SparkFun Summer Semester and the TIE Conference
Come join us for a "semester" of classes about the wonderful world of embedded electronics!
The summer is nearly upon us! That means BBQs, camping, and, if you're here in Colorado, it apparently also means daily torrential downpours. That stuff aside, summer time also signals the beginning of SparkFun's Summer Semester!
For about the past year here at SparkFun we have been teaching classes ranging from parts procurement to SMD soldering. While these classes are great individually, we believe it would be beneficial to group the classes together. So we've dusted off our tweed jackets, honed our PowerPoint skills, and created a curriculum that we think can benefit any electronics enthusiast - from the least experienced "freshman" to the grizzled veteran "7th-year senior."
The semester consists of the following six classes -
1. Napkin Schematics - 6/29
2. Eagle Schematics and PCB Layout - 7/6
3. Parts Procurement - 7/13
4. Soldering (PTH and SMD) - 7/20
5. Arduino and Beginning Programming - 7/27
6. Selling Your Widget - 8/3
These courses will guide you from the very start of brainstorming a project all the way to selling (and hopefully profiting from) your widget. Classes are taught by a host of "professors," including our CEO Nate Seidle.
So come join us for the semester! Unlike your last college experience, there might not be many frat parties and keg stands (you never know though...), but we can promise that at the end of the session you will have a solid grip on embedded electronics and the ability to start designing your own projects!
While we're on a schoolin' kick, we will also be attending the TIE (Technology in Education) Conference in Copper Mountain, Colorado. We will be running a booth at the conference to talk to educators about how to implement technology and embedded electronics into their lesson plans. Our goal is to show how embedded electronics can help illustrate the concepts that are being taught in schools around the country.
We also hope to help bring momentum back into the sect of engineering and science by encouraging youth to participate in this exciting and growing field. If you happen to be attending the TIE Conference, be sure to swing by and say hello!
The classes are a great idea, but I know there are many visitors to the site that just live too far away to attend. I think recorded classes would sell really well on itunes or some other content delivery network. Keep up the good work
Yes, please. I would love to attend, but 1000 miles is a long drive (each way) every Monday evening ;)
I'm working on it. =)
I hope to attend, as I live in Boulder. The video is a great idea. Trade schools should have never died and this feels like a resurgence. The DIY scene itself is plugged into this ?new trade school? feeling, and almost an apprenticeship thing. Spreading this kind of knowledge over such a ubiquitous medium is amazing.
Thanks
As an Australian really interested in these classes, I totally agree. I would pay for online classes. Just make sure you use a proper camera and sound, and not some crappy webcam in your macbook.
I watched the end of the napkin schematics on ustream. Thanks guys for broadcasting! I too wish I could attend some of the sessions in person.
All is would take is a single hd camcorder, and macintosh laptop with FCP! I have all three, just give me a call!
I live in FL and would seriously consider making the trip up for the whole semester if the classes were scheduled more closely together.
So here's a vote for scheduling all of the classes on the same week next year... or, alternatively, here's another vote for posting the videos on iTunes.
YES! PLEASE Record them!!
I wish there were classes like this in Rochester, MN. Oh well, that's what the internet's for.
Wow - it looks like they're all sold out in one day!
The classes haven't actually sold out - right now we only have the "Summer Semester" open (all six classes in a group). We will be releasing the individual classes soon. Sorry for the confusion!
I am still confused. The semester is "out of stock" but the classes are available. Does this mean the $500 price for the 6 classes is sold out or that the semester and the classes are full? Thanks in advance!