This fall has been an exciting time for Tech Den, filled with milestones that showcase the team’s hard work, collaboration, and alignment with WashU IT’s ImpacT Strategic Plan. From a successful orientation season to meeting rising demands for services, Fall 2024 was all about progress, innovation, and supporting the university’s mission.
In August, Tech Den’s proactive engagement during orientation season set the tone for the semester. The orientation sessions went smoothly; it was engaging and packed with resourceful information, earning trust from non-residential students who felt welcomed and supported as they embarked on another academic year. Tech Den also found helping new graduate and professional students transition into the WashU community at orientations while reconnecting with returning students at school-sponsored events to be a rewarding way to kick things off.
Collaboration with campus partners played a big role this semester for Tech Den, especially with the Brown School and the Olin School of Business. It introduced regular tabling sessions at Hillman Hall, Kight/Bauer Hall, and Olin library to connect with students and faculty from both schools and the wider campus community. These sessions created opportunities to provide accessible onsite tech support for students, share resources, and receive instant feedback–opening a direct communication line with the students, faculty & staff. Aligning itself with the university IT’s goal to maintain transparent communication with the stakeholders and act as a trusted advisor to the campus through partnerships, Tech Den hopes to continue this effort of making its services accessible to the WashU community in the spring.
On the programming front, Tech Den’s DevSTAC team had an outstanding semester, delivering a variety of innovative website and mobile app solutions. Since its establishment in 2016, DevSTAC has been a great learning opportunity for WashU student developers specializing in four key areas: mobile app development, web app development, machine learning/AI, and data analytics. By fostering strategic partnerships and facilitating the advent of WashU startups by providing comprehensive technological services, DevSTAC has been able to expand its team and expertise to meet the evolving needs of its clients. Over the years, the team has collaborated with prominent clients such as Moelis, Uber, and the WashU School of Medicine, as well as numerous other campus and external partners. This semester’s projects highlighted the team’s technical expertise, creativity, and dedication to delivering customized solutions that address complex challenges. Tech Den remains committed to empowering student developers through hands-on experience via the DevSTAC program, equipping them with industry-relevant skills, and preparing them for successful careers in technology.
The 3D printing program at Tech Den saw yet another surge in popularity this semester. With the expansion of the program through the partnership with the MIR 3D print lab to expand services to the medical campus, more requests than ever before are coming through. The growth in demand highlights the increasing interest of the students, faculty, and researchers in this technology for everything from creative art projects to engineering and medical research initiatives. With the continued interest from the student body, the Tech Den 3D team is working on continuing the successful maker resource fair from last year later this month in collaboration with the University Libraries and the McKelvey School of Engineering Spartan Light Metal Products Makerspace (1/24).
Tech Den’s growth is clear when comparing Fall 2023 and Fall 2024, with a big jump in both service desk and 3D printing ticket counts. The graph below shows especially sharp growth in 3D printing, reflecting rising demand from the WashU community for 3D printing. These numbers also highlight Tech Den’s ongoing, successful efforts to innovate and adapt to the needs of students and faculty.
From fostering connections to delivering innovative solutions, Tech Den demonstrated what’s possible when a dedicated team comes together with a shared vision this past semester. We’re excited to see how their dedication to collaboration, creativity, and commitment to supporting the university community will unfold this spring semester.