Silicon Flatirons Pushes Education Outside the Classroom

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Providing experiential learning and placing students in internships is a robust component of Silicon Flatirons’ mission. This summer, 84 students gained real-world experience in the form of paid internships with more than 70 companies and organizations spanning the country. Each program offered an educational component along with hands-on learning for an often intensive, exceptional experience. Read on to learn more.

Hatfield Scholars and DC Summer Scholars Programs

WHAT: The programs placed students in telecom, technology, and intellectual property policy positions in Washington, D.C. The Hatfield Scholars Program centered on placing and funding students for positions in the public sector, as did the Palantir Privacy Scholar Program, while the DC Summer Scholars Program helped place students in the private sector.

WHO: Twenty students-from undergraduate through PhD-from University of Colorado’s Law School; Interdisciplinary Telecom Program; Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society Institute; and Computer Science Department interned at federal agencies, non-profits, advocacy groups, and corporations.

HIGHLIGHTS: A weekly seminar series featured some of the biggest names in telecom and technology policy, including FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai and FTC Commissioner Julie Brill. The program included a series of preparatory seminars and participation in the Spectrum Management and Policy course taught by Professor Hatfield and Bryan Tramont.

GET INVOLVED: For more information, please contact Sara Schnittgrund.

Startup Summer

WHAT: Startup Summer helped match undergraduate summer interns with startups in Colorado and featured a 10-week series of workshops that taught participants the fundamentals of creating and running a successful startup as well as a pitch competition for student startup teams.

WHO: More than 144 applicants from 21 states and 6 countries (double the applicants from last year) vied for a coveted spot. Ultimately, 41 students from 15 different schools, including CU-Boulder, Colorado School of Mines, Gonzaga University, and Yale University, were selected and placed in 36 different startups.

HIGHLIGHTS: The program expanded beyond Boulder and Denver to Colorado Springs. More than 40 guest speakers, panelists, coaches, and judges from the community participated in the summer-long series of events.

GET INVOLVED: For more information, please contact Brad Revare.

Tech Lawyer Accelerator (TLA)

WHAT: The TLA took a select group of entrepreneurially minded law students and partnered with technology companies to provide them with intensive training. The New York Times, and the National Law Journal, among others, have taken notice of the novel program, now in its second year, and it has received the first grant ever awarded by the Access Group.

WHO: The program increased to 24 students, up from last year’s 16, who interned at 21 companies along the Front Range and in Silicon Valley. Colorado Law students are the primary participants, with two students from Indiana University on the roster this year.

HIGHLIGHTS: The program opened with a four-week boot camp before students began their 10-week to seven-month internships and featured prominent keynote speakers Neil Suggs of Microsoft, Steve Harmon of Cisco, Liam Brown of Elevate Legal Services, and David Huberman of Rally Software.

GET INVOLVED: For more information, please contact Bill Mooz.

A special thank you to Silicon Flatirons Fellows Tyler Cox, John Delva, and Andy Evans and Faculty Brad Bernthal, Bill Mooz and Blake Reid for their contributions to make these programs a success for students and the hosting organizations alike.

Participation in these programs is limited. If your company or organization is interested in hosting a qualified intern in 2016, or you are an eligible student and interested in participating, we would love to hear from you. From the student angle, we regularly hear that each of these programs have offered transformative experiences and are changing the trajectories of students’ career aspirations and facilitating their job searches in impactful ways.

Cheers,
Phil Weiser
Executive Director
Silicon Flatirons Center

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