![BYU information systems professor James Gaskin in his office in the Tanner Building. The walls and the office are covered in Disney puzzles, 3D printed temples, trinkets, and minerals/gems.](https://magazine.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/WEB_20-001_Slade_03-13-2020_JamesGaskin-113-DONE-1.jpg)
Walk into James E. Gaskin’s (BS ’08, MISM ’08) Tanner Building office, and you may be at a loss for words. Don’t worry—he’s got one for you: awe. From the information-systems (IS) professor’s self-made chainmail to his iridescent titanium, he hopes “to create awe and expand what the students see as . . . possible.”
Gaskin shares an I-Spy list with students who visit. Here’s a short list of items for you to find:
![A Groot figurine.](https://magazine.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Cottam_05-01-2020_JamesGaskinOffice-121.jpg)
• A 3D-printed Baby Yoda, Groot, and a wallpapering of puzzles—“artifacts” of Gaskin’s activities with his four daughters, whom he raises to be curious (his oldest was featured on Oprah at age 2 for her ability to identify more than 100 countries on a map).
• Smart cattle trackers (look like locks), products of Gaskin’s IS research with students.
• A diorama that includes Hogwarts (visible here), the Sacred Grove, and a hot air balloon hovering over Y Mountain—reenacting how Gaskin proposed to his wife.
• The San Diego California Temple, one of his 27 detailed temple replicas (each 3D printed at a 1/1,500 scale).
• Bonus points: A 1 trillion Zimbabwean dollar bill from 2009 (now defunct, it was then worth 40 U.S. cents), plate armor, and a plasma column.
![A corner of James Gaskin's office with 3D printed temples, Disney puzzles, and other knick knacks.](https://magazine.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20-001_Slade_03-13-2020_JamesGaskin-39-RESIZED.jpg)
![A diorama in James Gaskin's office featuring Y Mountain, Hogwarts, a hot air balloon, and a train.](https://magazine.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/20-001_Cottam_05-01-2020_JamesGaskin-2.jpg)
![James Gaskin's desk full of rocks, plants, and other knick knacks. There is a large oriental flag on the wall and a dozen 3D-printed temples.](https://magazine.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/20-001_Cottam_05-01-2020_JamesGaskin-20.jpg)
![Part of James Gaskin's office with puzzles and paintings on the wall.](https://magazine.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/20-001_Cottam_05-01-2020_JamesGaskin-28.jpg)