What is Pathways Entrepreneurial Labs?
PELabs is an entrepreneurial 5 1/2 week program held during the summer at Pathways Academy of Technology & Design. Interns will be part of an entrepreneurial team whose mission will be to develop products or services for customers while engaging in the entire end-to-end business process. Through this unique summer business internship, interns will learn skills in their chosen business area of focus, develop professional and entrepreneurial skills and experience, and build their professional network, résumé, and portfolio.
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Our Departments
Our departments here at Pathways Entrepreneurial Labs boast a wide variety of different job branches, depending on what you’re looking for. These departments range from 3D Modeling and Printing, to designing logos for companies, to protection and encryption of your everyday tech. Just take a look!
Click on the logos to find out more.
Web IT
The PELabs IT department is responsible for the administration, implementation, and upkeep of systems critical to the daily operation of the company and its clients. IT interns especially work together with the web design department, where they oversee multiple WordPress installations and the hosting they run on. Interns learn to put together functioning WordPress environments and the concepts behind it including Addon Domains, Subdomains, DNS Records, and DNS along with basic SQL Database usage, and other Web Server concepts. In addition to supporting the needs of the Web Design staff, PELabs IT interns embark on a project to create a local development environment on Dell PowerEdge servers. This introduces concepts such as Hypervisors and Virtualization, Basic Linux usage, Linux Terminal, LAMP Stack, SQL Database Setup, Routing and Switching, and basic Computer Hardware. In order to keep these two large projects on track, it is necessary to implement a project management system. IT interns learn the Kanban Framework, which is a subset of the Scrum Framework used in many companies today. This involves learning and using proper documentation procedures, presentation skills, clear and concise communication practices, and both teamwork and team management skills.
Web IT
Advanced Manufacturing
The Interns in the Advanced Manufacturing department are wholly responsible for product creation from start to finish. They sit down with clients to assess needs and wants for products, then take that information to create products. Interns are also responsible for keeping in touch with clients to assure that their products meet specifications and tweaking them as necessary. Finally, they are responsible for final and mass production of their products. In this department, each intern acts as a designer, engineer, and machinist, meaning that they will gain valuable skills for every step of the manufacturing process, and valuable communication skills from working with clients. The team mainly works with CorelDraw, which is a vector imagining software that creates files which are used for laser cutting. They also work with computer aided design (CAD) software, such as TinkerCAD and OnShape, in order to make 3D models.
Advanced Manufacturing
Digital Media
The Digital Media department builds upon prior knowledge of digital media as well as teaching new elements to interns that have never been exposed to digital media. The digital media interns receive hands-on training and experience in digital video production, editing, and new media marketing. Using state-of-the-art production equipment from professionally standard companies like Panasonic, Canon, and Audio Technica among others, our interns work in comprehensive teams to concept and create videos as well as social media advertisements for clients both internal and external. In return, our interns gain valuable skills in marketing, outreach, professional conduct and technological literacy. By the conclusion of the program, PELabs graduates have the necessary skills to step into the modern and lucrative world of media production.
Digital Media
Web Design
The Website Builders department at PELabs whose purpose it was to create websites for local small businesses and community clients. WordPress 5 with predominate plug-ins of ‘Beaver Builder’, ‘Elementor’ and ‘WooCommerce’ were used for the content management system and a combination of Domain.com and LuxTech for the web-hosting services. Website Builders used Basecamp as a cloud-based project management tool to organize their work. The interns took responsibility for managing the client relationships and meeting expectations within an accelerated time frame, constraints, and resources.
Web Design
Social Media
The Social Media Marketing Department will connect with current and future customers. They will engage with customers on a daily basis, with the ultimate goal of turning fans into customers and turning customers into believers. The SMMD will administer the company’s social media marketing and advertising which includes the development of brand awareness and online reputation, the SEO (search engine optimization) and generation of inbound traffic, the cultivation of leads and sales and finally administrate the creation and publishing of relevant, original, high-quality content (for all channels and ads).
Social Media
Cyber Security
The Cyber Security Department at PELabs whose members will operate independently and as part of a team to ensure our software, hardware, and related components are protected from cyber attacks. Other duties include developing security systems, analyzing current systems for vulnerabilities, and handling any and all cyber-attacks in an efficient and effective manner. Candidates should have some IT skills and a willingness to learn about a cyber-hacker methodology.
Cyber Security
Graphic Design
The Graphic Design department enhances the creative skills of its interns. The beginning of the program was spent gauging and improving their knowledge on the important Adobe software of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign, and preference for logo identity, promotional design, and HTML coding. As clients made their requests to the department, the interns were divided into groups by preference for a particular request. This allowed for each intern to pursue their interests without being restricted to any one client. The interns who began without a strong understanding of graphic design, but with a passion to learn, have become more than comfortable in their gained skills. Adding to their experience was the interaction with clients and learning how to respond to feedback, which is valuable in conducting within their creative, professional careers. The interns of the department have ended the program as assets to the world of graphic design.
Graphic Design
Insurance & Finance
The IFS Department will take interns through a comprehensive look of transforming risk into an advantage with both personal and business insurance. “Today, we face insurance scenarios our predecessors would have never imagined … from autonomous cars to epic natural disasters to global businesses in oil, gas, marine, finance and technology. That’s why we challenge the status quo with new ideas and innovations in the areas of AI, Geo-spatial, cyber security, global risk and more.” Travelers Interns will interact with lead industry people on Insurance Operations, Risk Assessment and Fraud Reduction while applying real world solutions to everyday problems.
Insurance & Finance