Urban Alliance recognized our own Aisha Ali this week.
UA Intern of the Week: Aisha Ali
Aisha interns at Qualcomm® Thinkabit Lab™ at Virginia Tech under the leadership of her mentor, Dr. Jim Egenrieder. Aisha’s mentor stated that she has emerged as a leader at Virginia Tech Lab. She is modest, but uncommonly thoughtful, intuitive, and competent in everything she tries. The Thinkabit Lab setting is admittedly more like graduate school or a tech startup than perhaps a traditional work place, but her mentor stated that she can thrive anywhere.
Her mentor also also stated that “Aisha is the go-to person for special research projects, but also a skilled designer, programmer, and troubleshooter that regularly volunteers to teach others. She has a great sense of humor and is thoroughly enjoyable as a collaborator.” Dr. Egenrieder looks forward to any opportunity to advance Aisha’s education and career interest. He stated, “I knows that she will make me proud to have been a very small part of her many inevitable successes.”
Exploring Technical Careers and College, Programming, Engineering Design, Creative Robotics, and all Hands-On STEM Education Strategies
Virginia Tech's DC Metro Area Thinkabit Lab STEM Education and Workforce Development Programs is the longest-serving collaborator in the Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab network. The mission of our Thinkabit Lab is to serve Washington, D.C. area students, teachers, administrators, parents, and collaborators in technical career exploration and the hands-on electronic and programming foundations of IOT and Smart Cities, AI and robotics automation, sensors, actuators, and data collection and analysis.
In doing so, we are preparing our future STEM workforce and our increasingly diverse, technology-driven community for jobs that may not yet exist. The VT-DC STEM Labs team will work with like-minded teams, organizations and individuals interested in promoting curiosity, innovation, creativity, and students’ self-actualization and self-determination.