GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCE RESEARCH
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Firdu Bati

AMERICAN RED CROSS

A student who majored in information technology at Baker College in Flint, Michigan, Firdu Bati also attended Technical College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he lived before coming to the United States. Firdu received his Bachelors degree in computer science with a 4.0 grade-point average, but he also studied aviation maintenance, which prepared him to work for Mountain Air Cargo in North Carolina as an aircraft technician and as an aircraft electrician for Ethiopian Airlines. Firdu received a technical license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). However, he wanted to switch his emphasis to IT and graphic design, so the Washington Internship Program first placed Firdu in the Information Technology Department of the American Red Cross located in Fairfax, Virginia. In servicing the different computer needs of the American Red Cross, Firdu was rotated among seven offices in the greater Washington, D.C. area where he worked from April until the end of September 2005. Firdu applied to WIP at the end of December 2004. He had been trained academically in AS400, database management using SQL, Computer Architecture C++, Programming, Visual Basic, Java Programming, MSWord, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. While in the Washington area, Firdu lived in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Following the first internship, Firdu returned to the Washington Internship Program to request a second placement starting in January 2006 that combined computer expertise with his international experience. WIP placed Firdu at George Washington University’s Business School in a program funded by the U.S. State Department that dealt with Research in Social and Organizational Learning. Under these auspices, junior scholars were brought to GWU from the former Soviet Union. Firdu was in charge of various websites as well as helping the visitors adjust to the United States. Firdu described his second internship in the following paper. (His placement last summer at the American Red Cross was detailed in WIP’s 2005 annual report.)

“I did my second internship through WIP at the Research Program in Social and Organizational Learning (RPSOL) located in the School of Business at George Washington University. The program focuses on the interaction between ideas and society as a way of transforming organizations and societies. The mission of the RPSOL is to:

  • Contribute to the knowledge of social systems

  • Help individuals and groups improve their skills in making use of social science

  • Assist organizations in adopting an experimental approach and hence facilitate organizational learning

  • Advance the interdisciplinary fields of systems theory and cybernetics

  • Expand the philosophy of science so it can more effectively guide research

In general, the program concentrates on the design of intellectual movements.”

“RPSOL is supported primarily by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program hosts visiting professors from the former Soviet Union under the Junior Faculty Development Program and other exchange efforts. In connection with this project, George Washington University has received grants for conferences from the Charles Steward Mott Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. It also received research funds from GWU’s Center for the Study of Globalization and its European Union Research Center.”

“A Center for Social and Organizational Learning was established at GW in September of 1993 with a small gift from Vice President for Academic Affairs Don Lehman. The original location was on K Street, N.W. Since its beginnings, this program hosted many visiting scholars and arranged lectures and symposia. In addition, it employed many students and interns like me as website builders and research assistants while faculty members served as mentors for visiting scholars. The members of this Research Program published papers and abstracts.”

“I worked part-time from January to June of 2006, during which time I was mainly engaged in website design and upkeep in addition to working as a research assistant for the professor who heads the program. I maintained four websites that are needed for the daily activity of the program. The main website is for publishing papers by scholars and providing general information for program attendees. Through this website, new scholars access application forms and apply over the Internet from their home countries. Another site mainly deals with information and research papers about cybernetics. The two other websites on which I worked were used for storing internal details at the program for staff and faculty.”

“In addition, I assisted the head of the program with research papers and slide presentations for seminars that he taught. I also helped prepare educational materials that this man designed for regular university lectures. In the course of my stay with the program, I learned many technological tools and human communication skills. I enjoyed working with my main professor because he is fun to know, and he taught me many important lessons. This internship gave me the opportunity to work with scholars and faculty members from different countries. In general, it was a very successful and enlightening experience.”

Back to Sample internships main page