UIS team places in Cisco NetRiders competition

University of Illinois Springfield students Steve Fischer and Ryan Stalets competed in the 2009 Cisco NetRiders Skills Challenge in Chicago, Illinois on Wednesday, November 4, 2009. They advanced from the Statewide Qualifier placing first in the top 10 highest-scoring teams from across the state of Illinois.

Fischer and Stalets were invited to the Stage Two Competition at the Cisco Systems office where they placed third. Ken Gaines, Cisco Area Vice President, presented the awards as well as an invitation for both Fischer and Stalets to spend a day with a Cisco Systems Engineer.

The Stage Two competition held at Cisco included a theoretical session, answering 100 questions in 60 minutes, followed by a hands-on session, troubleshooting a five router network scenario.

Fischer is a senior from Springfield, Illinois majoring in Computer Science at UIS and is completing an Internship at Archer Daniels Midland. Team Captain Ryan Stalets from Riverton, Illinois is currently a UIS freshman majoring in Computer Science and is employed by the Ball-Chatham School District.

“This is an exciting opportunity to visit a leading-edge global industry leader with state-of-the-art technology, meet with IT professionals, and compete with peers in an interactive environment,” said Janis Rose, instructor of Computer Science at UIS.

Cisco is playing a critical role in the US economic recovery by preparing students for the sustainable jobs that government, education and industry all agree will fuel America’s ability to innovate and compete, not just today, but in the future. As the focus turns to infrastructure, Cisco’s Networking Academy provides students with critical networking skills to design, build and maintain the infrastructure highway that both the public and private sector now depend on for sustainability.

For more information about the awards contact Janis Rose, instructor of Computer Science at rose.janis@uis.edu or 217/206-8246.