June 21, 2011
COPY BY: Rana McDonald, 806-651-2129, rmcdonald@mail.wtamu.eduWTAMU Grad Lands Internship with Executive Office of the President
CANYON, Texas—Dustin Hume, a May 2011 graduate at West Texas A&M University, is heading for Washington, D.C.—not as a tourist, but as one of four students from across the country selected as a software engineer intern for the Executive Office of the President.
The four interns, considered the nation’s best and brightest software engineering students, will work with the newly created Internal Software Design Team which is revolutionizing computer usage and business processes in the Executive Office of the President and the White House.
The internship began in June and continues through Sept. 9. Hume, who will be working on his M.B.A. through online classes at WTAMU, will help with data cleanup in an office located two blocks west of the White House. He also will help write software that will increase accuracy and automate time-consuming tasks while building leadership skills and learning about the federal work environment. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, and Hume is ready for the challenge.
"I didn’t expect to get the internship," he said. "The opportunity to do this is something I’ll never have again. I’m very excited and a little bit nervous, but I feel that WT has more than prepared me for it."
Hume, who calls Springfield, Colo., his home, graduated with a 4.0 GPA and brings extensive experience in software development projects to the internship position. In addition to a strong math background, Hume conducted research on iPhone mobile applications and location privacy and developed apps as a lab/network technician for the Department of Computer Information and Decision Management.
"I’ve just completed my 10th year of instructing in computer information systems and, after thousands of students, Dustin is one of the brightest and most enjoyable students I’ve had the pleasure of teaching and working with," Dr. Jeffry Babb, assistant professor of computer information systems, said. "When you work with Dustin, despite his young age, you immediately get the sense that you are working with a colleague, an equal capable of generating new ideas and taking a responsible approach to problem framing and solving. As we encountered new problems in our work and research journey together, Dustin wouldn’t idly wait for me, he’d jump into the fray and seek solutions. He has made my first two years at WTAMU a delight."
Hume learned about the opportunity through the University’s Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships, and the office’s coordinator, Elly Mons, helped him with the application process. The internship is an unpaid position, but Hume is receiving help through the University’s Washington, D.C. Internship Fee, a mandatory $1 fee students pay each semester to help those who participate in approved internships in Washington, D.C. Other WTAMU students who have received help from the fund include the interns each semester to U.S. Rep Mac Thornberry and Jillian Read, who just completed her spring semester as an intern with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Information about nationally competitive internships in all disciplines is available through WTAMU’s Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships. For more information, call Mons at 806-651-2587 or visit wtamu.edu/ncs.
—WTAMU—