At a ceremony held at Valencia College’s district office on Oct. 4, eight Valencia College students, all studying in the college’s network engineering technology program, were recognized by the Aspen Institute and the Siemens Foundation’s Siemens Technical Scholars program.
The Aspen Institute and Siemens Foundation have named five Valencia College students as 2018-19 Siemens Technical Scholars. All five are students in Valencia’s network engineering technology program, which prepares them for careers in network systems, cyber security and information technology.
The prestigious Siemens Technical Scholars awards recognize an exceptional group of diverse students who demonstrate the rewarding careers and opportunities that result from completing STEM programs. This year’s 44 Scholars will go on to serve as ambassadors for their programs and their respective fields.
Valencia’s five Siemens Scholars are:
- Amanda Cartagena
- Kacie Paulk
- Juan Luna
- Jugal Mehta
- Brianna Gonzalez
In addition, three Valencia students were recognized for their roles as mentors within the college’s network engineering program.Each will receive a $2,000 to $3,000 scholarship. Those students are:
- Michael Downing
- Michele Maiden
- Jennifer Hathaway
Valencia College’s Network Engineering Technology program also received $17,000 from the Siemens Foundation. The program chair, Wael Yousif, said that the college will spend $7,000 to cover the costs of industry certification vouchers — which usually cost $350 each for students. In addition, the program will spend $6,500 to pay industry experts to hold a series of cybersecurity and internet security workshops for Valencia students, including:
- a banking security expert who will hold workshops on credit-card security that will be open to all Valencia College students.
- an expert on HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) who will hold workshops for students in Valencia’s nursing and allied health programs, and
- an expert from the International Association of Privacy Professionals who will conduct identity security workshops for Valencia students.
For more information on the Siemens Technical Scholars program, please visit https://highered.aspeninstitute.org/siemens-aspen-stem/