Yesterday I attended Intel’s FIRST EVER Ultimate Engineering Experience (IUEE). We kicked off in Arizona and have more of the same events launching across our major locations – Oregon, California, New Mexico, and Austin. Students poured into the venue from schools across the area – both from the Community Colleges and Universities. They arrived bright and early with some serious energy! These students all have at least one thing in common. They want to pursue degrees in the field of engineering and science – and are looking to Intel to help keep them inspired and engaged this summer. While that is a huge challenge, we feel up to the task!
I witnessed some brilliant minds with great passion and I can honestly say I believe our future is in great hands. These students come from such diverse backgrounds and all have what it takes to shape our future for the better. These are some seriously smart undergrads.
The agenda was pretty light seeing as it was day one. We did some great icebreaker activities (think Game Shows and get to know you challenges) and set the stage for what is to come over the next six weeks of the session.
We also had the honor of hearing from Andy Tryba, our Director of Corporate Strategy and Business Platforms as well as the Director of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. He took the time to talk about his role in supporting Intel’s work on the President’s Jobs Council (and how he managed to score that position). He even shared some of his personal experiences about landing his first internship at Intel (can you believe he admitted he was their 2nd choice?!) and reminded students that sometimes, you really have to be UBER persistent to get what you want.
Andy sharing his Intel storyAll in all, we had a very eventful first day and students have already begun making new connections and friends. Apparently, I’m not the only one that thinks it was a pretty fabulous day. Facebook was buzzing with photos, videos of ‘dance offs’, commentary about the day, questions about the future… I love that I’ve finally met a group of students that love Facebook just as much as I do!
I’m hoping some of our attendees will share their stories with you in the near future. These are truly an amazing bunch of kids with some very interesting backgrounds and experiences that can inspire us all!
Meet your Arizona IUEE Attendees – and the future of engineering.
Our AZ IUEEs! (Group 1)
AZ IUEE Group 2