When asked how she became involved in the ETAP program, college student Michelle Holcomb credits Mr. Withers, Assistant Director of College Employment, Cooperative Education Department for urging her to apply to the ETAP program. Michelle had been in her senior year at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. “I was looking for part-time employment,” Michelle recollects “and had taken many of the same classes as students who had part-time jobs with the better paying manufacturing companies.” “I knew the university had connections with local manufacturing and high tech industries and went to the university’s Cooperative Education Department.” She was urged by Mr. Withers to apply for a program where she could get a work related internship, a stipend, and college credit in the field of technology management – but it would involve spending a year away from home.

Excited by the opportunity, but scared and not knowing exactly where or how far away from home she would be relocated to, she filled out the application paperwork. Michelle thought she would be placed at one of the many sites located on the East coast, but she was selected for interview by two sites out west – the Colorado University Business Advancement Center at Boulder, Colorado, and the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) in San Diego, California. Soon, she was saying good-bye to family and friends and packing her car for the trip to Sunny Southern California.

Michelle is the ETAP student assigned to the Code D-14 division of the Navy’s (SPAWAR). She works in the science and technology office with Dr. Brenda-Lee Karasik as her on-site coordinator and supervisor. “Wonderful mentorship and absolute professionalism,” is how Michelle describes Dr. Karasik. “I’m so lucky to have such a great working relationship.” “She is a wonderful supervisor and role model and is also very easy to talk to.”

Bright, outgoing, and articulate, Michelle acts as the initial point of contact for corporate interest in SPAWAR’S Code D-14 department. She performs initial background research on potential tech transfer partners and is responsible for a tracking program, as principle investigator/interviewer, in the semi-annual review of Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) progress. She has also created and maintains a CRADA database. After performing a comparison of four different evaluation forms for a technology assessment tool, she created a single form for use at SPAWAR, and is now working on a flowchart for the commercialization process of a technology. This year, Michelle has also had the opportunity to work on a technology assessment special project with the staff at the FLC Far West Regional Support Office, located at the World Trade Center, in Downtown San Diego.

Michelle makes a case for other students to apply to the ETAP program. “I like the work I am doing. It’s very interesting and I know I’m getting a unique educational experience that will translate to many other areas of opportunity in technology management.” She continues, “The eight week orientation develops skills that you can use in any work setting. The information and training you get – is like gold – and I encourage anyone lucky enough to be placed, to really pay attention because once you’re at your host site, you will use the information over and over again.”

After graduation, Michelle is interested in continuing on to grad school at North Carolina Ag & Tech State University at Greensboro, or possibly putting her technology management skills to work in the pharmaceutical industry. “But I am also very interested in policy,” she smiles “and I hope eventually to work in Washington, DC, sometime in the future.”