Columbia State Community College

Columbia State computer science students Shane Sevier and Ethan Pierret recently completed a 10-week capstone course in emerging technologies that started in early October and recently gave a presentation about their experiences. The capstone course allows students to research emerging technologies in the retail industry by exploring areas of study such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, big data and analytics and other progressive topics in the technology industry. Tractor Supply Company was instrumental in the course development and oversaw the students' day-to-day work experiences. Pierret and Sevier agreed that learning about the day-to-day operations of a large corporation like Tractor Supply has been one of the highlights of the course. Deepa Janakiraman, Columbia State program director and assistant professor of computer information systems, has been involved with the program since its inception in December 2017.