Bowie State Student Lends Tech Skills to Philadelphia Fire Department

Olaoluwa Adewoye Helped Maximize Efficiency of Department’s Software

 

MEDIA CONTACT: David Thompson, dlthompson@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-4311

(BOWIE, Md.) – Bowie State student Olaoluwa Adewoye left his mark in Philadelphia this past summer, as the junior computer technology major contributed his coding skills to the city’s fire department. During a ten-week internship with Coding It Forward’s Civic Innovation Corps,

Adewoye applied his skills towards helping the fire department streamline the data input processes of their software so that their systems could be as efficient as possible. It was his first opportunity to apply his skills to achieve his goal of benefitting a community.

“My main task involved working with RGIS, which is a mapping software,” said Adewoye. “It was used for leveraging census data from the city. They can plot points on a map and give each point certain attributes. All those points can be used to create visual analytics on that area.”

Adewoye’s interest in computer science dates back to elementary school, where his gaming habit sparked his curiosity.

“I first got an inkling of an interest when I was in second grade playing video games on the (Nintendo) Wii,” he said. “I wanted to know how to make those games. That eventually led me to coding.”

From there, Adewoye knew he wanted a career in computer science, but he also wanted to do more than become a cog in a corporate IT office. He wanted to use his talents to directly affect his community, so he decided to turn his focus towards the public sector.

“It always felt a bit unique,” said Adewoye. “Public service felt like it would give me a chance to see my code being used in the field. Whatever I do will make the end user’s experience better in their community.”

In his search for public sector opportunities, Adewoye found Coding It Forward, a nonprofit that specializes in connecting students with interests in public sector careers with opportunities to work with government entities on the local, state and national level. Ariana Soto, Coding It Forward’s Deputy Director, believes that the country is yearning for students like Adewoye who are interested in using their talents to serve the public good.

“There’s a huge appetite for the next generation of leaders to apply their skills and contribute to their country,” said Soto. “There’s an appetite to bring their skills to something that feels meaningful and impactful.”

Adewoye, who hopes to work for the federal government or a contractor, is grateful for his time spent with the Philadelphia Fire Department, as it gave him a front-row seat to experience how government works while he contributed his tech skills to their projects. In addition to sharpening his coding skills, he also learned a great deal about working with a team and what it means to function in a collaborative environment.

“I learned that even though you may be working on a solo project, you’re never really working by yourself,” he said. “While working on my personal projects, I always have my supervisors to turn to. In a government position, there’s always going to be people around that you can turn to. And if they need anything, they can turn to you as well. It’s a really collaborative environment, and I really like that.”

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Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.