Tech Week
Join us as we celebrate Tech Week with a lineup of exciting events hosted by Central Piedmont's Technology Division, and our industry partners. We're proud to be at the forefront of preparing a skilled IT workforce for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region, working hand-in-hand with local businesses and industries to align education with real-world opportunities.
Event Schedule
March 16 - March 20
Bank of America 3rd Annual Code-A-Thon
Four teams will compete for a chance to participate at Bank of America's Code-A-Thon finals, hosted at Bank of America Plaza, Charlotte N.C. This event is aimed at bridging the gap between the bank's Global Technology Organization and aspiring technology students.
This event is closed to technology division students.
March 16
Microsoft NextGenSTEAM
Students who are underrepresented in the technology industry are invited to attend this event and learn tips for navigating career development in the industry.
This event is open only to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) high school students and Central Piedmont's dual enrollment students.
March 17
Would You Pull the Lever? Navigating the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence - Hosted by Dr. Frazier Smith
When a self-driving car's brakes fail, who should it be programmed to save? When an AI hiring system learns to discriminate, who bears responsibility? When a medical algorithm knows something your doctor doesn't, whose judgment do you trust?
These aren't abstract philosophical puzzles anymore. They're decisions being made right now in engineering meetings, hospital boardrooms, and courtrooms around the world. And the people making these decisions are often just a few years older than you.
This interactive workshop puts you in the driver's seat (literally). Using live polling on your phones, you'll vote your way through a series of modernized trolley problems that reveal the hidden ethical dilemmas embedded in AI systems you already use every day. From autonomous vehicles to resume-screening algorithms to black-box medical diagnosis, each scenario exposes tensions between competing values: efficiency versus fairness, innovation versus caution, individual rights versus collective benefit.
But here's the twist: there are no right answers. That's not a cop-out...it’s the point! The engineers building these systems don't have right answers either. What they have are deadlines, investors, and competitors.
Understanding the ethical landscape of AI isn't just for philosophy majors or computer scientists. It's for anyone who will live in a world increasingly shaped by algorithmic decision-making. Come prepared to vote, argue, and leave with more questions than you arrived with. That's the goal!
1:00 PM, virtual
No RSVP required. Event is open to all Central Piedmont students, faculty, and staff.
March 19
Microsoft ALTogether AI Engineering Summit: open to students, faculty, and staff
Microsoft Charlotte will host the ALTogether AI Engineering Summit, a one‑day event spotlighting how AI powers modern engineering and future careers. Attendees will see AI in action, gain career insight from Microsoft engineers, and take part in hands‑on learning. Central Piedmont students can also join an exclusive track with interactive workshops and direct conversations with engineers.
12-4 PM, Central Campus, Parr Center
Register Now
March 20
Cybersecurity Capture the Flag with Dr. Doc St. Clair
Join the technology division for an interactive workshop in cybersecurity and learn how to seek out vulnerabilities in logs, web exploitation, hidden data in images, compressed files, cryptography, and other topics.
Open to all students.