{"id":1595,"date":"2018-10-19T01:18:55","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T05:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=1595"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:35:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:35:06","slug":"umes-alum-flourishes-at-prestigious-d-c-area-research-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/umes-alum-flourishes-at-prestigious-d-c-area-research-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"UMES alum flourishes at prestigious D.C.-area research lab"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jordan Wesley graduated in December 2017<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Friday, October 19, 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan Wesley<\/strong> of Mitchellville, Md. received his undergraduate degree in computer science from UMES this past December, launching him on a path to a post-graduate internship with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wesley, who played baseball for two years and graduated with a 3.4 grade point average, currently is enrolled at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he is pursuing a graduate degree in information systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 12 weeks he spent as a summer intern at the Applied Physics Lab paid dividends. He continues to work part-time at the Laurel, Md. facility while going to school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The internship \u201chas been life-changing,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cIt impacts you (more) than you can imagine. It definitely opened a lot of doors.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A combination of factors brought Wesley and the Applied Physics Lab (APL) together. The lab offers what it calls the APL Technology Leadership Scholars summer intern program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Known as \u201cATLAS,\u201d the program works in partnership with historically black institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges and universities to connect their students in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines with the lab’s \u201cwide selection of technical challenges and dynamic work environment.\u201d Interns attend workshops and events, hone interviewing and presentation skills, work closely with executive leaders and \u201cexplore potential career pathways\u201d at the lab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UMES’\u00a0Jim Bresette<\/strong>\u00a0heard about ATLAS from a professional acquaintance employed at the lab, who shared that she noticed no UMES students applied for internships in 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wesley played two years of baseball for the Hawks<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Bresette relayed that observation and details about the program to colleagues who work with the university’s top students, including math department<\/strong><\/a> chairman Rob Johnson<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson calls Wesley \u201ca very hard-working, determined young man.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEarly in his time here,\u201d Johnson said, \u201che exhibited a passion for learning and computer science. He listened and was very advisable … traits he probably learned from his college baseball activities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson’s colleague Dr. Urban Wiggins<\/strong> said Wesley was \u201can extreme pleasure to instruct. His ability to comprehend new subject matter quickly was amplified by performing his own outside research.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing a Dec. 31 (2017) deadline, Wesley scrambled to submit his application while finishing his final semester of study and preparing to graduate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bresette said \u201cwe are pleased to have this initial success. This year, our goal is to expand the number of UMES students selected as ATLAS interns.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wesley is developing and testing software to meet specific needs of the lab’s government sponsors. He said his mentors were flexible letting him choose \u201cwhat path (I) want to take, what (I’m) interested in\u201d while at the same time challenging him to think beyond his comfort zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve gotten an opportunity to try something new – to try and learn something new \u2026 by switching departments,\u201d Wesley said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can be a huge learning curve, learning on the spot,\u201d Wesley said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab opened in 1942, when it \u201cwas created as part of a federal government effort to mobilize scientific resources to address wartime challenges,\u201d a history on the facility’s website says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lab immediately took on \u201cthe task of finding a more effective way for ships to defend themselves against enemy air attacks. (It) designed, built, and tested a radar proximity fuze \u2026 that significantly increased the effectiveness of anti-aircraft shells \u2026 (and) later, ground artillery.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That environment is where Wesley found himself working alongside top-flight professionals in 21st<\/sup> century \u201cSTEM\u201d fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people you are surrounded by \u2026 are some of the most intelligent people you can image,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cIt’s amazing to sit around them and listen, ask questions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience \u201chas definitely taught me how to attack a problem and it’s accelerated my critical thinking skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey don’t treat you like an intern,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cThey treat you like employee. I’m grateful for the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, October 19, 2018 Jordan Wesley of Mitchellville, Md. received his undergraduate degree in computer science from UMES this past December, launching him on a path to a post-graduate internship with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab.  Wesley, who played baseball for two years and graduated with a 3.4 grade point average, currently is enrolled at…Read more UMES alum flourishes at prestigious D.C.-area research lab<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1595"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}