A Mercer University professor took software engineering graduate students to Silicon Valley over spring break to provide a glimpse into the global center of technology and innovation.
Five students, one alumnus and two guests accompanied Dr. Michael Pelosi, associate professor of software engineering, on the two-day trip in March to the South San Francisco Bay Area of California.
They explored the Computer History Museum, Moffett Field Museum and Intel Museum. They also visited Google and Apple headquarters, as well as Stanford University.
“I thought it would be a life-changing experience for the students to actually see these companies firsthand,” Dr. Pelosi said about why he organized the trip. “And, of course, Silicon Valley just has this incredible vibe. You spend a couple days there, and you can feel that technology and innovation-related vibe.”
Malik Freeman, who is pursuing his master’s in software engineering, said the trip brought to life a world that he had only seen in videos.
“The trip showed me the potential of everything I can do with a software engineering degree,” he said. “I saw people actually living the lifestyle that I imagined in my head. I saw on the Google campus people on bicycles shouting back and forth. On the Apple campus, I saw people walking around the center.”
Alyssa Mae Bonifacio, who earned her bachelor’s degree in computer engineering at Mercer and is now pursuing her graduate degree in software engineering, said she viewed the trip to Silicon Valley as an opportunity to connect what she’s been learning in class to the real world.
She especially enjoyed the Computer History Museum, where she learned how to use the abacus mathematical tool and spoke with an expressive AI bot in both English and Japanese.
“I’ve developed a deeper appreciation for the roots of what I’m learning,” she said. “Now when I run into something repetitive or frustrating in my assignments or projects, like debugging my code or doing long, boring calculations, I can reflect back on what I saw during this trip, and it reminded me why I’m doing this.
“The innovations that I saw during the trip weren’t just impressive, they were built by people who were once students like me, and that perspective fuels my determination to keep going.”
