Pictured in this photo from left to right: Wayne Clark from Cisco Systems; Kyle Luthy, President of GSA; Glen Garner, President of HKN; Ahmed Bakir, ECE; Mike Cho, Cisco Systems; Dawn Johnson, Cisco Systems; Tara Britt, Director of Corporate Relations, ECE; Andrew Pita, President of SHPE; Kimberly Quinn, Cisco Systems and Greg Mulholland, ECE.

Soon students in Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as Computer Science will have a place on Centennial Campus to socialize and have a little fun. With generous support from Cisco, a game room will be up and running in Engineering Building II in a room just off of the atrium. The game room comes complete with a ping pong table, air hockey table, foosball machine, a large television with PlayStation II games as well as Guitar Hero and Dance Revolution. Student organizations will also provide board games from various cultures so that all students can enjoy this room.

In addition to the game room, Cisco has provided support to many of the student organizations within CSC and ECE. Funds were provided to the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE), the Underwater Robotics Club, Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), the ECE Graduate Student Association, the student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the CSC Geek-A-Thon (providing refurbished computers), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Women in Computer Science (WICS).

“We are so appreciative of the support Cisco provides to our programs and our students. They are a great partner to both the CSC and ECE departments and we appreciate their continued interest in our students,” said Tara J. Britt, Director of External Relations for the ECE department.

The support from Cisco makes it possible for students who are in these organizations to attend leadership conferences, establish outreach efforts in the community, compete in national competitions and help fellow students with tutoring and other educational needs.

Dawn Johnson, University Relations Manger for Cisco, said, “Cisco has had a very long-standing partnership with NCSU, and we are very proud to have been able to contribute funding for the game room. As a corporate partner with  NCSU it is imperative that we take notice of other ways that we can enhance student life. Cisco recognizes the need for both academic and social experience to foster a true higher education. With the opening of the game room we hope to promote a place for social gathering with students that normally would not have the opportunity to engage with one another. Education does not just happen in the classroom, but also when students from various background can come together and learn about each other and share their cultures, backgrounds and experiences.”

Cisco is a member of the CSC E-Partners Program.