Tech-Savvy Computer Science Senior Savors Rich BVU Stay

Michael Martin, a native of Storm Lake, transferred to BVU during his second year of study. It was at BVU that the computer science major began to thrive in his education 'surrounded by passionate people.'

Like many college students, Buena Vista University senior Michael Martin was apprehensive, fearful, as COVID-19 struck the U.S. Not only was he weary of the virus itself, he wondered how it might adversely affect his education.

“I was very nervous about moving online for all classes,” says Martin, a computer science major, and someone who knows a thing or two about technology. “But BVU has done extremely well. I have to commend our professors and staff. Even though the pandemic is a tragedy, everyone at BVU is making the best of the situation.”

Not only has Martin been able to join his peers and professors in navigating his final BVU semester through a mix of Zoom, Canvas, and other user-friendly platforms, he’s been able to work remotely at Koloni, a tech start-up he joined when his senior year began. He’s also been able to work in BVU’s Harold Walter Siebens School of Business, joining classmates Bazyl Horsey and Justin Rubek as the three computer science majors developed Match Learn Launch, computer app serving BVU’s new Lamberti Center for Rural Entrepreneurship as it partners with the Iowa Great Lakes Corridor Development Corporation. The goal is to connect senior business owners with up-and-coming entrepreneurs, an effort funded by a Google.org grant aimed at solving an impeding business succession crisis in the region.

“I knew I wanted an atmosphere found at BVU, an environment not only involved with learning and bettering yourself, but one where you’re surrounded by passionate people.”

Michael Martin

“These (Horsey, Martin, and Rubek) are not interns. These three men are contracted software developers who are earning market rate for their work,” says Gary Sterling, BVU Instructor of Management and Director of the Lamberti Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, an initiative launched by virtue of the benevolence of BVU benefactors Donald F. and Charlene K. Lamberti, of Casey’s General Stores fame.

“Having experiences at both Koloni and through the Match Learn Launch development will benefit me in many ways moving forward,” says Martin, who is teaming with Horsey and Rubek in launching their own tech start-up, Levity.

Martin, a 2016 Storm Lake High School graduate, started his collegiate career at Iowa State University, where he remained for three semesters. He transferred to BVU in search of a University that offered more of a community feeling.

“I kept looking for camaraderie around me,” Martin says of his early college experience. “I knew I wanted an atmosphere found at BVU, an environment not only involved with learning and bettering yourself, but one where you’re surrounded by passionate people.”

Martin served as an academic assistant for Dr. Jason Shepherd, Professor of Computer Science. He took several classes under Dr. Nathan Backman, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, and Dr. Shawn Stone, Professor of Physics and Computer Science. All three drove Martin, a self-starter and perfectionist, to reach even higher. Martin ended his junior year by earning an acclaimed Research Experience for Undergraduates position hosted by the Smart Environments School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University.

“Having those three professors guide me was fantastic, what I needed,” Martin says. “And then I earned an invaluable experience at Washington State last summer, which led directly into my work at Koloni,” he says.

Martin will stay on with Koloni while devoting additional time and energy to Levity. He’ll start graduate school in a couple of years, after having incubated a pair of tech start-ups.

And he’ll always think fondly about the place to which he returned, where his computer career began, mere blocks from his family’s residence on Lake Avenue in Storm Lake.

“You can see the Victory Arch from my family’s front porch,” he says. “Even though I grew up that close to BVU, I know I’ll always miss the feeling you get there, the feeling you don’t get anywhere else inside the City of Storm Lake.”

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