UOIT students work behind the scenes on Pan Am Games IT infrastructure

While the main focus of the TORONTO2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games is on athletic performance, there’s a lot of work and preparation that goes into ensuring the best possible experience for fans and athletes alike. Thirty-nine Networking and Information Technology (IT) Security students and three faculty members at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) are playing a big role behind the scenes, partnering with Cisco Systems Inc. to help design, deploy and maintain the IT infrastructure running the Games.

“This partnership provides many exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for our students,” said Josh Lowe, Senior Lecturer and Student Affairs Co-ordinator, Faculty of Business and Information Technology (FBIT). “They are able to apply the concepts they’ve learned in the classroom toward real-life scenarios, while getting an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at one of the largest and most connected multi-venue games ever held in Canada.”

“We could not be more thrilled by the student and faculty volunteers who are working side-by-side with Cisco’s engineers, partners and the TORONTO2015 employees,” said Jeff Seifert, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Cisco Canada. “They are an essential part of the success of the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, working in some of the most critical competition venues including opening and closing ceremonies, main press centre and Cisco International Broadcast Centre. Volunteer experiences like this will help shape tomorrow’s leaders as industry looks for the best and brightest.”

Students are working as Venue Technology Specialists and Service Desk Supervisors, monitoring and managing all Games-time installations of technology and technological services for networks, broadcast, media, workforce and volunteers. The faculty members are working as Assistant Venue Technology Managers, managing the volunteer technology teams and providing guidance and leadership on all technology-related issues and troubleshooting.

Some of the students also helped deploy the Pan Am Countdown Clock in Nathan Phillips Square. The unveiling of the clock was attended by several high-ranking officials, including Premier Kathleen Wynne.

Student volunteers:

• Safwan Alam
• Tyler Allison
• Hasan Anwar
• Vitaliy Bezplako
• Colin Chaput
• Devin Cook
• Justin Dam
• John De Guzman
• Rammuni De Zoysa
• Ian Dunbar
• Liam Elliott
• Brian Gan
• Philopateer Ghattas
• Rahul Gheewala
• Nicholas Greier
• Hamdi Kalifa
• Nirojan Kanagasabapathy
• Sathursan Kantharajah
• Ali Karwani
• Haziq Ur Rehman Khilji
• George Logarakis
• Brian Low
• Thaseepan Mariyanayagam
• Holden Matson-Kwong
• David Mettrick
• Prakash Mistry
• Brent Myers
• Sankara Oduri
• Joseph Paveglio
• Muhammad Rajput
• Dalton Ross
• Amil Shah
• Danish Shaikh
• Nahyan Shariff
• Scott Spiering
• Bowen Sun
• Anjeleo Villarruz
• Bhargavkumar Vyas
• Shing Hei Yee

Faculty volunteers:

• Adam Baran
• Shahram Heydari
• Josh Lowe