EWU Computer Science Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary

As Eastern’s Computer Science program celebrates 40 years of instruction and leadership, it is also building a bridge connecting EWU’s past to its future as the region’s polytechnic.

The program touts over 3,500 alumni, some of whom have gone on to play important roles at major animation companies such as Pixar and provide cybersecurity services to the White House. 

One of these successful computer science graduates, Nolan Garrett ’05, has flourished in the growing field of cybersecurity. At just 23, he started the company Torchlight (formerly known as Intrinium), which makes managed IT and cybersecurity for businesses. 

“Over the past 18 years, we have grown to be a national provider of cybersecurity and managed IT services across the entire United States,” says Garrett, Torchlight’s CEO. “We serve some of the largest organizations in the world, including some of the largest hedge funds and financial institutions.”

“What I learned at Eastern was how to troubleshoot problems,” he says. “Everything can be solved. You just have to keep working on it and working on the problem and you’ll figure it out.”

Based on those skills, Garrett has not only led a successful career, but he now shares his knowledge at conferences across the nation. “One of the things I’m most proud of is that we’re a little company out of Spokane, Washington that quite literally provides cybersecurity services to the United States Capitol,” says Garrett. 

Beyond successful alumni, EWU’s computer science program develops well-rounded students who embody EWU’s polytechnical approach emphasizing experiential learning. 

“When you graduate from the computer science program at EWU, you don’t just have a degree, you have a resume,” says David Bowman, dean of Eastern’s College of STEM.

Students in the computer science program participate in a number of projects and practicum opportunities that provide them with practical experience long before they graduate, he says. Senior capstone classes — a degree requirement in the program —  involve completion of collaborative projects, many of which serve the Spokane community. 

Steve Simmons, professor emeritus, supervised a capstone class that worked with Qlispé Raceway Park – known back then as Spokane Raceway Park. “The drivers couldn’t afford to spend $250 for the tracking system to put in their car which tracks it around the loop,” says Simmons. “So, my students invented a tracking system that only cost $35.” 

That system, which was produced and made installable by Simmons’ students, was adopted by Raceway Park. This affordable alternative allowed drivers’ to track their races and lap times. It was one of many instances in which EWU computer science students worked with local businesses to offer scientific improvements. 

Over the past four decades, the computer science program has grown, expanding to offer majors in computer engineering, cyber defense and cyber operations. 

But from the beginning, even back in 1984, when personal computers were still an emerging technology, students participated in hands-on projects within the developing field. 

“One that made a super big splash was the NASA project,” says Simmons. “That was early in the history of the department.”

In the mid 1980s, computer science students worked for five years on a project, funded by NASA, which created a high-powered “microcomputer” that could process weather data on the fly. 

The microcomputer “could fly in the flight path of a shuttle and compute the weather in real-time and send it back,” says Simmons. “So instead of waiting three hours for a weather report, you wait 30 seconds. That was the first time that Eastern computer science students got in there with practical elements and prototypes.”

Now students work with practical elements in every major included in the computer science program.

“Right now, our most well-known and popular program is cybersecurity,” says Simmons. “That is such a frontier of excitement and difficulty and challenge and student opportunity.”

For those looking to start a career in cybersecurity, Garrett recommends taking advantage of opportunities that place them directly in the field of work. 

“We hire a lot of interns at Torchlight directly out of Eastern,” he says “I have seen people take their careers to incredible heights getting that experience at a young age. I strongly recommend that for anyone who is looking to develop a career in cybersecurity.”

These opportunities for experiential and applied learning have been hallmarks of EWU’s computer science program. “Eastern has a pragmatic approach. Eastern has always been salt to the earth, getting down to the practical nuts and bolts,” says Simmons. 

Forty years of computer science’s practical past represents EWU’s bright polytechnic future. Click here to learn more about Eastern’s future as the region’s polytechnic.