La Voz

Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Graphic by Nitzan Beck

The National Science Foundation awarded De Anza College's Occupational Training Institute a $749,995 grant last spring. The Internships and Underrepresented Student Persistence in Technical Education grant was given to support low income and minority students involved in OTI.

OTI program coordinator, Susan Malmgren, said they are hoping the grant will help under-represented minorities get more access to the information technology industry. There are a lot of people retiring in the industry, but not a lot of women or minorities entering it.

It is estimated that between 2004 and 2014, the United States will add more than 1 million technology jobs. The more students with access to those opportunities the better, she said.

The grant will continue until May 2010, focusing on computer recycling and job placement. Some of the outside internships for students are at Synopsys, PhotonDynamics, Fujitsu, Roche, VMWare and Flextronics.

Another component of the grant is a survey to determine if the internships help students become more interested in pursuing a career in computer technology, and what the motivating factors are behind participating in the program.

One student respondent said the program boosted his confidence and enhanced his skills. After the program, he was hired at Wells Fargo as a Software QA Analyst, and later at a mid -size biotech company, Medarex, also as a Software QA Analyst.

"It helped me see that the computers that I know and love are really where I should be working and studying. I was wandering around without actually knowing what I wanted to do, until I got my internship," said another student.

Student responses to the survey said the OTI program was helpful and supportive. One of the motivating factors was that the paid internships were flexible around class schedules.

Students interning on campus fix donated or used computers, which are given to other students who need them. Since 2004, over 600 computers have been given away, and only four students have come back with problems, said Joseph Coelho, who has run the lab portion of the program since 2003.

"It's good. Students get work force development experience and free computers," said Coelho. "It doesn't cost the school anything," as the program is independently funded by outside organizations.

Jefferson Vuong, a De Anza student who received a computer through OTI, said "In order to get the computer, it was pretty easy. I have [an] English class now and I need to type papers for it." He also described benefits of being able to e-mail professors and adding classes online.

De Anza student Adrien Arias, who is starting in the intern program, said it was difficult to use library computers because of his limited time between classes. He now can conveniently use the donated computer he received at home.

"The bottom line is every student at De Anza should have a computer. There's a way for every student at De Anza to get a computer and that's pretty powerful," Malmgren said. "The internship is a program to show the students what the information technology world is all about."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools