Industry Connect 2024
LaunchBoard and Code Black Indy are offering the Industry Connect program to raise awareness about STEM career paths and provide hands-on experiences with robotics and data analytics for high school students in the Arlington Woods neighborhood of Indianapolis. Students choose to follow one or both program tracks to develop entry-level skills that provide an on-ramp to engaging industry opportunities, like internships and further certifications.
Industry Connect is made possible through funding from the Fifth Third Foundation Neighborhood Investment Program focused on empowering black futures.
Data Analytics
iDEW and LaunchBoard offered several opportunities for high school students at partner schools to earn a Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate while they earn IU credit – up to a $4,000 value for free.
This program is made possible by the Indiana Department of Education's 3E grant with the JPMorgan Chase Summer Youth Employment Program providing the support for the accelerated summer cohort program.
Summer Internships
LaunchBoard is developing an innovative virtual internship program to equip students with real-world skills for the modern workplace. Through two immersive project scenarios in high-demand fields — Data Engineering, Data Analysis, and Robotics — participants will collaborate using industry-standard tools to solve a complex challenge for a simulated client.
With a focus on building professional aptitude, the program's interactive workshops will nurture clear communication, strategic task management, and creative problem-solving. Students will work in teams, refining projects through multiple cycles of feedback from workshop leaders with industry expertise.
By engaging interns through real-time collaboration and hands-on learning, LaunchBoard is preparing the next generation of professionals with the mindsets and capabilities to thrive in organizations. Support this program to empower students with experiences that translate directly into workplace success.
In one instance, students helped assemble and test an automation lab for their community offering further awareness and opportunities in emerging STEM fields.
iDEW Support
LaunchBoard continues to support the Informatics Diversity-Enhanced Workforce (iDEW) program that provides high school students with an innovative Computing by Design (CxD) curriculum originally co-developed by LaunchBoard's Jim Lyst, a former IUPUI faculty member. The curriculum continues to evolve through ongoing refinement in high school classrooms incorporating feedback from teachers.
Students in the iDEW program take on new projects and learning modules focused on solving problems in real-world contexts each year. The curriculum aims to challenge and motivate students. Participating high schools have the option to connect with industry partners who can provide guidance on current technology trends and IT workforce needs. Overall, the program gives students valuable hands-on experience in informatics while preparing them for potential careers in the field.
Computing By Design Framework
LaunchBoard continues to maintain the Computing by Design (CxD) framework, a collection of project guidebooks for use in high school computer science courses co-developed by LaunchBoard's Jim Lyst, a former IUPUI faculty member. In each project, student teams collaboratively design and build a solution to a problem within a particular context using a specific technology. CxD projects are intended to show students there are many paths to working in technology and to help them find their own pathway to success. The projects are: Trivia App, Robotics, Internet of Things (IOT), Video Game, Chatbot, Data Visualization.
Computing by Design projects emphasize computational thinking, design thinking, and project management. Throughout each project, students will engage in creative thinking, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.