UNI teaches students how to repair tiny computers

A University of Northern Iowa professor’s developed a course to teach students how to fix the tiny computers we all use everyday, but never see. UNI Computer Science Professor John McCormick’s teaching the course on “embedded systems.” They’re computers that are part of another piece of equipment, such as a car, microwave or v-c-r. McCormick’s using a unique way to teach student how to program these mini computers. He uses a model railroad that students can program to do tasks just like they would an embedded computer system in a car. McCormick says there’s a big need for people to program these tiny computers. The number of embedded systems computers exceeds the number of computers used for the Internet. McCormick says Iowa employers Maytag and Rockwell Collins are so interested in getting more people trained to work on embedded systems, they’ve donated money for classroom equipment to teach the course.