By Kenney Kost/ne news editor
Jordan Hess/The Collegian
For the second year in a row, NE Campus had the only team to place all five of its contestants in the top 10 of the NetRiders competition for the state of Texas, including Bobby Cox who took first place.
“It’s really all about the kids,” said computer science associate professor Neil Brooks. “They are the ones who put in all the hard work and deserve all the praise.”
Brooks said his students put in overtime leading up to the contest and are doing the same in preparation for Round Two.
“A lot of my students work in the industry already,” he said. “They are working their day jobs, taking care of other classes and then putting in the extra time in the lab, a lot of times staying well after class period ends to really nail down the concepts.”
The students who placed are Cox, first place; Justin Savas, fifth place; Chase Huey, sixth place; Cody Tullos, seventh place; and Brock Paulson, ninth place.
“I didn’t know about NetRiders until I started taking Cisco courses here,” Cox said. “Everyone who works in the network command center at the bank I work for knew about it and convinced me to try it. It looks good on résumés and validates my skills to future employers.”
Cox said he enjoys his involvement in the Networking Academy at TCC and working with his instructors and classmates in preparation for the competition.
“Mr. Brooks and Mr. [Tyler] Aubry [computer science instructor] are the best instructors you could ask for,” he said. “They are extremely knowledgeable, encouraging and really have a passion for Cisco technology. Going into the competition, I was absolutely confident that my classmates and I would place well.”
Tullos said he entered the competition for a few different reasons.
“Going through the Networking Academy and competing in NetRiders is a very strong validation of skills,” Tullos said.
“You get certificates from passing the Cisco Networking Academy and spend tons of hands-on time in our state-of-the-art Cisco lab. All of these factors set you apart from the competition in the networking industry.”
Round Two of the competition will be Nov. 15, and Brooks and his team are looking forward to the challenge.
“I’m excited to go on to Round Two and to hopefully represent our academy in the national round,” Cox said.
See collegian.tccd.edu for pictures of other winners.
