and Stanford.

iD: Which courses have you taken over the years?
I: 3D Game Design, Web Design & Flash Animation, Programming in C++ or Java, Programming v2.0 and Special F/X Editing.

iD: How many seasons have you attended our camps?
I: 5 (2002-2006).

iD: What are the best things about iD Tech?
I: It’s a gateway into the world of technology. iD has terrific, well-trained and professional staff, a wide variety of courses, and the overnight program is awesome!

iD: How has iD benefited you outside of camp?
I: This was the first serious exposure I had to programming - from there I wanted to learn more about C++, Java, and programming in general.

iD: How has attending iD Tech Camps inspired you?
I: At 15, I wrote Programming Video Games for the Evil Genius (McGraw-Hill, 2008), at 16, I became a programmer developer for the Apple iPhone creating several applications including “Car Finder” which was recently featured in the New York Times. Last summer I led my Harvard-Westlake (Los Angeles) rocketry club to the national “Team America’s Rocketry Challenge” competition and was recently approved by NASA as a government contractor for the Student Launch Initiative. I’ve also been involved in two UCLA science internships. The common denominator in all these activities is my love of programming and engineering which took root at iD Tech.

iD: Is iD a good place to make friends?
I: In most schools you may have just a handful of students with interest in the sciences. Most definitely, one of the best things about iD Tech is being with like-minded kids. It makes the whole experience fun.

iD: What’s your favorite tech gadget?
I: My iPhone!

iD: What are some other fun things you participate in?
I: I’m captain of Harvard-Westlake’s Robotics team and founder/captain of the Rocketry Club.

iD: What are your plans for college?
I: My dream is to attend MIT or Stanford.

iD: What are your future goals?
I: To be involved in research that helps others and to use creative thinking to solve problems.

iD: Anything else you’d like to add about your iD Tech experience?
I: Wherever my future interests leads me I will always have fond memories of iD Tech… especially the “pie in the face” ritual at the camp’s closing sessions.

iD: What’s your advice for future iD Tech campers?
I: Medicine, Engineering, Computer Science and other scientific fields are in great need of young, eager, creative thinking students who will someday lead the way. My advice: Sample as many iD Tech courses as you can. You never know what areas will fire you imagination!

Check out some of the cool courses Ian mentioned. Register early and do something big with iD this summer!