How CNM’s Technology Solutions (TSL) Lab Helps Provide Important Work Experience for CNM Graduates
A couple years back Edward “EJ” Ishman was working customer service at a call center. That job paid the bills but didn’t excite him. That’s when he started looking around for ways to advance his career and landed on CNM Ingenuity’s Internet of Things Deep Dive bootcamp.
The Internet of Things (IoT) bootcamp, which is hosted at CNM’s FUSE Makerspace, was a place he could start designing the kinds of smart devices that are quickly becoming commonplace in our homes and across industries. EJ immediately saw his path forward.
“I’ve always been a little scared of technology and the world passing me by, so IoT was the perfect way to not only stay current but also join an industry with lots of quality and high-paying jobs,” he says.
Even better, it was great to have a top-shelf IoT program right here in Albuquerque that was accessible and affordable. He enrolled and said that while the IoT curriculum was challenging, it was also highly engaging. He excelled in class and after graduating from the accelerated 10-week, full-time bootcamp was offered the opportunity to work at CNM’s Technology Solutions Lab.
Technology Solutions Lab, or TSL, is a business run by CNM Ingenuity that provides technology help for local companies and pays CNM Deep Dive graduates while they gain real-world work experience. EJ was first hired to help build an automated soil moisture monitoring and watering system for Mandy’s Farm, which works with local disabled adults. After that project he helped design and install a smart system for Century Sign Builders that monitored humidity and dust particles—factors that can affect the quality of their products. And finally, he worked with the ABQ BioPark to set up systems that monitored soil moisture and sunlight in their greenhouses.
“For me, TSL was both a confidence boost and a bridge,” EJ says. “Getting all that experience definitely inspired me to keep going.”
And keep going he has. After TSL, EJ was hired full time to work as a quality assurance technician at Eagl Technology, which develops smart devices that can detect the sound of a gunshot and notify authorities. As a QA technician, he builds, programs, and monitors the company’s products.
He’s also studying for an associate degree in Computer Science at CNM and plans to transfer to UNM for a bachelor’s in the same field. After that his plan is to stay in the IoT field but also branch out on his own. He has experience with recycling, and is thinking about ways to better integrate technology into the reuse system.
“I haven’t quite figured out exactly what I want to do, but I know there’s a lot of potential and I’m excited to keep exploring,” he says.
See how CNM Ingenuity and Deep Dive can change your life in a matter of weeks. Apply today!