Students Learn About Cisco

On July 29th, 2008, CFDL Students from 3 counties attended the 2nd Annual Cisco Black Employee Network - CFDL Technical Career Day in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Rene Daughtry, Chairman of CBEN RTP, Interim Director of CBEN US and Daryl Thomas, CFDL Founder/Executive Director kicked off the event with an overview of Cisco and a discussion of the many opportunites that exist within the high tech market.

Rene expressed Cisco's committment to our Youth, explaining that they will be the future engineers, analysts, and developers that Cisco will employ to maintain our number one position within the industry.

A leading Project Manager in Advanced Services, Daughtry has documented his passion in the white paper "Cisco n Da' Hood". He writes..."It takes a village to raise children....The village is a global village consisting of family, churches, businesses, schools and industry. The Cisco Black Employee Network (CBEN) has taken steps to help to "Shrink the Digital Divide”.

This was truly an eye opening expereince for many of the Students attending. For many, it was the first time they even considered a career in the high tech / IT industry. Definately a memorable moment.

Kudos and Thanks

The Students' feedback and response to the program was overwhelmingly positive. I personally want to thank the following individuals for making the day a success;

Rene Daughtry, Cisco Chairman of CBEN RTP, Interim Director of CBEN US
Tom Settle, Cisco
Don McCoy, IBM
Carmen Rodriguez, Cisco Conexion RTP Lead
Lonnie Harris, Cisco CBEN
Rolando Riggsbee, Cisco CBEN
Anil Gautam, Cisco
Kuda Chanakira, Cisco
Starr Franklin, Cisco
Judy Thomas, CFDL
Randy Trice, CFDL Durham Raiders
Chris Jones, CFDL Raleigh Wolverines

Lego Robotics and Technology

CFDL Students had the unique opportunity to experience and learn about robotic technology through a hands on exercise led by Don McCoy from IBM and Tom Settle, of Cisco. The exercise is intended to expose Students to robotic technology and associated software in addition to learning how to work together in a team environment.

The exercise culminated with a 5 team competition requiring each team to demonstrate how well they were able to program their robot.







And the winner is..."Team G"