It’s graduation time! On August 12th, 16 participants received certificates for completing their 20 weeks of education in Nebraska Dev Lab Integrated Pipeline Program.
We captured some of the celebration and spoke with a few participants about their time in the Program.
Meet the Spring 2022 Cohort
This month, we will introduce you to the rest of the Spring 2022 Integrated Pipeline cohort participants. We asked these questions when the participants began the program.
Stephen Bice (Nelnet)
Why did you apply to the Integrated Pipeline Program? How did you hear about it?
I applied after hearing about it from my manager. I was encouraged to see it as a way to skill-up.
What is your current level of familiarity with software development?
I am familiar with software development.
What excites you most about starting the program? What are you most nervous about?
I am really excited to learn from some pros but nervous about brushing off my C#.
Looking ahead, how do you see the program impacting your professional career?
I think being able to work with some veterans will help me see how other, more experienced teams operate and collaborate.
Matt Cullinane (Kawasaki)
Why did you apply to the Integrated Pipeline Program? How did you hear about it?
My employer proposed the program to me during the hiring process.
What is your current level of familiarity with software development?
I am familiar enough to know how to find answers to my questions and solve problems. I have learned that there is always more to learn.
What excites you most about starting the program? What are you most nervous about?
I am excited to study in an environment populated by knowledgeable individuals
with modern and relevant industry experience. I was most nervous about learning a framework and developing for mobile.
Looking ahead, how do you see the program impacting your professional career?
Attending the program at the start of my professional career has given me a boost of insight into working on a large project with a team. Developing best practices and applying them. I now have the advantage of going to work
full-time with insight into the overall process. These are things that school couldn’t teach me.
Aaron Haigh (Speedway Motors)
Why did you apply to the Integrated Pipeline Program? How did you hear about it?
Heard about the program from my manager. I wanted to advance my career in a way that helped me do my job better, faster, and also open up other types of tasks.
What is your current level of familiarity with software development?
Extreme novice.
What excites you most about starting the program? What are you nervous about?
I’m just looking forward to the class. No major concerns.
Looking ahead, how do you see the program impacting your professional career?
I see it as a way to advance my career in a way that helps me do my job better, faster, and also opens up other types of tasks.
Melisa Lisak (Nelnet)
Why did you apply to the Integrated Pipeline Program? How did you hear about it?
I’d heard about it three years ago when I started in NBS IT and was super interested but couldn’t apply at that time. And as soon as Ken Versaw told me it was open/available this spring, I hurried and applied!
What is your current level of familiarity with software development?
Before the program, I had a general knowledge of modern software development.
Enough to be able to manually test most things and automate a few simple click-through E2E tests.
What excites you most about starting the program? What are you most nervous about?
I am excited to tackle software quality from the start of a story. With my experience in testing, I want to focus on unit, integration, and E2E testing and ensure that every piece of code I put out is well tested. As a tester, I always strived to find a bug in the best developer’s story. Now, my challenge will be trying to make it as hard as possible for my testers to find bugs in my stories!
Looking ahead, how do you see the program impacting your professional career?
Professionally, I have been working towards this role for some time while taking classes at SCC. This program accelerated my timeline, and I’ll actually be a developer in another month! This doesn’t mean I’ll stop taking classes, but as I take my classes, I’ll find the topics we discuss more relevant since I
am actively working in the field. Because of this program, I know I’ll be an even stronger developer than I ever imagined.
Chase Prochnow (Don’t Panic Labs)
Why did you apply to the Integrated Pipeline Program? How did you hear about it?
After landing a job at Don’t Panic Labs, I was informed I would be put through an onboarding/training program that would help catch me up to speed with some things common in the software development industry and gain some experience on an actual product.
What is your current level of familiarity with software development?
I have quite a bit of academic experience with software development but am
still learning a lot about the software development industry.
What excites you most about starting the program? What are you most nervous about?
I’m most excited about getting to work on an actual project that people will use, but at a pace that will allow me to learn as much as possible without getting left behind.
Looking ahead, how do you see the program impacting your professional career?
I think it will prepare me for many different areas of software development that are not seen unless you are already in the industry.
Melissa Tapia (Don’t Panic Labs)
Why did you apply to the Integrated Pipeline Program? How did you hear about it?
Six months after moving to Lincoln, NE, I was laid off from the job I’d brought here with me. I took the opportunity to change career paths from call center management to technology. So, I began looking for educational programs, coding
boot camps, and researching what was offered at the local community college. Upon my research, the Integrated Pipeline Program had popped up numerous times.
I applied around February 2021. Then in February 2022, I was invited to apply for the Spring cohort.
What is your current level of familiarity with software development?
In the past, I’d attempted to learn CSS and C++ online, but due to a lack of support through those programs, I could not complete either.
What excites you most about starting the program? What are you most nervous about?
I am most excited to start my career after the program. But I am most nervous about learning so much in ~5 months.
Looking ahead, how do you see the program impacting your professional career?
I cannot wait to collaborate on projects with various folk to see everyone’s different communication, learning, and teaching styles.
Ethan Weber (Don’t Panic Labs)
Why did you apply to the Integrated Pipeline Program? How did you hear about it?
I started going through the program at the halfway point to have a smoother onboarding experience for my new job at Don’t Panic Labs.
What is your current level of familiarity with software development?
I’m pretty familiar with software development.
What excites you most about starting the program? What are you most nervous about?
I’m excited to learn more about project design! I’m nervous about having a large team size of 16 people.
Cade Wilkinson (Kawasaki)
Why did you apply to the Integrated Pipeline Program? How did you hear about it?
I applied to the Integrated Pipeline Program to help learn programming and software development at an enterprise level. I heard about the program through my recruiter at my employer.
What is your current level of familiarity with software development?
I would say I am still in the very beginner stages of software development. Yet to graduate and have not worked on projects of this capacity before but quickly
learning.
What excites you most about starting the program? What are you most nervous about?
I like the opportunity to work with a non-profit and use some of my education to be finally put to work. I am nervous about the timing of learning, which could affect meeting sprint deadlines.
Looking ahead, how do you see the program impacting your professional career?
I could see it letting me dip my feet into the water of what a day in the life of a software developer actually contains.
Seeking Sponsor Organizations for Upcoming Cohort
Nebraska Dev Lab is now accepting applications from sponsor organizations for our cohort beginning January 2023.
Organizations interested in sponsoring participants can email devlab@dontpaniclabs.com.
Nebraska Dev Lab is an academic/corporate partnership between Doane University and Don’t Panic Labs, which aims to help address the shortage of qualified software developers in Nebraska.
Organizations sponsor individuals — at any level of experience — to participate in the Integrated Pipeline Program. At the end of the Program, these individuals will emerge as full-stack developers.
Learn more at dontpaniclabs.com/devlab.