Ten Round Rock ISD Seniors were selected for the Dell IGNITE Internship, a 10-week, paid STEM program that provides students with real-world experience in electrical, mechanical, and software engineering. Interns received mentorship and explored circuit design, programming, and 3D printing.
Out of the 74 applicants who applied for this esteemed internship, only 21 high school students were selected to participate, nearly half of whom were from Round Rock ISD. These ten Round Rock interns attended various schools, including Cedar Ridge High School, McNeil High School, Round Rock High School, and Westwood High School.
The program took place on the Dell campus in Austin. Students met three days a week to collaborate in their divergent teams, made up of students from different schools. Each team designed a robot to perform a specific function and presented its final project to Dell engineers and technology executives. The winning team included four Round Rock ISD students. They designed a wheeled robot named Hermes that could react to voice commands by retrieving tools and equipment, identifying items correctly, and scanning ID badges to verify user credentials.
Cedar Ridge High School student and winning team member, Anthony Davalos, synthesized his high school education with the new skills he developed during the Dell program. “I actually was able to use what I learned from engineering class to help me with mockups,” Davalos said. “That was really helpful because I got to visualize the robot and see what I needed to model.”
Each winning team member received a Dell laptop to utilize throughout college. Through this internship program, students like Davalos gained hands-on experience, solidified their STEM interests, and set themselves up for college readiness.
Sources: Round Rock ISD Facebook, Round Rock ISD Website
Blog by: Nina Cairo, Intern, UT Austin