COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Located on the Zachry building's second floor right behind the Starbucks is Texas A&M's first-ever technology vending machine that's set to help students who have forgotten or lost the technology needed for their classes.
"In airports, I see tech vending machines, and I also know a lot of students, I hire a lot of students, and I know they forget things, my student does," 12th Man Technology Owner, Kristen Cox said. "The college of engineering is one of my customers so I just kind of just put that thought when I traveled, together with the fact they forget things and thought I'll pilot it here."
A graduate of the class of '83 at Texas A&M, Cox says the vending machine is filled with supplies like power adapters, cables, webcams, AirPods, pens, and pencils.
"This place gets more traffic at the beginning of the semester because of all the PPE, the lab, and glasses," Cox said. "Everyone's excited that it's here, and we're going to play with what goes in it."
Along with the new vending machine, the official technology store of Texas A&M offers repairs to all computers sold and free loaner devices when you turn in a purchased device for repairs.
"Every new hire, especially every new student hire, we talk to them about the privilege of having the 12th man name and the responsibility that holds, Cox said." "My goal is for everything we do in our store to boost the image in the stock of Texas A&M and reflect the core values."