April 1, 2008

Silicon Valley Trip Brings Together Entrepreneurial Alumni, Students

Dennis Rankin and Jennifer Webster at Stanford University. (Photo: Nate DeGraff)

They are the iPod Pioneers, the Sultans of Search, the Swamis of Social Networking.

They are Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, and NC State engineering and business students spent spring break learning about what makes them tick. The students headed to California’s Bay Area as part of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program (EEP), which immerses students in a business environment where they roll out startup companies and products.

The program sends a group of students to Silicon Valley each year to chat up successful alumni and soak in the West Coast culture that has spawned some of the world’s most influential companies. Visits to Apple, Google and Facebook were part of this year’s itinerary.

The trip was led by Dr. Tom Miller, the EEP director who is a professor of electrical and computer engineering and vice provost for distance education and learning technology, and Dr. Stephen Walsh, a teaching associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and the program’s entrepreneur-in-residence. Miller, who started the EEP program in 1993, has watched more than 450 students complete it.

The 2008 trip began with a guided tour of the Stanford University campus led by engineering alumnus Saket Vora, a master’s student at Stanford. Vora, who attended last year’s EEP trip, urged students to learn as much as they could about Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial, business-friendly spirit.

	Saket Vora, left, an NC State engineering alumnus who now studies at Stanford, leads a tour of the campus. (Photo: Nate DeGraff)

"They should figure out why this place is what it is," he said. “See how they think out here." Later that evening, students traveled to nearby Half Moon Bay to dine with Tony Blevins, vice president of corporate procurement for Apple. Blevins, a 1989 graduate in industrial engineering, took the students on a walk along the beach and shared his experiences at Apple over a dinner of grilled hamburgers.

More than anything else, Blevins said, his job was about managing relationships. So he was impressed that the students took time over spring break to meet people who could help their careers.

"I’m an absolutely incredible fan of this program," Blevins said later. “The quality of the students has just been so impressive, and each year it gets a little bit more impressive."

Students visited the Apple headquarters the next day, hearing from Blevins and Joe Fisher, a 2001 NC State graduate in electrical engineering who helped develop the company’s iPods.

The group ate lunch at Apple’s giant cafeteria before heading to Rosum, which has developed a system that uses television signals for tracking people and objects. The students heard from alumnus Todd Young, a 1988 electrical engineering graduate who has worked at Palm, Ford Motor Company and Bell Laboratories. He also founded an education software-and-services company.

"Know yourself. Know what you’re good at," said Young, Rosum’s vice president of marketing. “If you’re not talking to people. You’re missing out on a lot.”

Then the students visited Jaxtr, a year-old startup that links phones to the Web. That night, they talked about technology with alumni over spaghetti and meatballs at a downtown Palo Alto restaurant.

Alumnus John Steensen, a 1973 computer science graduate, was part of the group. He has held senior management positions in Oracle and Computer Associates. Now, he’s the president of Spatial Dynamics Corp.

From left, David Monsees, Scott Seksay, Glen Garner, Matt Hauser and Brooks Stephenson return from the beach at Half Moon Bay. (Photo: Nate DeGraff)

Said Steensen, "Figure out what your track is, go after it, and don’t let anybody get in your way."

Students visited more companies over the next two days. They wandered past the pool tables and swimming pool at the sprawling "Googleplex" in Mountain View, hearing from alums who now work at what’s been called the world’s most innovative company. At Facebook, they watched twenty-something engineers whiz around the office on skateboards and learned about the company’s blistering growth.

Later, students visited Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the legendary venture-capital firm that helped start iconic companies such as Google, Amazon and Netscape. Addressing the group was Randy Komisar, a partner in the firm who brought along one of the co-founders of CoolIris, which transforms sites like Google Images and Flickr into three-dimensional slideshows.

Students have been reading Komisar’s book, The Monk and the Riddle, so they were excited to see him in person.

"There never was one mention of getting rich or going down that path," said Justin Milam, a senior in electrical and computer engineering. "It was all about what you want in life to be happy and to fulfill your own dreams."

Many former EEP students found that success. Donnie Barnes was among the first employees of Red Hat and retired from the company at age 27. Scot Wingo co-founded Stingray Software and AuctionRover.com, the latter of which sold for $166 million. He credits the entrepreneurs’ program for his success.

But there have been failures, too. Many of the Silicon Valley alumni spoke about the long hours and frustrating moments that preceded their ultimate successes.

"Just being able to remember what they’ve struggled with and what they’ve gone through will help me in my future," said Jennifer Webster, a junior in electrical and computer engineering.

The trip’s final day began with a visit to Applied Signal Technology, where co-founder and NC State alumnus Jim Collins explained the company’s digital signal processing systems. He challenged the students to start their own companies.

"If you’re young, take that chance," Collins told the group. "Do something new. Do something different."

Then the students went to Danger, Inc., which develops software of mobile devices. Like other alumni, Chief Technology Officer Joe Britt, a 1991 computer engineering graduate, took a winding road to his current job. He worked for Apple, 3DO, Catapult Entertainment and Web TV before co-founding Danger in 1999.

Britt scored a big success earlier this year when Microsoft agreed to buy Danger. He’s been a favorite stop for the EEP students for the past several years.

"I wish there had been a program like this when I was at State," he said.

-degraff-

Students relax in the courtyard at Google before touring the complex. (Photos: Nate DeGraff)		Students, professors and alumni dine in Palo Alto.		Jim Collins, an NC State alumnus who helped found Applied Signal Technology, shows off some of the company's work.		Students gather outside Facebook's offices in Palo Alto.

/ News Index / News Archives Index /