(From left) Dom, Phil, and Alex Miceli on the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii.

Phil, Alex, and Dom Miceli have a lot in common, especially their choice in college education the three brothers are all aerospace engineering students at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The trio are pursuing a challenging, in-demand career field that also honors the legacy of their father.

We were all good at math in high school, and it was always going to be some kind of engineering for me, but this especially would make him proud, Alex said.

Alex, 21, is a rising senior. Phil, 23, is wrapping up his masters in the aerospace BachelorsAccelerated Masters program, and Dom, 19, is a rising sophomore.

Their father Sal passed away in 2017. He began his career at Lockheed Martin after earning a degree in aerospace from CU Boulder, where he met their mother Kris, who was also an aerospace student and would go on to work at NASA.

They met in a summer electronics class, Phil said. He went over and asked if she needed help setting up her oscilloscope.

As the brothers grew up, both of their parents eventually moved out of aerospace. Their father opened a successful financial planning firm and their mother switched to software development, but aerospace always held a special significance in their lives.

There are so many cool projects that have been going on the last 10 years in aerospace, and Ive just always been interested, Dom said.

For Phil, aerospace offers a unique opportunity to bring together an array of disciplines.

I like computer science, but am pretty good at physics and didnt want that to go to waste, Phil said. I needed to do some sort of engineering too, and aerospace lets you apply physics, science, and math, and its cool.

While some siblings might not enjoy having their brothers pursue the same major at the same university and at the same time, no less the Micelis share an earnest camaraderie.

When Dom was applying to schools I was 100% you should come to CU Boulder. There was no resentment, Alex said. Phil and I also lived together for the 2020-21 year.

Having a brother a few years ahead of you in the same program does help with studying.

I was bugging Phil all through sophomore year with questions, Alex said. Dom also just finished Calc 3. Phil and I told him it was a tough class. We understand the trials and tribulations of the program.

It does lead to the occasional double take from classmates and friends, like when Alex invited Dom to join his fraternity.

People were surprised. Both of you in aerospace?! Actually, theres one more. Weve got an older brother too, Alex said.

Phil will complete his masters degree in August. He has a job lined up as a guidance, navigation, and controls engineer at Lockheed Martin, where he has interned for the last four years. Alex, meanwhile, is in his third summer interning at Northrup Grumman.

Dom is still undecided on a career path, but he has three years of his degree to complete, so there is plenty of time. This summer, he has a software internship at a firm in Denver.

As the three brothers grow in aerospace as young professionals, their mother is on the sidelines, cheering them on.

Our mom is very, very proud of us, Dom said, with a hint of embarrassment. Whenever were out and about she loves to gush to people about how all her kids are engineers.

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All in the family three brothers majoring in aerospace at CU Boulder - University of Colorado Boulder

University of Washington Tacoma students in a computer engineering and systems course working with assistant teaching professor Thillainathan Logenthiran. (UW Tacoma Photo)

Youre young, youre ambitious, you love tech. Your heart is set on the nationally ranked Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. Except, like 93% of your fellow freshman direct applicants, you dont get in.

Now what?

Thankfully, Washington state is home to numerous universities and colleges with computer science programs turning out graduates who are going on to successful tech careers. In Western Washington alone the list includes UW Tacoma and UW Bothell branch campuses; Bellevue College; Western Washington University; and Seattle University. All offer computer science bachelors of science degrees.

Just be open. There are other options.

Just be open. There are other options, said Tatiana Linardopoulou, who last year earned her computer science degree from UW Tacoma. A UW education is a quality education, she added, regardless of campus location. The UW is the UW. The satellite campuses are still really good.

Educators and students from the other institutions acknowledge they dont have the Allen Schools prestige factor and some of its resources. But, they counter, their programs offer benefits that UW Seattle often cannot. That includes smaller classes and easier access to professors.

Linardopoulou first earned a psychology degree from the UWs main campus, home to 42,000 undergraduates. When she later decided to study computer science, she recalled feeling overwhelmed and unconnected at the Seattle location. Visiting UW Tacoma, the smaller setting felt right. Plus, its faculty included two accomplished professors in cryptography, a specialty that interested her.

It felt really welcoming, Linardopoulou said. So she enrolled. She got involved, serving as president of the entrepreneurs club. Because of the smaller size of the community and the clubs, I felt more comfortable putting myself out there.

Her younger sister and brother, however, set their sights on the Allen School, applying as transfer students after attending two-year colleges, her brother with a 4.0 GPA. Neither got in. But the odds were against them.

As GeekWire recently reported, soaring application numbers have made the UW's elite Allen School even more competitive. Roughly 16% of transfer students are accepted into the program. Allen School officials are lobbying for more funding to keep growing their program and regret their limited space.

RELATED: It is not acceptable: UW computer science program cant keep up with record demand from undergrads

"We are heartbroken at the large number of outstanding Washington students that we are unable to accommodate," said Ed Lazowska, an Allen School professor.

After some tears over the rejection, Linardopoulou's sister found success in UW Tacoma's computer science program. Her brother switched to UW Seattle's atmospheric sciences. He now works in software development.

Linardopoulou herself is a technical program manager at Namatad, a startup launched by one of her professors that provides technology for emergency responders and the military.

The UW Tacoma and UW Bothell computer science programs date back more than two decades. Even in the late 1990s there was recognition that the state's schools weren't meeting the demand for workers in an increasingly hot tech economy. Now the two UW programs combined have nearly 1,100 undergraduates enrolled. They're outpaced by the Allen School's 2,000 undergrads, but make a significant contribution to the workforce.

Computer science and software engineering is a superpower," said Bill Erdly, division chair for the Computing & Software Systems program at UW Bothell. For graduates, "it's your job to go out there and do something good with this.

So where can students develop this superpower?

Here's a run down of the computer science programs at the largest in-person colleges and universities in Western Washington which doesn't include additional programs at Washington State University, Gonzaga University, Central and Eastern Washington University, and others.

All of the schools also offer related technology and engineering programs in addition to computer science.

In 2016, Bellevue College received permission to become the first community college in the state to offer a bachelors degree in computer science. Five students signed up for the initial cohort. The college is now admitting 84 students a year spread over three quarters. Some of the state's other colleges are looking to follow Bellevue's lead and create similar programs. North Seattle College is launching its program in the fall of 2022.

While it has grown quickly, Bellevue College still has a relatively small program which means it can be nimble like a tech startup.

We can adjust very quickly, said Fatma Cemile Sere, Computer Science program chair at Bellevue College. We want our students to be ready for the current industrial needs.

RELATED: Seattle Colleges and Amazon create new opportunity for computer science degrees

The program, for example, is collaborating with Amazon to bolster its cloud computing instruction and also offers instruction in machine learning.

With its proximity to Amazon and Microsoft, Bellevue draws on talent from the tech giants for its educators. Faculty, who are still required to have either a master's degree or Ph.D., often include current or former tech professionals. Once students are admitted to the program, they're assigned a faculty advisor who can help with career planning, resume building, and collaborating with other faculty.

Since Bellevue College doesn't have advanced computer science degrees, there are no graduate student teaching assistants providing instruction. "There is not a layer between students and faculty, Sere said.

Erdly founded the computer science program at the UW Bothell campus back in 1996. It now has about 640 undergrads.

The university offers a bachelor's degree in Computer Science & Software engineering, which Erdly said incorporates management of people and products. That can include learning about the cost implications, customization, risk management and legal aspects of software development. The program strives to help students develop software that serves sectors such as healthcare and aerospace.

Writing code sometimes is the easy part," Erdly said. "If you build wonderful software that programmers like but people dont want to use it, you have a problem.

Erdly said the program is producing successful graduates.

Once our students are in the door, they advance pretty quickly because they have these other elements that are less technical and more human elements," he said. "People see that in our students and they really like them. Theyre innovative and creative and know how to write.

Other areas of technical focus at UW Bothell include cybersecurity and the university is creating a data science minor.

The program is working to expand its enrollment of underrepresented students in computer science and is developing faculty and industry mentors to connect with pre-majors who've had less exposure to the tech sector.

Andrew Fry is director of Industry Partnerships and a lecturer with UW Tacoma's School of Engineering and Technology. The program has transformed lives and the surrounding community, he said, creating a tech economy in the region south of Seattle. As the program has grown, it has retained smaller classes.

I think our programs are exceptional because we have the class size of a private institution for a public university, Fry said. Courses top out at around 35 to 40 students. About 430 undergrads are currently enrolled.

UW Tacoma offers degrees in Computer Science & Systems. The university's strengths include cryptography, cybersecurity and machine learning.

The faculty-to-student ratio is incredibly positive when youre looking to conduct instruction in very complex things," Fry added.

Grads are going on to work at tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon, as well as startups some that they're launching themselves.

What distinguishes us," said Filip Jagodzinski, chair of Western's Department of Computer Science, "are students who want to have the opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty. Or a group of students who want to work with faculty on real-world research projects.

The department hosts research showcases where faculty give two-minute pitches on their research. Students can pick an instructor to work with while earning credit towards their degree. Each year, about 100 students are teamed up with faculty members for research projects.

The Bellingham, Wash.-based computer science program has seen significant growth, doubling to 28 faculty members since 2015. Some 477 undergrads are enrolled in the degree program, with an additional 330 pre-majors.

The demand is just ridiculous and were doing our best," Jagodzinski said. While the department grows, they're keeping smaller class sizes, including for intro courses.

One effort to make sure students aren't lost in the shuffle, and particularly underrepresented students in tech, is Western's mentoring initiative. It pairs older students with undeclared undergrads who are curious about computer sciences.

It can be a powerful message when a student who is just a year older than you says, 'Come join this major,' Jagodzinski said.

This is a different kind of STEM graduate, said Amit Shukla, dean of Seattle University's College of Science and Engineering. They come with a sense of purpose.

Seattle University is a Jesuit school with about 330 undergraduates in its computer science program.

The Jesuit paradigm is not about the scriptures," Shukla said. "It is about the morality and ethics, and discernment and reflection.

RELATED: Seattle U students tackle real-world computer and engineering projects for Amazon, F5 and others

When students tackle a challenge, he said, they are not only thinking about what is the fastest way to get to a solution." They are considering whether it's environmentally sustainable, equitable and right for the community.

The university is not research-focused, but driven primarily by its teaching mission. Faculty come more from academia than industry.

Like all of the schools, Seattle University has been scaling up to meet increasing numbers of tech-focused applicants. In the last three years, enrollment in computer science has doubled.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the tuition for Bellevue College. The original figured provided by the college included transportation and other costs.

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You didn't get into the University of Washington's acclaimed computer science program. Now what? - GeekWire

The sea is everything in Gloucester, Massachusetts: the source of lobsters, livelihoods and tourist dollars. At the same time, rising water as oceans warm is probably the biggest existential threat to the communitys future. Students can see rising water levels quite literally lapping at the doorstep of the city's public high school.

That's one reason many of Amanda Pastel's students in her environmental science class have come eager to learn. On a recent morning, they examined samples of dirt from the schoolyard on the Annisquam River under a microscope to better understand what the soil under their feet is made from and what is being lost to erosion along the city's 62 miles of shoreline.

"We are really in danger here on, like, the coast and we have so much water there's so many communities that would be underwater if the predictions are true," said Cammi Cooper, 18, a senior. "I think that there isn't enough urgency. I think we're just talking about getting bike lanes and and rental bikes all around town and more access to public transportation, and those are good, but not enough."

With climate change shifting the relationship of humans with the Earth, the work in Pastel's classroom is vital, but earth and environmental science classes are offered unevenly across Massachusetts and the nation, often taking a backseat to competing priorities.

Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, said while a basic understanding of how the Earth works is increasingly necessary for students, it's not always taught in schools. That's true even in Massachusetts, a hotbed of the science and biotech sectors. Biology, chemistry and introductory physics, a course sequence created around the time of World War I, usually takes precedence over a subject derided as "rocks for jocks."

"What I would really like to see is a lot of high school earth sciences classes," Branch said. "For states to make taking a high school level or science class as a prerequisite for graduation, would do a lot to move the dial, I think, on climate change.

Branch is not optimistic. "I'd also like a pony," he said.

In Massachusetts, the state has issued science frameworks that include a smattering of mentions of climate change but don't mandate what districts must teach. To graduate from high school, students must pass tests showing core proficiency in English, mathematics and one science or technology field of their choice. Corporate forces are partly at work. Exxon, for example, has funded efforts to increase computer science courses in schools. Business groups push for more engineering and STEM coursework. But exactly who advocates for environmental teaching?

Often it's teachers, which brings up another problem.

Janet Hogan, president of the Massachusetts Science Education Leadership Association, said there's a shortage of science teachers, which makes it difficult for districts to offer students what they need for a solid science education. She said she's not even aiming for earth science or environmental classes but basic science literacy.

"We really need to help our students become better consumers of science," she said. "What we really need to do is we really need to teach our students to not take everything at face value when it comes to science and really think about what is out there and think about our role and our responsibility to the planet and into others on the planet."

Hogan teaches in Mansfield, Massachusetts, where she said the student population has declined in recent years, while school funding for science has remained steady. She said the high school can now offer an array of courses like field ecology and Advanced Placement environmental science classes that focus on habitat and species or marine science. Yes, marine science in landlocked Mansfield.

A review of online curricula from various high schools around the state shows they have vastly different approaches. Earth or environmental science is optional in Marthas Vineyard, Plymouth and Marshfield, a sampling of coastal districts. But it's not an option beyond Advanced Placement work in Worcester, Belmont and even Dartmouth, where the sea level is expected to rise by more than two feet by 2050.

Back in Pastel's class in coastal Gloucester, the lab work on the minerals, insects and air that make up dirt can lead to broader conversations about erosion, its causes and increasing pace. Pastel said she invites experts to speak with students and help them understand the deep impact of air pollution and carbon emissions on climate change.

"I feel like we live in this world where a lot of companies don't want us to know. They don't want us to think about it. They want us to keep consuming," she said. "So we talk a lot about greenwashing in this class and how companies make you think they're good and healthy and good for this planet and they're out for profit."

Students said it's empowering to understand what's at stake in Gloucester, where floodwalls have to be built and battered seawalls replaced, costing taxpayers many millions now and into the foreseeable future. Ocean levels in the area are projected to rise four feet between 1992 and 2100, putting hundreds of homes and businesses at risk too, according to the Program on Sea Level Rise at Climate Central, whose funders include the National Science Foundation.

In the high school's backyard, where the Annisquam River extends to the ocean, salt water has rushed over Gloucester's seawall during storms and across high school playing fields and gushed into the school's parking lot. A 2018 storm destroyed dozens of cars parked in the same lot, which had historically been a safe place to park off-street in a storm.

Senior Eliana Feria was in middle school when that happened. She said she and her family have talked about the obvious erosion at Good Harbor Beach, a favorite since her childhood. The environmental science class has helped her understand what's going on in a scientific context and explain it to her family.

"Being in the class and learning about it, it made me realize, I actually want to make a difference, and at least do whatever I can to lessen the impacts of what's going on," she said.

While Gloucester city officials face expensive climate mitigation projects going forward, the district is unable to unleash a flood of money for the kind of hands-on lab work done in Pastel's class.

The school's science department paid for the environmental science labs this year with a grant from the Gloucester Education Foundation.

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How is climate change taught in high school? It depends on where you live - GBH News

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) All month long, NewsChannel 9 is shining a spotlight on Central New York students graduating at the top of their class. Tuesdays top student is the valedictorian at Liverpool High School.

Balancing equations isnt the only thing Timothy Omolino has had on his plate.

My senior year has been just like balancing work and life and school and you know having a job, doing skiing just anything and being busy all the time, says Omolino.

Add a pandemic into the mix, and things get even more challenging.

Its been very busy, very chaotic. Were kind of still weaning off of COVID and adjusting to life right now, says Omolino.

All of that chaos eventually leading to a light at the end of the tunnel, and in Omolinos case, a bright light he wasnt exactly expecting being named valedictorian!

I was surprised. It wasnt necessarily something I was like really looking forward to or trying to get but it was nice to see that all my hard work had kind of paid off, says Omolino.

All of that hard work also earned him an acceptance letter to Niagra University, where hell spend the next four years studying computer science. But that wasnt always his plan, as Omolino originally wanted to study math and stats analysis.

Omolino added, This year I was taking a computer programming course and Ive always been interested in computers and technology and as I kind of learned more about it I really decided thats what I want to go into and learn.

After graduation, Omolino hopes to land a job as a software engineer at a big company like Google or Netflix, and hes hoping the job is remote, so he can take his work on the road with him while also traveling the world.

Omolino has a message for his classmates and those younger than him, and thats to take your time, take a deep breath and just enjoy life as it comes.

From all of us here at NewsChannel 9, Congratulations Timothy Omolino!

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Class of 2022: Liverpool valedictorian will attend Niagara University in the fall; major in computer science - WSYR

The Whiting-Turner site crew includes Senior Project Manager Summer Cleary 00. Cleary began working for Whiting-Turner after graduating from Virginia Tech with a major in civil engineering. She oversees the Innovation Campus site, which is the third largest project she has worked on in her career. All of Clearys projects for Whiting-Turner have been located in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland.

Living in Alexandria, I never thought the chance to work on a Virginia Tech project would arise its a great opportunity, said Cleary, who visits Blacksburg a few times a year to represent Whiting-Turner at job fairs. It is exciting to be part of a project that will provide a new learning environment for students.

Virginia Tech expects to welcome students, faculty, and staff into the completed 300,000 square foot building in the fall of 2024. Plans call for two other buildings, measuring about 150,000 square feet each, to be built as the campus grows.

Once complete, the Innovation Campus, designed by SmithGroup, will provide instruction, research, office, and support spaces for graduate-level programs in computer science and computer engineering and select other programs. There also will be flexible multi-purpose areas, research and testing labs, and maker spaces. A virtual tour is available online for viewing of interior and exterior 3D renderings of Academic Building One.

For the next two academic years, classes for the Innovation Campus Master of Engineering program will continue to be offered at the universitys Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church. Additional updates on the Innovation Campus faculty, curriculum, and research areas can be found in this story about Dr. Lance Collins' recent update to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

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Innovation Campus construction update: Academic Building One rises above ground this summer - Virginia Tech Daily