Dave Lochner
Vice President
CAD Research

"Our company had an enthusiastic young intern who was interested in us and our technology. I know that we got as much out of the experience as our intern did."

Read more testimonials about InfoLink

Technically, the InfoLink Program was an initiative of the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. More realistically, no single organization "owned" InfoLink because its successful operation depended upon the support and good nature of a diverse collection of individuals and organizations. Since 1994, InfoLink had been developed, maintained, and delivered through a loose yet cooperative partnership of organizations interested in enhancing opportunities in the information technology field and expanding local school-to-work and school-to-school efforts for the region's young people. The Heinz School's lead role in this partnership was generally one of curriculum developer, instruction, and overall host for the InfoLink Program.

Financial support for InfoLink came from a number of Pittsburgh-based philanthropic organizations including the Grable Foundation, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Henry C. Frick Educational Fund of the Buhl Foundation, the Wean Foundation and the Heinz Endowments. In addition to this and the in-kind support from Carnegie Mellon University, InfoLink was also supported by YouthWorks (a local non-profit agency which paid students for their internships).

Like many public initiatives, InfoLink operated through a fluid network of supporters that contributed to the InfoLink effort on a variety of levels. Therefore, also included among our "partners" were the members of the InfoLink Intern Network (a collection of over 50 companies and organizations that sponsored student interns and provided feedback on the Program's "market-based" curriculum), and our local high school participants. The public school participants included Schenley High School of the Pittsburgh Public School District and McKeesport Area High School. Past high school partners included Wilkinsburg School District and the Steel Valley School District. In addition, InfoLink maintained a Board of Advisors that was representative of Pittsburgh's business, nonprofit, education, and philanthropic communities.

Just as important were the partnerships and relationships that developed each year between InfoLink's staff and the students and parents. The InfoLink summer was a very challenging one that required a great deal of personal commitment on the part of the students, mentoring by the instructors and staff, and on-going support and encouragement by the students' parents. Evidence of the strength of these partnerships was yet another partnership -- between InfoLink and its growing group of alumni who, currently, can be found in universities and technology-related positions around the U.S.

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