Dorota Bernatek
Electrical Engineering
University of Houston

Hi, my name is Dorota Bernatek and I am a graduating senior at the University of Houston majoring in Electrical Engineering, Computer Option. Upon graduation, I will be working as a field engineer at ExxonMobil Pipeline in Houston, TX.

Having been on each side of the Cullen College of Engineering’s Retention Program, both the participation and administration, I am able to speak with greatest confidence on the impact and knowledge it offered me. Having taken all the available workshops offered through the retention program, this TETC supported program provided an extra medium in which I could hone my skills and reinforce my learning. Having a weekly workshop offered me a different perspective on collaborative learning; it was a focused and reliable source of knowledge and tutoring that otherwise I would not have received any where else. Currently, I have had the opportunity to make the same difference and impact with other students by facilitating one of the workshops offered for Electrical Engineering students. I have seen just how much dedication and passion is required to drive a retention program; as well as how rewarding it is when the statistics prove the workshop influence is definitely a factor to the students’ success.

- Dorota Bernatek

Denise Garrett
Computer Engineering
Texas A & M University

Hi, my name is Denise Garrett and I am currently a sophomore at Texas A&M University studying Computer Engineering. The programs sponsored by TETC at A&M have impacted the way I think about engineering and influenced me to stick with Computer Engineering as my profession.

During my first semester at Texas A&M, I was unsure of what degree I wanted to pursue. I had just put “Computer Engineering” down on my application to start school with a degree plan instead of simply general studies. That semester I took Introduction to Engineering 1, which was a class that had recently been modified through a TETC grant. Students were in pairs and given a robot kit. During the beginning of the semester we built the robot and did labs with it to better understand concepts from the lectures. Eventually we had a project in which we had to design the electronics for the robot to enable it to navigate through a maze.

Growing up I have always been told to find a job with something you enjoy. I enjoyed working with that robot, and the electronics that went with it. If it weren’t for those hands-on labs dealing with the robot I could have easily been bogged down by learning the theory of electronics without applying it. Because of that freshman year project, I now look forward to graduating and have decided to stick with the tough course load.

TETC has been valuable for my peers and I to better understand electrical engineering. I am currently in an Electrical Circuit Theory course which now has a help desk with undergraduate students who help clarify concepts and assist with problems.

TETC has also provided means to improve the labs and even include an additional hour of course time during the week in which we are given design projects. These projects are inspiring because we are given a realistic problem in which we design what we believe to be the most efficient and cost effective solution. This program gives us a taste of what real design is like. I know that this type of work is what I want to do after I graduate. It is these valuable programs that encouraged me to stay with Computer Engineering.

- Denise Garrett

Joel Quintana
Electrical Engineering
University of Texas at El Paso

My name is Joel Quintana. I am a Hispanic electrical engineering major at the University of Texas at El Paso. I am currently in my senior year, and I will be graduating in May 2006 with a Bachelors of Science Degree.

Graduating from high school, my first career choice was Culinary Arts. Due to economic reasons, I was not able to leave home to attend culinary arts school, so I opted to attend UTEP and pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. I found the transition very difficult. As a sophomore, I enrolled in EE 2369, Digital Systems Design.

This is the first in depth electrical engineering class I took, it was overwhelming, and my initial performance was discouraging. Teaching Assistants funded by TETC held “Saturday Sessions” in which TAs discussed topics introduced in class. After attending these sessions, not only did I earn an A in the course, which gave me the encouragement to continue studying electrical engineering, but it learned the all the skills needed to be a successful student.

As a senior I have become one of those teaching assistants. We work closely with professors to coordinate lesson plans. We not only do we help the students pass the class; we instill communication, team, and leadership skills thru cooperative learning techniques. Students can then use these acquired skills to excel in their studies and even in industry where they will be working upon graduation. I see this behavior at the end of every semester from students that attend these TETC funded programs. With out funding from TETC, support programs like “Saturday Sessions” would not exist.

- Joel Quintana

Katie Moreland
Computer Science
University of Texas - Dallas

Hello. My name is Katie Moreland and I am a senior at the University of Texas at Dallas currently pursuing my bachelor's degree in Computer Science.

This past summer I began an internship in the information technology field as a computer programmer. Although I had excelled in the classroom, I was somewhat unprepared for the transition into the workplace. Suddenly I was given real-life problems to solve, not just those from a textbook. Also, I had to collaborate with others who each contributed a piece of a larger project. This experience was very new to me and it took time to adjust. I believe it is imperative that the curriculum be altered to better prepare engineering and computer science students for the transition to the workplace so that not only may they excel to their highest potential, but so they may also reach a higher level of productivity earlier in their careers to advance the companies they work for and the people that are benefited by the products they produce.

The Texas Engineering and Technical Consortium strives to achieve these goals by improving freshmen curriculums as well as offering the All Across Texas Database which helps to place computer science and engineering students in summer internship positions where they may begin to learn the valuable skills required to excel not only in the classroom, but also in a work environment. With funding we can better prepare the students of today to become the work force of tomorrow.

- Katie Moreland

Andres Lugo
Electrical Engineering
University of Texas Pan American

The TETC program has had a very positive effect on my life and my career as an Electrical Engineer. As a freshman I was struggling in school trying to juggle between my homework and an outside job at the same time. This greatly hindered my performance at the University of Texas Pan American where I attend school.

Luckily for me I had heard about the TETC program that our Electrical Engineering department had, that would allow a student to work on campus in the engineering building part time but the under the conditions that I would only be allowed to work 10hrs a week and could not obtain an outside job. The opportunity was too good to pass up so at the beginning of my sophomore year I took a job as an assistant to a professor of the Electrical Engineering department. This allowed me to focus more on my studies and gave me the flexibility to make my working schedule fit around my school schedule. Also it gave me the opportunity to get to know some of the faculty of the department and that helped me obtain a sense of belonging.

After my sophomore year was complete, I had improved my grades and had made time to be apart of the IEEE robotics team. My junior year I was still part of TETC program and I became IEEE treasure. Because the program I was able to improve my grades, which I believe helped me land an internship with IBM in Austin for the summer of 2004. When school started back up this past fall I notified that there was no longer any positions I could fill working in the TETC program but I feel that if it were not for this program I would not have been successful as I am today.

I am currently the Vice-President of our IEEE student chapter and this fall I obtained a job offer form Raytheon in the Dallas area and will begin work in August. I was also awarded Outstanding Student of the Year by the Electrical Engineering faculty at my school and I truly believe that a good amount of my success was because I had the time and the finances to stay focused and excel my studies due to the TETC program.

- Andres Lugo