CDW was one of the first companies to host a career site visit when Lumity began its STEM Career Readiness Program more than two years ago. Last week, they opened their doors again to host students from Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center. The experience blew everyone away. Students, teachers and volunteers were amazed by the day’s events.
Ann Winterhalder, a computer science teacher at Von Steuben, attended the event with her students and provided some highlights of the tour. She explained employees showed the students how CDW receives and ships their products to customers, typically other businesses. The tour focused mainly on the technology that allows them to be fast, efficient and automated.
Part of the tour covered how to handle returns from customers. Sometimes, products are defective or unwanted and must be shipped back to the manufacturer. Students were then treated to a tour of the two high-end server rooms and given a description of their functions, cooling systems, and generator backups. Along the way, the guide explained why each machine was wired or set up the way it was, and the differences between the servers and racks they saw along the tour.
After the tour, students were put to work. CDW employees asked them to come up with a problem they experience in school or at home. With the guidance of a CDW mentor, students went to work developing ideas for an app to solve the problem. They then presented their ideas to a panel of judges at the company.
The most surprising part of the day, for everyone involved, was the results of the judging. At the end of the event, CDW presented each member of the winning team with a seven-inch tablet. All participating students received fun CDW swag. This was both unexpected and very exciting for the winning students.
“The employees were impressed with the students’ app ideas and their creative use of visual elements for their presentations,” said Seli Cerda, Application Support Manager at CDW.
Winterhalder said it was “a great learning experience and a fun day for all! Kudos to Jack [Stonebraker of Lumity] Seli Cerda and 20 other [CDW volunteers] and the Lumity team for developing and offering this great opportunity!”