Olivia Thomas came to Boise State with the goals of getting a broad education, using technology to solve human problems and building communities around her efforts. She leaves the university with a bachelor of science in Computer Science and a second bachelor of science in Games, Interactive Media and Mobile Technology summa cum laude.
Since 2017, Thomas has led a team building a heads-up display for astronauts, with NASA inviting them to participate in its SUITS challenge every year. Thomas herself wrote a paper on the project for the Human-Computer Interaction international conference. She also served as senior lead developer of Boise State’s Games, Interactive Media and Mobile Works, developing several applications, including Bronco BEAM to reduce food insecurity, and Foundations for Literacy — a digital curriculum component for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Throughout her academic career, Thomas participated in Honors College activities, mentoring others for the GIMM program. She also rebooted the Quiz Bowl Club and was its president for three years, growing the team and leading it to a first-place finish at the Academic Competition Federation tournament against the University of Washington and the University of Colorado Boulder. And in 2020, she interned at Microsoft, helping develop an Azure Dev Ops widget for an internal dashboard.
Congratulations to Olivia for the distinct honor of being named a Top Ten Scholar in the graduating class of 2021!