As a high school student, Phillip Kinnison says, he didn’t see university life in his future — but that all changed when he learned about Purdue’s technical graphics major.
“I realized that this was a perfect fit for me,” he says, “and after entering the program, I was able to expand my areas of focus into interactive multimedia, animation and networking technology.”
This practical focus on a variety of subjects provided Kinnison the well-rounded experience he needed to enter and excel in the IT industry — and he has definitely done so. But before taking the IT industry by storm, Kinnison was using his IT skills to benefit Purdue. He created an interactive viewbook of the residence halls as an undergraduate summer project, and continued the theme as part of his master’s project by creating the “Tarkington Hall Viewbook,” distributed to incoming students so they could see campus accommodations firsthand.
Kinnison has employed similar skills at clients such as NASA, USDA, National Health Service (UK), AT&T, Disney, Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid, World Sport Chicago, Exelon and Phillips 66. Kinnison is currently working with the Girl Scouts of the USA at Accenture. He helped launch Digitial Cookie, the first-ever national digital platform to provide more than 700,000 Girl Scouts the opportunity to sell through their own unique websites, and a recently released a mobile app for girls to take orders for consumers.
“This platform prepares girls to be leaders in the high-tech, fast-paced, e-commerce world of today,” Kinnison says. “With this engaging entrepreneurial program, girls who participate will learn skills to help put them ahead of the curve when entering the workforce while supporting girls’ STEM education.”