DESCRIPTION
DATE: March 1st, 8th, 22nd, & 29th, 2025
TIME: 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
LOCATION: Virtually
This course is taught in FOUR Saturday sessions (9:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.) from Saturday March 1st - 29th, (no session on March 15th). You are siging up to attend ALL sessions.
Class size is limited to 40 people.
STUDENTS WILL BE REQUIRED TO have a Windows or Mac computer. This must be a personal computer and not one issued by your workplace.
This training WILL NOT be recorded.
- Embark on a journey to the quantum frontier and discover how groundbreaking technologies are reshaping the future of aerospace. Through hands-on activities with real-world quantum tools, you"ll gain practical insights into quantum computing, sensing, security, and communication that will elevate your career to new heights.
course Instructor
Farai Mazhandu: Farai Mazhandu is a quantum physicist and physics teacher with over 15 years in education, project management, and tech advocacy. Recognized as IBM Quantum Leader for Africa in 2020, he advances quantum technologies through workforce development, community building, advocacy, and outreach.
Yvonne Jose: Yvonne is a Material Science and Engineering PhD student at the University of Michigan, with undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics. She is also a member of AVELA.
AVELA offers underrepresented minority students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience developing and presenting STEM activities to K-14 students, which bolsters the technical and leadership skills of UW’s URM student body. Many K-14 schools and communities in the greater Seattle area lack access to STEM resources like physical hardware and technology, career mentorship from professional engineers, college application assistance, as well as awareness of free online opportunities that they can take advantage of. AVELA’s projects aim to build sustained partnerships with underserved K-14 schools and communities across Washington state to support a more equitable public education system. Undergraduate students in AVELA are mentored by graduate students, research professors, and industry allies, before they go on to mentor middle and high school students interested in STEM fields. Through this multi-tiered mentorship model, we aim to provide more K-14 students with opportunities to engage in hands-on STEM projects, and to discover new creative outlets that expose them to college and industry level tools and concepts. We currently have a network of 200 undergraduate and graduate students who receive our weekly text messages and emails, as well as an average of 50 students who show up to our weekly hybrid meetings.
During the 2022-2023 academic year (Fall/Winter/Spring), more than 90 different UW students from URM backgrounds participated in AVELA (37% male and 63% female/non-binary). AVELA members were able to teach, mentor, and tutor more than 1000 K-14 students in more than 35 classrooms and community centers (91% in-person and 9% virtual/hybrid) across Washington state. AVELA students have gone on to work at companies like Microsoft, NASA, Amazon, Boeing, IBM, Texas Instruments, Nvidia, and many others.
http://students.washington.edu/avelauw/index.html
