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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallThe 2015 Avnet Tech Games winners came from colleges in Arizona and, in the virtual contests, from teams beyond the state. The 10th annual competition paired hands-on technology challenges in Tempe with nationwide online events. EE Times published the detailed roster on April 14, 2015; the college and team listings below follow that report.
How the 2015 Avnet Tech Games worked
Avnet’s January 20, 2015 announcement scheduled the live competition for April 11 at The University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona. The event combined onsite games with virtual competitions open to college students nationwide.
EE Times reported that more than 200 students competed, with 70 onsite teams representing 14 Arizona colleges and universities and more than 100 virtual teams. Judges considered whether teams met technical requirements, used innovative approaches and showed professional skills.
The onsite challenges spanned network security, computer assembly and tuning, Windows tasks, FPGA design, data-center planning, Java programming, robotics and solar-powered water pumping. The virtual contests focused on Android app development, a green-video competition and supply-chain decisions. Avnet described the robot challenge as building and programming a robot to move objects through mazes; the solar challenge involved designing, building, testing and presenting a solar-powered water-pumping system.
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Onsite winners
EE Times reported these winners and coaches for the Tempe challenges. Its roster did not name a coach for Java Blitz.
| Challenge | Winning college | Faculty coach | Student winners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cisco Network Expert Security Battle | Mesa Community College | Robert Samson | Jason Gates, Dana Gallagher and Nathan Pan |
| HP Fastest Computer Build | Arizona State University | Eli Chmouni | Troy Gerloff, Habib Matar and Jeremy Morgan |
| Desktop Domination | The University of Advancing Technology | Al Kelly | Andrew Denis, Eric Evans and Jason Olivas |
| Digital Design Dilemma | Chandler-Gilbert Community College | Bassam Matar | Chandler Redding, Sean Walker and Kevin Grout |
| Green Data Center Challenge | Scottsdale Community College | Ron Monroig | Cristobal Romero, Alba Lopez and Matthew O’Donnell |
| Java Blitz | Arizona State University | Not listed by EE Times | Morgan Nesbit and Zachary Moore |
| Robot Race Obstacle Course | Mesa Community College | Bruce Carlton | Lloyd Allen and Matthew Otte |
| Solar Scrimmage | Mesa Community College | Bruce Carlton | Brandon Traylor, Daniel Bailey and Nguyen Dao |
Virtual competition winners
| Challenge | College or institutions named in the report | Faculty coach | Student winners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App Showdown | Arizona State University | Eli Chmouni | Joslene Chmouni and Matthew Vehon |
| Green Video Competition | University of Advancing Technology | Justin Gagen | Darien Marion, Ryan Moore and Dominique Laster |
| JDA Supply Chain Challenge | University of California, San Diego; Harvard; and MIT | Not listed by EE Times | Amilcare Gentili, MD, FACHE; Marco Gentili; Paolo Gentili; and Ryan Scheidt |
For the JDA Supply Chain Challenge, EE Times names three institutions and four students but does not clearly pair each student with a school. The roster therefore preserves the group listing rather than assigning individual affiliations.
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Scholarships and faculty awards
EE Times reported that 31 students received scholarships of $1,000 each and nine faculty advisers received honorariums of $2,700. It also reported that more than $330,000 in scholarships and honorariums had been awarded since the competition began in 2006.
Avnet’s January preview said the company planned to award up to $35,000. That was a pre-event maximum, not the final total: the later EE Times report gives the recipient counts and amounts above.
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What Avnet said about the 10th annual event
EE Times quoted MaryAnn Miller, then Avnet senior vice president, Chief Human Resources Officer and Corporate Communications: “The 10th year of the Avnet Tech Games has most certainly been our best,”
The roster and final participation and award figures in this article are reported by EE Times in its April 14, 2015 winner announcement. Avnet’s official January announcement supports the scheduled event date, venue, purpose and challenge descriptions, but was published before the competition.
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