Derek Miller and Isaac Lomeli are more than information technology (IT) students at DeVry University – they are IT entrepreneurs.
In 2012, Miller and Lomeli, both seniors, founded Technology Entrepreneurship Development Group (TEDG) to provide IT support to William Factory, a small business incubator in Tacoma, Wash. The group, now a force of nearly a dozen students from Puget Sound area colleges, is supporting other local small businesses, not-for-profits and educational institutions, all for the love of IT and bridging the gap between the classroom and business.
Featured in the photo above (left to right): Travis Logue and Isaac Lomeli
The Journey to Winning National Recognition
Earlier this year, the founders paired up with Travis Logue, a fellow colleague and classmate, to harness their real-world experience from TEDG and compete at the Washington Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) competition; PBL is part of the oldest and largest student business organization in the world. They competed in three categories, including cyber security, network design and networking concepts. The students won state titles in each category and had the opportunity to compete at the National PBL Leadership Conference in June.
Logue, a sophomore at DeVry University, spent hours preparing with Miller and Lomeli to compete at the national level, but he also leveraged his background as a Marine, where he focused on networking and communications.
“You don’t have to be doing this [IT] for ten years to get a good grasp on the material,” said Logue. “You just have to be hungry to learn.”
Turns out, the three were hungry to learn and compete. At the national competition in Anaheim, Calif., the three competed against state champions from 38 other states and took first place in each of the following categories:
· Derek Miller: Cyber Security
· Isaac Lomeli: Network Design (team member with Travis Logue)
· Travis Logue: Networking Concepts and Network Design (team member with Isaac Lomeli)
The explanation for the multiple wins is simple, according to Miller.
“I think we competed so well because we are immersed in the field every day,” he said.
Career Opportunities in IT
For Lomeli, Logue and Miller science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is their future; the students are enrolled at DeVry University’s Federal Way campus, where they are studying in the College of Engineering and Information Sciences.
By 2014, students who follow a similar path, focusing their skills and interests in IT, may find themselves ahead of their non-STEM peers when job hunting. According to a report, more than eight million jobs will be available in the fields of STEM[i].
“My passion is information, and more specifically, making it more accessible to everyone,” said Miller, an Army veteran. “For most people, IT has the perception of causing more problems than it solves. I want to change that.”
[i] Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “STEM”, 2011. http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/stem-execsum.pdf
