Category Archives: Scholarships

AFCOM, Business Engagement, Data Center Operations, Data Centers, Engineering Technology, Industry Partnerships, Industry Tours, Internships, Mentoring, Professional Development, Scholarships

AFCOM Interns Celebrate Completion

The AFCOM summer internship concluded on August 16 at Top Golf in Ashburn with job offers for NOVA Students!

Hard work paid off and career pathways were established after the completion of the 2023 AFCOM Internship. This year, $25,000 was donated to NOVA DCO students through the Wendy Darling Scholarship, established by Stuart Dyer, a board member of the Potomac Chapter of AFCOM, and managed by the NOVA Educational Foundation.

During the internship, students experienced working at 2 and sometimes 3 different companies, gaining a much broader understanding of how their role as a DCO technician impacts the business and keeps the critical infrastructure up and operational 100% of the time.

Out of the 20 AFCOM interns, 16 were from NOVA. Every NOVA intern was given a job offer, and while some declined in order to continue their education, many decided to take up the offer and pursue their careers with data center partners. Of those who accepted, 4 went to Iron Mountain, and 1 each went to Google, Aligned, Coresite, and Iconicx.

AFCOM is an association for career advancement of IT and data center professionals. The 10-week internship program lead by the AFCOM Potomac Chapter, connects students to industry partners and is centered around building the data center industry by partnering with NOVA’s IET Division and providing paid summer internships to students in the DCO programs.

For those of you who would like to take advantage of this opportunity for next summer, be on the lookout for applications in early 2024!

AFCOM, Data Center Operations, Internships, Scholarships

AFCOM Interns Ready to Pursue Data Center Opportunities

For the second year in a row AFCOM Potomac Chapter, supported by NOVA through the Go VA DEEP IET grant, put students through a 10 week summer internship program. The objective of the internship is to engage undergraduate students from multiple disciplines having them observe and assist with projects within the data center community.

This year 12 interns participated, with 8 of them coming from the NOVA Data Center Operations Program (DCO). AFCOM has increased the number of internships offered year over year and won national recognition from AFCOM National at Data Center World 2021. By supporting the internship project, companies can actively participate in bringing up the next wave of talent in data centers. “We will be continuing this annually to help introduce and drive young talent into the data center space,” said Stuart Dyer, Global Data Center Strategy and Planning, IBM, and AFCOM Potomac Chapter Director of Scholarships & Internships. “Students return to school armed with good references, and a solid foundation of influence, and in some instances, land jobs with their sponsor companies.”

Additionally, AFCOM gives annually to the DCO program through the Wendy Darling Scholarship. This year AFCOM increased its support to $20,000 for course scholarships. “With NOVA sponsoring our internship program, it completes the circle of investing in these students’ future in the data center industry” said Dyer. This year’s donation demonstrated AFCOM’s commitment and support to making the NOVA DCO program a top generator for talent for the Data Center industry.

AFCOM, the interns and their partners celebrated the successful completion of the internships and the generous donation at Top Golf in Ashburn.

AFCOM is a professional association proven to advance the career of IT and data center professionals. For over 40 years, they’ve been educating, connecting & lifting our members to help them meet the growing demands facing the IT and Data Center industry.

More about AFCOM here

Scholarships

Scholarship for DCO Students!

Are you a NOVA student in the new Data Center Operations A.A.S program? You could win a $2000 scholarship just for answering the question “Why do you want to work In the Datacenter Business?” The Potomac Chapter of AFCOM (Association For Computer Operations Management) has a scholarship agreement with the NOVA Foundation so that students enrolled in the Engineering Technology: Data Center Operations Specialization, A.A.S. Program will be eligible to apply.

Three scholarships of $2,000 each are being offered to cover tuition and associated fees. Additional eligibility criteria include: financial need, academic standing, and having Manassas or Loudoun listed as your primary campus.

Interested in applying or know someone who is? Click here to complete the general application at the Financial Aid Scholarship Portal.

Application deadline to apply is Oct 11th.