A Mississippi State University computer engineering major is among 16 students who took part in a recent 10-week internship in the nation's capital.
Syronna L. Brown of Jackson was a 1998 Washington Internships for Students in Engineering (WISE) Scholar. The intensive training program was funded by several engineering societies, including the National Society for Black Engineers that sponsored Brown.
She and other students in the annual program were selected on the basis of leadership skills and a demonstrated interest in public policy. They are introduced to the ways government officials approach technology issues and the policy roles that engineers play.
In addition to visits with members of Congress and industry, the students write an engineering-related paper on a public policy issue. Brown's topic was policy issues involved in Internet access, especially in rural areas.
"This was an experience that could not be replaced by anything that I've been involved with," she said.
A Murrah High School graduate, she is the daughter of Deloris S. Brown.
Other universities with students in this year's internship program included Princeton, Kansas State, Boston, Kentucky, Virginia, Syracuse, Tulane, Colorado State, Notre Dame, State University of New York at Buffalo, Mankato State, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.
MSU computer engineering professor James Harden, a faculty nominator for Brown's participation in the program, said she has "distinguished herself by gaining strength as she reached her senior year in a very demanding program."
