Students Meet with White House's Tech Leader

Onondaga Community College students interested in STEM-related careers had an opportunity to take their technology-related questions straight to the top!

When President Biden came to Syracuse April 25 for a Micron-related announcement at the Museum of Science and Technology, he was joined by his Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. And when the President's event concluded, Dr. Arati Prabhakar came up the hill to have a conversation with OCC students.

The gathering was held in the brand new Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation on the second floor of Coulter Hall. Dr. Prabhakar was joined by SUNY Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Melur Ramasubramanian, OCC President Dr. Warren Hilton, and OCC Provost and Senior Vice President Anastasia Urtz.

Dr. Prabhakar shared her career path with students and its connection to the Administration's efforts to onshore high-tech production. "I've been in the semiconductor world for 40 years, and for decades we knew there was a problem (with semiconductor production being done in other countries). In 2022 we did something to make these investments and bring manufacturing back to the United States. This is a huge deal right here in Syracuse with the jobs that are going to be created. It's an incredibly important change for a community and for the people who are going to participate in building this."

Her demanding role also includes a heavy focus on Artificial Intelligence, which is referred to as "AI." "I started on this job in October 2022 and Chat GPT came out in November 2022, so guess what I did for the whole first year? AI is imbedded in everything. An ad you are seeing online is AI driven. When I get an airline ticket price, it's AI driven based on how likely I am to fly. The President was always very clear that our job is both to manage the risk and to seize the opportunities."

Most of Dr. Prabhakar's visit to campus was spent learning about students areas of study and answering their questions which, in many cases, were very direct. They wanted to know if Micron could be trusted to follow through on their promises, how the chip fabs in the Town of Clay would impact the environment, and if Syracuse could become an east coast version of Silicon Valley.

The whole experience was inspiring for students like Dio Brown who is pursuing degrees in Computer Information Studies and Electromechanical Technology, OCC's new Micron-related program. "Today made all of this feel real. It made me thrilled to be in Syracuse and see the future of Syracuse. My long term goal is to develop a startup in AI and robotics. She really made me feel like it was all possible. It was super cool."