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California Dreaming: Cody Collins (left) and Tom Most stand at a point that overlooks the famed Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco during a trip to Cyan Optics' headquarters in the heart of the Silicon Valley. |
Imagine being a 19 year old college student and being asked to develop a key component to meet the next frontier challenges for Communications Service Provider computer networks and create solutions to network problems just over the horizon.
Then consider that your client company is known for operating at the forefront of industry innovation and change; its sales force is anxiously waiting to showcase your product to national and international customers; and its president and chief executive officer is a proud alumnus and member of your college's board of trustees.
And, if that wasn't enough pressure, you have just three days to test, tweak and deliver the final product before company executives in California.
That's just another day in the life of enterprising Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students at Rose-Hulman Ventures, which provides educational opportunities to specially-selected students by working on hands-on projects for a variety of industry clients.
During the past 18 months, nine students have worked on a variety of high-tech projects for Cyan Optics Inc. (www.cyanoptics.com), a Petaluma, Calif., company that builds advanced technology systems to meet the ever increasing demand for high-bandwidth, real-time services for consumers and business.
Their most recent product is targeted at the core of telecommunication networks, but is still shroud in secrecy as the company remains in stealth mode as they continue to develop their first product.
Working on the project this past summer were Cody Collins, a senior computer engineering major from Nineveh, Ind.; Tom Most, a sophomore software engineering major from La Crosse, Wis.; and Molly Richardson, a sophomore civil engineering major and software engineering minor from Orange Park, Fla. Collins and Most joined Sandor Pethes, Rose-Hulman Ventures' senior project manager, in making a technical presentation to Cyan Optics officials.
"This is as real-world as you can get. We had customers' expectations to meet. There was little room for error," states Rick Johnston, Cyan Optics' vice president for business development. "They weren't students in our eyes. They were an important part of our company's product development team. We put a lot of trust in their hands. There was a lot riding on the line -- a lot."
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Productive Student Team: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students (from left) Cody Collins, Tom Most and Molly Richardson worked on developing innovative products for Cyan Optics last summer at Rose-Hulman Ventures. |
Collins, the student team leader, acknowledged that project was more than your usual educational experience. Cyan Optics wouldn't accept anything less than A-grade quality work from the student design team.
"Going into the presentation (in California), I was quite nervous," he admits. "Presenting in front of a class of peers and presenting in front of high-profile individuals are two entirely different things . . . At Cyan we were immediately put in a room where Cyan was in the middle of a conference call with a group of people responsible for deploying the product. During that call, a request was made for a feature to be added to part of what we had done that summer. So, we immediately set out to work on completing it. We were able to get it done in the time that we were there in California."
Most, a programmer on the project, added: "It's really neat to be able to work on something that is actually in use in the real world. There are optical routers in testing that contain software that I helped write. That feels like an accomplishment . . . The Cyan project seems a perfect fit for me. It utilizes my existing skills while teaching me about working as part of a team, something that I had little experience with in the context of software before (Rose-Hulman) Ventures."
Johnston came away impressed with the Rose-Hulman students' technical skills, attention to detail and ability to meet customer expectations.
"We're extremely pleased with the final product," he said.
Also pleased has been Cyan Optics President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Hatfield, a 1984 Rose-Hulman electrical engineering graduate and college trustee. He is a veteran of three successful communications systems startups, helping found Calix, a privately-held communication systems company which has become a leading producer of high-speed access systems for Communications Service Providers; Cerent, a leading provider of high-speed fiber-optics systems acquired by Cisco Systems for $7 billion; and Advanced Fibre Communications, which became a publicly traded enterprise.
Rose-Hulman's association with Cyan Optics continues with a team of five students working on other proprietary projects, under Pethes' supervision. The team includes Brenon Smith, a junior computer engineering major from St. Paul, Minn.; John-Paul Verkamp, a junior computer science major from Saint Anthony, Ind.; and Collins.
"Cyan Optics knows what it wants and, from our point of view, that helps us meet those expectations," states Smith, who has had several internships throughout his three years at Rose-Hulman. "This is by far the most interesting internship that I have had. I have met so many top-notch people and we're working on cutting-edge technology."
Richardson, who did extensive work on the Web-based EMS Transport Resources part of the project, added: "This work experience has definitely heightened my Rose-Hulman experience. The whole point of coming to Rose-Hulman is to learn what you will need to make it in the real world and this experience definitely gave me a taste of what the 'real world' is like.
"Working with (Rose-Hulman) Ventures was wonderful. In the future I hope to be able to give back to Ventures because I think it is an amazing idea which could definitely grow and expand. Working with Cyan was a huge joy," she stated.
Since its inception in 2000, Rose-Hulman Ventures, located at Rose-Hulman's South Campus along Indiana 46 in Vigo County, has provided 1,992 internship opportunities for 104 companies to 695 Rose-Hulman students, including over 306,456 hours of student professional practice experience. Approximately 78 students worked on projects for 20 companies during the fall academic quarter.
More information about Rose-Hulman Ventures can be found at http://www.rhventures.org.
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