Ijea started participating in JETS when she was a junior and continued through her senior year, taking Electrical and Civil Engineering. When asked what she got out of JETS she responded, “JETS gave me a real inside look at what engineering was all about by being able to do hands-on projects.” She also stated that seeing successful black engineers who were volunteer instructors strongly influenced her to become an engineer as well. In 2000, Ijea graduated with honors from the Colorado School of Mines, majoring in Electrical Engineering. During her college years, CABPES helped Ijea get internships with CH2M HILL and the National Renewable Energy Laboratories. Her interviews with major local engineering firms for summer jobs and internships showed her that participating in a junior engineering program like JETS really helped to set her apart from the competition. She is currently working as an engineer with TRW. Ijea has come back to CABPES and is a math tutor in the MEP Program.

Julian started JETS when he was a sophomore in high school and continued until he graduated. Julian was extremely interested in computers and JETS helped him to realize his potential with computer internships at Bell Labs during his last two years of high school. Julian says that “JETS gave me the exposure to software development and I knew that was something I wanted to do as a career.” He entered Morehouse College in 1990 majoring in Computer Science and graduated in May 1994 with a 3.30 GPA. Two summer internships during college with U S WEST telecommunication systems gave him the experience to work with BSG Alliance/IT as a software developer consultant. Julian returned to CABPES in 1994 to work as a volunteer tutor in the MEP. Julian is now helping other students to begin their full circle of success.

Talia participated in JETS from 1980 to 1986 and showed strong interest in all programs. She decided to pursue the engineering field and went on to Bennett College and participated in a dual degree program whereby she received a degree in Math from Bennett College and a degree in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina A & T. Upon graduating, she went directly into graduate school at Northwestern for Electrical Engineering. After obtaining her master’s degree, she went to work for AT&T as a member of the Technical Staff. Talia returned to CABPES in 1993 to work as a volunteer MEP tutor. She took the lead position in MEP and worked with the program until 1995 at which time she took a leave of absence from AT&T to pursue her Ph.D. In Urban Technology. Talia is another example of a student going full circle and her CABPES colleagues look forward to working with her after she completes her Ph.D.