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UA student members of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers host the annual event to help adults in the Tucson community embrace technology.

By Rebecca Ruiz-McGill
October 1, 2009

University of Arizona students will offer free computer training classes to the public on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering building.

The classes will be taught by members of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, a student club. The event, sponsored by IBM, has become an annual affair for the 100-plus group.

The class is open to any adult who is interested in learning basic to intermediate computer skills. Both English and Spanish classes will be offered.

"Any adult is welcome and, thanks to our sponsor, we provide lunch and breakfast for those who are registered," said Jeremey Hunter, a senior sociology major, and one of those coordinating the event.

Participants will be taught how to use the Windows operating system, including computer fundamentals and Microsoft Word and Excel, and will be given an overview of the Internet.

Intermediate users will be given a briefing on resume building and job hunting.

"In today's reality, people must be computer literate to apply for jobs. We learned last year that many people lacked the basic skills to apply for a job online and we want to be able to continue helping them overcome that barrier," said German Castillo, a junior mechanical engineering student and president of the student group.

The event is called "La Familia: Breaking the Digital Divide." The La Familia Network promotes significant Hispanic achievement in engineering, science and technology and has IBM as a corporate sponsor. IBM promotes technological outreach nationally through La Familia and locally through the SHEP event. 

"The Hispanic Constituency within the Tucson IBM site has established a model relationship with the University of Arizona Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) student chapter. For the last 9 years, the employees have come through assisting the SHPE chapter with this event. It is an extremely worthwhile event. Closing in on the digital divide is an IBM priority from a corporate social responsibility standpoint here locally as well as globally," said Wanda Ronquillo, IBM manager of tape drive and automation test.

The training will be conducted in various UA computer laboratories on or near the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering building, located on the northeast corner of Mountain Avenue and Speedway Boulevard, giving those registered access to high speed and high tech technology. 

Thanks to several donations, a drawing will be held to give away three desktop computers to registered participants.

Registration continues through Saturday morning but those interested should call in advance to reserve a spot.

To register, call 520-440-5926 or 909-851-9452.