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James Gosling, Vice President and Sun Fellow, to Speak to Students at Columbia University -- Sun Microsystems, the creator and leading advocate of Java technology, today announced that as part of its Academic Developer World Tour, James Gosling will be announcing a new campaign targeted at student developers during a presentation to students at Columbia University. In addition, Gosling will also discuss the release of new version of NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE), the NetBeans IDE/BlueJ Edition, which provides beginning developers an easy migration path from the basic educational capabilities of the BlueJ environment to the professional-level development capabilities of the NetBeans IDE. Students wishing to keep up-to-date with the latest information from Sun can subscribe to the Sun Student Connection e-mail newsletter at: its Web site. Sun Student Connection provides an academic/student focus to members of the its Web site. Sun Developer Network (SDN)(SDN is the one-stop shop for Sun technology developers, offering access to over 600 users groups and 170 forums in which to participate, share, and learn. SDN provides members with to many developer resources, as well as early access to software, code samples, tools and tutorials. Sun Student Developer Trivia Sweepstakes As part of the Sun Academic Developer World Tour, students will be presented with Ki-Bi cards and given instructions on how to participate in the Sun Student Developer Trivia Sweepstakes for a chance at winning multiple prizes including: $1,000 cash, Nokia N-Gage Phone (ARV: US$299), Apple iPod (ARV: US $100) or Sony MP4 player (ARV: US $249). The Ki-Bi card is an electronic device (credit-card size), capable of delivering mobile content and applications, to any Java Powered handset, on any network. By using the Ki-Bi cards, students will have access to a variety of developer-related tools and applications such as: the trivia sweepstakes that will help students learn more about the educational resources, tools and communities available through the Sun Developer Network and a voucher for a free Java Associate Certification Practice Exam ($35 USD value). In addition, students will also have access to "fun" applications such as, free Java mobile game downloads, Java audio ringtones and mobile wallpaper. "Java technology has a unique place in education. The Java programming language is not only excellent for teaching students programming skills and object oriented concepts, it can also provide students with a career path upon graduation," said James Gosling, VP and Fellow at Sun Microsystems. "Historically, student developers would learn older or even proprietary programming languages during their time in university courses and then have to learn a different 'modern' language once out in the 'real world'. With 99 percent of the Fortune 500 using Java technology, for students it isn't just 'write once, run anywhere' it can also be 'learn once, work anywhere'." In addition to Columbia University, the Sun Student Developer Trivia Sweepstakes will be available to students at 25 additional colleges and universities across the United States including: Brigham Young University, Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, MIT, Penn State University, Rutgers University, University of Michigan and University of Washington. The Sun Student Developer Trivia Sweepstakes will also be launched at three locations in Germany this coming April. NetBeans IDE/BlueJ Edition As part of his presentation to the student developers, James Gosling also announced that Sun, together with the NetBeans community and the University of Kent launched a new version of NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE), the NetBeans IDE/BlueJ Edition. The NetBeans IDE/ BlueJ edition enables a smooth migration path for students learning the Java Programming Language from beginning stages through to the use of professional development tools. BlueJ is a programming environment developed at the University of Kent, UK, and Deakin University, Australia aimed specifically at beginning programmers. It is part of the activities of the 'Sun Center of Excellence in Object-Oriented Education' at the University of Kent. More information about NetBeans IDE/BlueJ edition is available at its Web site.