Steve McIntosh: A Talented Computer Science Student 

When you are constantly committed to learning and improving your skills, success is inevitable. This young, hardworking computer science student is a true proof of that.

Steve McIntosh (stevemcintosh.me) is a 21-year-old student of Computer Science, specifically Software Engineering. He gained knowledge of programming languages ​​such as: C ++, HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and Java, and is no stranger to Cyber security.

Steve discovered his passion for programming back in the 8th grade, and graduated from the Game Programming & Web Development program at The Miami Valley Career Technology Center. In addition to his studies, he also works as a Junior Software Technician at The University of Dayton Research Institute.

But we have only scratched the surface. Let’s find out more about this awesome .MEr!

Programming As A Second Language

Steve gave a TEDxYouth talk, in which he pointed out that programming languages function nearly as the same as normal languages.

His thesis was that schools should abandon the deeply ingrained comprehension of programming as strictly a technical ability. He gave examples by comparing it with punctuation in the English language. Just like in coding, a line in an English text would be meaningless without mandatory characters.

In his inspiring speech, Steve appealed that today’s school curriculums should view computer programming as a substitute for foreign languages. In effect, Steve argued high school students should be able to take Computer Programming classes for language credits.

As technology becomes more omnipresent, Steve thinks students should utilize it to the best of its abilities.

“I think it’s time that we look at the educational system and start opening up the doors for people to be successful in the world of tomorrow,” Steve masterfully concluded his speech.

Multiple Winner In Computer Science Challenges

So far, Steve has achieved a lot. He was a winner and shortlisted participant in many computer programming competitions and challenges. Some of them are:

• He led a team in the competition called Miami Valley Teen Coding Challenge, where they took 1st place for “Project Bloodhound”, an NFC-based tracking system.
• 1st Place in Apps & Coding
• The Business Professionals of America
• C++ Programming Regionals (2016-17): 3rd Place
• Java Programming Regionals (2017-18): 4th Place
• Computer Programming Concepts Regionals (2016-17): 4th Place
• Computer Programming Concepts Regionals (2017-18): 5th Place
• EasyCTF 2017

Looking Ahead To New Opportunities

As a speaker at the TEDx event (TED conference format but independently organized by a local community), young Steve highlights coding skills as essential to society. Not simply as a technological tool, but as a set of knowledge and adoption of a new language that equips us for the future.

There is a rule in computer science – learning never stops. In this permanent process, there are always new trends, new skills, and new programming languages ​​to be mastered.

In his own words, Steve enjoys solving problems and programming, especially in Java. He hopes to move forward into software development or cyber security.

Wrapping Up

We are all aware that programming is becoming an important skill, and the demand for programmers around the globe is on a constant rise. What is more, there are some overlooked benefits of learning how to code – to be persistent, and to develop creative and structured thinking. Not to mention the role it plays in our lives today.

So, when we look at Steve who has already made waves as a computer programmer and who started computer programming at an early age, we can only say hats off! And thank you for choosing .ME for your domain extension.