Pictured from left: Wen Qiu, Ryan Wheelock, Josh Harmon, Claire Dougherty and Riley Jones
Five selected for opportunities in science, math and technology
Five members of Skyview High School’s StormBots robotics team have earned prestigious summer internships. For most of the students, these opportunities will draw on the skills learned on the team and/or in classes in the school’s Science, Math and Technology magnet program.
- Claire Dougherty is only the seventh Skyview student to be selected for Boeing’s Tech Prep summer student development program, which accepts only a dozen applicants per year. The three-summer internship enables students to learn from Boeing engineers and gain an in-depth look at aerospace engineering. The Skyview junior will become proficient in Boeing’s milling and lathing, a skill she first learned in the StormBots’ shop. Said Dougherty, “I wanted to do something with my summer that would help me get somewhere, help me learn a new skill.”
- Josh Harmon, a senior, will intern with Vancouver Bolt & Supply. Harmon will assist with packaging, inventory and databasing this summer and may continue his internship while he attends Washington State University Vancouver next year. “I wanted to have a job like this to help me pay to further my education and also gain some experience in a small business,” he said.
- Senior Riley Jones was accepted to the Northwest Advanced Programming Workshop at Portland State University. The program is open only to high school students who are serious, high-level programmers in Java or C++. Jones has completed programming classes at Skyview and, he said, “wanted to practice working in groups more.” During the two-year workshop, he will collaborate on a self-driving car.
- Wen Qiu, also a senior, is the first StormBot to receive an Autodesk internship. Drawing on her experience as a programmer for the Stormbots, Qiu will add features to and fix bugs on a robotics simulator called Synthesis. Said Qiu, “I love programming, and I want to be a software developer in the future. I’m planning to go into the computer science/engineering program at [the University of Washington], so I needed to get more experience in software development. I find the program really interesting because you can work with professional teams.”
- Ryan Wheelock will spend nearly 300 hours this summer working in Hewlett-Packard’s 3-D printing division. The Skyview junior will test new prototypes, sourcing his skills and knowledge gained in a principles of engineering class. Wheelock was motivated by “looking at what employers are looking for,” he said. “What I need to do in the future to be prepared to get a job. And explore more in science, math and technology and find out what I want to do.”
Congratulations to these students!