Information Technology Management Club plugs in to local tech scene

Boise State's ITM Club students and facukty exhibited at Treefort's Hackfort last spring. Left to right: Wesley Homer, Doug Twitchell (IT/SCM department chair), Lucinda Anewenah, John Wee (ITM Club Founder/Advisor), Josh Wu, Jackson Gentner, Kevin Rank (ITM Lecturer).

Boise State's Information Technology Management (ITM) Club has spent the last year connecting students with opportunity through local tech organizations and tech events like Hackfort. The ITM Club is housed in the Department of Information Technology Management in the College of Business and Economics, and their motto is "Empowering the next generation of tech business leaders."

Cybersecurity, video games and traffic laws

"Our mission is to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry practice by connecting students with IT leaders," said John Wee, an ITM lecturer and the club's founder and faculty advisor. "By executing real-world IT management projects, students build compelling portfolios and position themselves for successful careers."

The club has made good on that goal. In spring of 2024, a team of three ITM Club members entered Boise State's Cybersecurity Entrepreneur Challenge. Competitors had two weeks to create a solution to a cybersecurity problem. The team's anti-smishing solution won first place and $12,000.

In spring 2026, the club's first tech entry showcase was screened and accepted at Hackfort, a technology event that's part of the popular Treefort Music Festival. The ITM Club proposed included a setup allowing visitors to play classic video games emulated on low-cost Raspberry Pi computers, and an interactive Idaho traffic accident data analysis dashboard tied to a locally hosted AI RAG System with a vector database and a custom AI chatbot.

Lucinda Anewenah, a second-degree-seeking ITM major who will graduate in spring 2027, worked on the traffic data project.

"We had all this data from the Idaho Department of Transportation on traffic accidents over time, and we cleaned it up and made it more presentable and user friendly so people could explore it," she said. "It was good to use data to tell a story. Some fun facts we learned are that most accidents happen not during bad weather, but on sunny days, and that women are involved in fewer car accidents than men."

Partnering with the tech industry

Wee's goal is to get more ITM students involved in the local technology industry by building partnerships both within the university, like The Junction, and with external organizations, such as Trailhead and the Idaho Small Business Development Center. He plans to make the club a space where students can connect and collaborate with local tech industry leaders and entrepreneurs.

This was the case for Mateo Meconi, an ITM major who will graduate in fall 2026. Last year, the club took part in a conference at The Junction. The group gave a presentation on their activities and individual ITM interests.

"It was a great opportunity to practice presenting in front of an audience, and we got to meet people who had their own startups," Meconi said.

Anewenah highlighted how the club opened doors for her, including an opportunity to join the Idaho Tech Council.

"The ITM Club gives you the opportunity to network with other people," she said. "At Hackfort, I was able to have conversations with other participants and learn about what the IT field has to offer. I'm coming to ITM from finance and I'm not sure exactly what I want to do. It's been good to have those conversations and hear what careers are out there."

How to get involved with ITM

The ITM Club is open to all students and meets at least once each month during the school year. For more information, contact [email protected], visit the ITM Club's website and follow the club on Instagram.

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