Tech Director inspires and encourages students to pursue STEM

Omowale Casselle is the director of Pritzker Tech Talent Labs at Discovery Partner Institute. He spoke to the students in the Pre-College Science and Engineering Program about careers in tech. Photos provided By Patricia Andrews-Keenan
Omowale Casselle is the director of Pritzker Tech Talent Labs at Discovery Partner Institute. He spoke to the students in the Pre-College Science and Engineering Program about careers in tech. Photos provided By Patricia Andrews-Keenan

Tech Director inspires and encourages students to pursue STEM

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Omowale Casselle is the Director of Pritzker Tech Talent Labs at Discovery Partners Institute. He shared his background and encouraged students in
Chicago Pre-College Science & Engineering Program to choose careers in technology. Casselle understands Chicago’s tech economy is growing and there is a need to get more Black and Brown students in technology.

“I think the lack of Black and Brown students in technology is a limiter for
economic growth and I want to solve that,” he said.

During his conversation with the students, Casselle shared that he had a
high school guidance counselor who didn’t believe he would excel in a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He did and went on to get his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. While at Ford Motor Company, he decided he wanted to go to Harvard Business School to get his MBA. His supervisor laughed and when Casselle got accepted, the supervisor stopped talking to him.

“Never let anyone limit you. That is going to be a recurring theme from me. Because I think they often tell people from underrepresented groups what they can’t do and that’s a way of keeping us in boxes, we don’t necessarily belong in” he said.

As director of the Pritzker Tech Talent Labs, Casselle’s job is to find opportunities for students that will help them stand out to employers and make sure those students are prepared for those opportunities. Casselle encouraged the students to lean into computer science programs.

“If you enjoy building and tinkering and getting your hands involved in
technology than STEM is for you. If you enjoy doing stuff and making all these videos, and doing all these things that are technology-related, that means you enjoy math. Lean into that enjoyment of math because if you can understand math, you can do almost anything in this world,” he said.

Chicago Pre-College Science & Engineering Program serves students
in grades Kindergarten through 12 and prepares them to pursue careers in
STEM. It was founded by Kenneth Hill in 2008. Hill founded the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program in 1976 and wanted to bring the success of that program to his hometown.

The first cohort of students in Chicago Pre-College & Engineering Program
have graduated from high school and will attend college this fall. A report was done and 80 percent of the students will major in science, computer science or engineering as a result of participating in the program.

Hill chose Casselle to speak to the students once Hill heard his story. The goal is to get Casselle into the community so he can share his story in hopes that it will inspire other young people in the community to pursue careers in technology.

Casselle’s main motivation for speaking to the Chicago Pre-College Science and Engineering Program was his belief that success in the tech industry should be accessible to everyone.

“There are many talented students “hidden gems” in neighborhoods on the south and west side of Chicago. If they can understand what they are capable of by hearing from someone who has already been on this journey, then there is no better way to spend one’s time. The City of Chicago and State of Illinois has a tremendous opportunity to build a homegrown talent pool that is competitive with any major metropolitan area globally,” he said.

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