Joshua Monroe, a senior in computer science at the University of Missouri-Rolla, recently received a scholarship worth $1,595 from Apple Computer Inc. to attend Apple’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) August 7-11 in San Francisco.

“Any registered Apple student developer can apply for a scholarship by filling out an application on their site,” says Monroe, who is from Belleville, Ill. “After that, they pick the people that they think want to attend the most.”

Students like Monroe will have complete access to all technical sessions and events at WWDC. During the conference, “some of the information Apple will share includes trade secrets, and all developers are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement,” Monroe says.

Attendees will meet hiring managers from Macintosh development companies and attend presentations and hands-on sessions designed specifically for student designers. Apple engineers will conduct 175 different sessions and labs during the week.

“WWDC is a big event for Macintosh developers, and it is very exciting to learn from some of the best in the world,” says Monroe, who hopes to eventually design software for Macintosh. “Almost all of the Macintosh programmers, whose software I use every day, will be there, and I look forward to meeting them and talking with them.”

Steve Jobs, chief executive officer of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studio, will also be in attendance. “The highlight of the week is going to be the keynote address on Monday, when Jobs will preview the next version of Apple’s operating system, OS 10.5 Leopard,” Monroe says.

On the evening of Friday, Aug. 11, all attendees will be taken to Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., for the Apple Campus Bash.

Monroe thinks the conference will confirm his suspicions that trading his old personal computer for a Macintosh was the right decision. “With my Mac,” he says, “I am able to do twice as much work in half the time.”