HEAD OF THE CLASS
Local computer whiz continues to impress
Stephen Ibaraki is described by students, colleagues and family as a generous genius

 At first, BCOP 354 seems just like any other college computer class.

Two rows of computer terminals line the middle of the room, providing a faint hum of background noise.

Students drift in wearily, untangle themselves from massive knapsacks and sigh while pulling out ultra-thick, Windows 2000 textbooks before dropping them on their desks with heavy thuds.

Just before start time, a man wearing casual khakis, a worn, black leather jacket, a navy-blue golf T-shirt and running shoes walks in quietly and, even as he stands at the front of the room, it's hard to believe he's the instructor, not a student.

Like a kid who sees his friends for the first time after summer vacation, his face lights up as he glances around the packed classroom.

It's the first day of a new course, and the Capilano College information technology teacher spends a good 15 minutes catching up with students and answering questions about future exams.

It's only when he turns back to the class after scribbling something on the whiteboard behind him that one clues in - this class isn't just any computer class. This class belongs to Stephen Ibaraki, the gigabyte god who regularly e-mails Microsoft's Bill Gates with questions about his students' reading material.

"Next Thursday will be just a regular class because I've got to attend another awards ceremony," Ibaraki says humbly. The key word is "another." This high-tech hotshot's collection of awards and honours would leave even a star Olympic athlete gasping for air.

His novel-sized dossier includes snagging the coveted Gary Hadford Professional Achievement Award announced last month for integrity, professionalism and his overall contribution to the IT field.

And the 45-year-old North Vancouver resident not only won, he won big. Ibaraki is the first Asian-Canadian, the first community college instructor and the first B.C. resident to be honoured with this award.

The federal government recently bestowed the Cap College computer king with the IT Hero Award and Ibaraki is also a newly inducted member of the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) Hall of Fame.

Those are just the recent accolades. Flip farther back to find an impressive list of teaching awards.

"It's always a surprise," he says shyly about his reaction to accumulating so many honours. He hardly believed he scored the Gary Hadford award after receiving the congratulatory call from Toronto.

"I was walking around the office and someone said, 'Gee, maybe it's a joke,'" he laughs. "So I called her [award contact] back and she said, 'No, it's not a joke,' and I'm also going to be inducted into the IT Hall of Fame."

And somehow, like various high-speed programs running simultaneously, Ibaraki also manages to squeeze in more that just a few other accomplishments. He writes for various professional journals; he's been the keynote speaker at worldwide conferences for companies such as Xephon, a 20-year-old technical and market research association; and he hosts an online education session for e-learning megapower Smartforce.

That Ibaraki is most interested in talking about his teaching awards, of all the accolades he's been showered with, is perhaps most telling about the instructor's unassuming personality.

"I was nominated for the award by my students," he says of one excellence in teaching prize, holding his hands up to the ceiling and shaking his head. "I was very honoured."

It was this passion to pass on knowledge to others that made Ibaraki trade in a consulting fee of $1,000 an hour -- and then some -- about 15 years ago, for the satisfaction of helping others meet their goals.

"I had this student who went back to school to get a diploma," he explains of his devotion to his students. "She was a mother in her 40s and she came into our program, worked really hard, just really hard, and got a college diploma. I remember getting a call from her, and it was so touching, and she said, 'You know, my kids are saying, if mom can do it, we can go to college, too,' and it wasn't in their vocabulary before. That's what it's all about."

He even told a Smartforce representative he didn't want to be paid for his work.

"He said, 'We'll pay you,' and I said, 'No, I don't want to be paid. How about if you send us scholarships for women because they're under-represented [in IT] or for disadvantaged groups, things like that.'"

Along with three colleagues and a former student, Ibaraki cofounded Igen Knowledge Solutions Inc. (www.igeninc.com), an Internet database technology firm, with the selfless objective of spreading the profits among the college and the community. The company sets up scholarships and donates books and software to the college. About $400,000 in software, books and resources has been donated to Cap College's computing students since January. Ibaraki and his co-partners, Richard Longworth, David O'Leary, John Wilson and Yong Tao Chen, will be donating another $600,000 in the coming months.

It's nearly impossible to find a student in this afternoon's class who isn't in awe of the teacher.

"Can I just say something?" says Kevin Small, 22, stepping out of a crowd of students chatting during an in-class break. "He has so much generosity. He sells his research papers for x-hundred dollars and he just gives them to us for free."

The students also marvel at how they can ask him about almost any subject, IT-related or not, and Ibaraki will somehow instantly manage to download a stored file of knowledge from memory.

Perhaps it's Ibaraki's well-known tolerance for sleepless nights that helps him cram his brilliant grey matter. He's known to frequently get less than an hour's sleep a night and to seize mini-naps around the college.

Speculation about Ibaraki's genius is not restricted to his students.

O'Leary, fellow instructor and Igen CEO, almost whispers as he ponders possible IQ scores aloud. "He's got to be over 170," he says, beaming like a proud father while leaning forward in his office chair.

Indeed, O'Leary, like many who work with Ibaraki at the college, seems more like family than a co-worker. He attests to Ibaraki's genuine humility and gentle disposition. His office door is decorated with newspaper clippings of his colleague and friend.

"My mother-in-law's keeping the whole scrapbook," he laughs.

As for Ibaraki's actual family members, there's still no dirt to be found on the brilliant teacher.

"As a journalist, you're probably thinking, 'No way,'" jokes Evelyn Tobler, Ibaraki's older sister. "For a guy who's so intelligent and so capable, he's so down to earth."

Tobler, who saw Ibaraki build an analogue computer at age 10, describes her brother as "curious and honourable."

And teaching seems to be something Ibaraki has always shone at, long before he started working at the college.

"If I ever had a question, he would never just give me the answer," recalls Tobler. When she bought her first computer, her brother would give her suggestions and hints to help her solve any problems herself.

His daughter, Michelle Ibaraki, 24, agrees emphatically with her aunt. Ibaraki would guide his daughter in putting computer equipment together and would step back to let her sort out upgrades and software installation on her own before getting involved. It's a method she feels makes him a fantastic teacher.

But to Michelle, Ibaraki is simply dad.

"I just call and say, 'Hey dad, let's go for a banana split,'" she says of her favourite activity with her father. "I guess I owe him the next banana split for winning the last award," she laughs. z

currentz@biv.com

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