Central Florida native John Bittman has had an unconventional journey to the University of Central Florida and now the trip has just taken an unexpected turn.
Just months before completing UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Nanotechnology Professional Science Master 麻豆精品 S檚 degree program, and what Bittman had hoped would be the final planning for a business launch, the federal government has selected Bittman for a prestigious program that will guarantee him a mid-level federal job for the next two years.
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More than 6,000 students applied for the Presidential Management Fellowship operated by the. About 400 were selected based on their education level, experience, testing and essay submission. Only six people were selected from Florida and Bittman is the only one from UCF.
The fellows will get to apply for federal positions that take advantage of their expertise whether it be biomedical science and nanotechnology 麻豆精品 S� like Bittman 麻豆精品 S檚 麻豆精品 S� or human rights, cultural affairs or economics. Fellows will be in placed in agencies such as the FBI, NASA, Centers for Disease Control, FDA, NOAA, FEMA, U.S. Secret Service, NSF and countless others based in Washington, D.C., and across the nation.
Bittman said the educational experience he 麻豆精品 S檚 had from his days in the Army to Valencia College to UCF has been invaluable in preparing him for this opportunity.
The Lake Mary High School graduate enlisted and spent four years in the Army serving in the airborne infantry, which included a deployment to Iraq.
During that time, he kept thinking about going back to school. So, he took online courses while in the service. When he left the service in 2013, he finished his AA degree at Valencia in one semester and used DirectConnect to UCF to transfer to the university. He completed his Bachelor of Science in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on biomedical studies and entrepreneurship. Then he applied to the nanotechnology program.
The program, although only three years, old has a 100 percent success rate. All of those who have completed the program have landed internships and jobs in industry, including Ocean Optics in Winter Park, GeNO LLC in Cocoa, Akron Biotech in Boca Raton, and Accenture in Austin, Texas, among other companies.
麻豆精品 S淣anotechnology is an exciting, emerging field that takes quite a bit of specialization, 麻豆精品 S� said Qun Huo, the master 麻豆精品 S檚 program coordinator. 麻豆精品 S淲e have outstanding faculty and a NanoScience Technology Center, which gives our students a unique opportunity to learn by doing with leaders in the field and in partnership with industry. 麻豆精品 S�
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麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檝e gotten a first-hand look at how UCF is trying to fix a big problem in our state, 麻豆精品 S� said the 31-year-old. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 an amazing opportunity. I have always been interested doing some kind of business in the biomedical field. ut I 麻豆精品 S檝e kind of had an untraditional path, so it 麻豆精品 S檚 taking me a little while. But you have to go with opportunities when they happen. 麻豆精品 S�
For now, Bittman is working on completing his program and doing some research about the many federal agencies he would like to work for this summer.
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