The latest crop of New Mexico State University students recently returned from Google offices in Seattle where they were honored last week in a culminating ceremony for the 2023 cohort of the Google Tech Exchange program.
Google Tech Exchange is a pipeline program that helps prepare Black, Latino and Native American students for technical internships. Eight NMSU students spent the spring semester involved in up to four Google courses that cover introductions to software development, project management, applied data structures and careers in technology.
NMSU students Sarah Diaz, Mariano Garcia, Said Ajo Montano, Avery Johnson, Edgar Ochoa Sotelo, Carson Siegrist, Francisco Manuel Mares Solano and Rafael Ramirez were selected for the 2023 Tech Exchange program, which flew them to Google offices for orientation at the beginning of the spring semester before returning them to campus to engage in a virtual curriculum with NMSU faculty, Googlers and other computer science students across the country.
“I had the opportunity to meet numerous Tech Exchange students and hear about their experiences, as well as interact with Googlers,” said Siegrist, NMSU computer science student who grew up in a military family, living in states across the U.S. as well as Europe and Asia. “It was an amazing experience that allowed me to forge valuable connections, expand my network and make friends with individuals I would not have met otherwise.”
NMSU was among the first Hispanic-Serving Institutions selected in 2018 to participate in the program where students learn applied computer science and problem-solving skills. They also are paired with a Google mentor to help with professional development and to build social capital and community.
“We aim to ensure the students feel seen, supported and engaged by the Google community,” said Tech Exchange Technical Program Manager Ernest Holmes. “At the end of the program, students tell us they feel more confident in their abilities as programmers and that they have developed a deeper sense of belonging in the industry.”
The program began in 2017 with students from Howard University, one of America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, then added more HBCUs and Hispanic-Serving Institutions like NMSU in its second year.
“This program helped me realize that I have a chance to work at Google no matter what my background is,” said Diaz, a first-generation college student who plans to graduate with a computer science degree in December 2024. “The program also broadened my understanding of the tech field and the different opportunities that are offered. I learned to work in a team on a big project. With Google, we all had to pull our weight and work on this project together because if not, we wouldn't be able to finish it by the deadlines.”
“I learned so much this semester. I was fortunate enough to take all four courses offered,” said Garcia, who chose NMSU because of its status as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. “I worked on the most creative project I have ever worked on. We were instructed to create a product and go through the same steps that real product managers go through. We even presented our product to real Google product managers with the goal of selling them on our idea, and it was amazing to have the designated Google project coach think that our product was good and almost perfect.”
Google Tech Exchange has grown from a handful of students when it started six years ago to 180 students in this year’s cohort, the largest and most diverse group to date. Sixteen universities, a combination of 11 HBCUs and 5 HSIs, participated this year.
“This program helped me to develop skills to work on software projects with other people in a team,” said Mares Solano, “It helped me learn best practices in the industry and how to approach problems as a professional developer does.”
“It was a very eye-opening experience,” said Ochoa Sotelo. “The most memorable part of the program was all the things we learned in such a short amount of time.”
Google Tech Exchange invites students to participate in the spring of their sophomore year. With optional classes, they may continue studying with Google throughout the summer and fall semester.
“Google is making a long-term investment in education to provide more pathways into tech careers for underrepresented groups,” said Son Tran, head of the computer science department. “The program not only helps our students build their computer science skills but also helps them acquire important soft skills they will need to work in diverse teams.”
Enrico Pontelli, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has watched the program grow over the past several years and he expects it to continue.
“Our students enjoy the program and benefit greatly from it,” Pontelli said. “We’ve seen our graduates get jobs at Google. As this program continues to expand in the coming years, we would like to see many more of our students benefit from it.”
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