Networking summer camp in progress at Capitol

A group of area high school students are on campus this week, gaining a detailed overview of computer networking at a brand-new camp launched by Capitol this summer and led by Professor Andrew Mehri. It is the second of two new camps offered this summer; an earlier one covered programming.

Capitology spoke with Mehri on Thursday, day four of the networking camp.

“We began with a general introduction to how the internet works, then moved on to the layering mechanism,” he explained. “We went into the OSI and TCP-IP models, and looked at the network the way a networking professional would see it.”

The camp participants aren’t just learning about networks, however; the camp is also giving them practice in applying what they learn.

“On day three, we went full hands-on,” Mehri said. “We started out on the physical layer by putting cables together, then moved up a layer to where they used hubs and switches, and then today they’re going be using routers. They’ve already been introduced to the application layer, by watching data on the network with WireShark. They understand what a packet is, what the payload looks like, what headers and trailers are – so they’re really getting a full picture of the technology involved in a network.”

The camp wraps up Friday with a session on network security, both internally using virtual LANs, and externally using firewalls.

Students drawn to the camp generally have an interest in computers but do not necessarily have any prior experience with networking, Mehri said. The event is open to any student in grades 10-12 with an interest in digging into the technologies underlying today’s internet and finding out how it all works.

Capitol plans to offer both the programming and networking camps in future summers. To find out more, contact the academic dean’s office at jlexner@CapTechU.edu.