Utah College Partners with Software Firm To Create Development Facility

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 02/27/08

Utah Valley State College (UVSC) in Orem, UT has partnered with ACULIS, a custom software development and IT consultancy in Salt Lake City, to construct a state of the art software development and testing facility.

The goal of the new the joint venture lab facility is to provide what UVSC is calling "Engaged Learning Programs," incorporating actual business environments and development scenarios with the students' career tracks.

"Construction of the new facility is a joint effort between UVSC Technology Staff, Students and ACULIS IT professionals," said Kevin Young, UVSC IT director. "This collaboration will provide additional learning opportunities for our students to engage and participate in the construction from the ground up."

ACULIS and UVSC are building alliances with regional businesses to provide students with on the job experience as well. "ACULIS has really stepped up to the task," said Ernest L. Carey, dean of UVSC's School of Technology and Computing.

Last week, the school announced that ACULIS CEO James Stone would preside over its Computer Science Industrial Advisory Board. In that position Stone will be assisting with the ongoing development of the computer science and software engineering programs.

UVSC, which will be renamed Utah Valley University (UVU) in July 2008, began construction on the lab in January 2007, with an official opening scheduled for February 2008. Students will take theirs seats in the new lab as early as spring semester 2008.