Kenneth Kellow likes to keep up with the times, especially when it comes to computer and information technology. More than 30 years ago he started a career with IBM, working for its microelectronics division where he eventually became a senior engineer developing integrated circuits.

"When I joined IBM there were 16 transistors on a chip," he says. "When I retired (in 1998 after 30 years) there were over 30 million transistors on a chip."

Retirement for Kellow, at 54, actually meant another turn in his career path. So, he went back to school to earn an master’s degree in information technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Online Learning Program.

Online learning at RIT takes advantage of the Internet and computer conferencing along with other multimedia technologies, such as videotaped and/or CD-ROM lectures, to deliver the classroom to the student’s home and computer connection. With more than 7,900 enrollments per academic year and 20 years of experience in distance learning, RIT offers students the benefit of top quality and tested anytime/anywhere, asynchronous online degree programs.

The Master of Science in Information Technology program is a unique and flexible program that allows students to craft their program of study within a broad range of computing disciplines. Students build upon core requirements in the areas of current themes in information technology, fundamentals of telecommunications technology and fundamentals of Web-based multimedia.

For Kellow, the program gave him an opportunity "to get other skills and explore new things," he claims. "I went to RIT because I wanted to see the software side of the house. I already had been down in what we call ‘the depths of the hardware’ (at IBM)."

As he nears completion of the master’s program, Kellow says that the overall learning experience has been "an opportunity to see how the things that I made for all those years actually manifest themselves in the hands of people."

Kellow adds that he chose RIT because as a manager at IBM he frequently recruited graduates from RIT’s College of Computing and Information Sciences. "They have a good reputation." He also mentioned that pursuing this educational path will give him the "right credentials, if the right opportunity comes along."

In the meantime, in addition to being a husband, father and grandfather, he is working part time at the Harrisburg Area Community College in Lancaster, PA as an IT training specialist for a Microsoft certification program.

All this hands-on knowledge has made Kellow a valuable asset to the RIT program, especially when the online class discussions turn to hardware and systems issues he is familiar with from his vast experience with IBM. For instance, when it came to talking about computer-esoteric details related to such topics as routers, frame-relay, and/or the architecture of a processor, Kellow was able to share his experiences online with his fellow classmates. "There were times when I was able to put things in perspective," he says. "You get tested in battle as to what the reality of things are, and I think I brought some of that to the classroom."

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