Jesse Chou spent decades in the high tech industry—with a front row seat to the internet boom in Silicon Valley—and now he is sharing what he learned with the next generation.

Chou, a computer information technology professor at San Bernardino Valley College, first became interested in computer science as a teenager. In 1986, he moved to the United States from Taiwan to learn English, then enrolled at the University of Massachusetts, where he earned his bachelor's degree and later his doctorate in computer science focusing on data modeling. Chou's first job was at a community college as an IT administrator, before he was recruited to be a software engineer in Silicon Valley.

There, he had a "blast from the front row seat," Chou said. He soon started pulling double duty, working in the high tech industry by day and teaching computer management at night. When he moved to Southern California, Chou wanted to keep teaching, and found the perfect position at SBVC.

Teaching, Chou said, allows him to "further my knowledge as well as to help others to contribute in the advance of technology."

At SBVC, Chou jumped right in and became a faculty co-sponsor of the Cyber Club. It was important for him to not only serve as a leader for students but also show them the power of camaraderie.

"Throughout my career I found that software engineers normally band together, especially nowadays as software are getting much more complex, thus teamwork is paramount," he said. "I thought with a Cyber Club for computer students, it'll be a fun place and also a home camp for students to grow and to network and bond."

Students team up to compete at cybersecurity competitions, a field that Chou is experienced in. He recently worked with California State University San Bernardino on a federal cybersecurity grant that will help train students interested in entering the cybersecurity and tech industries. Chou also participated in the Winternship research project, assisting six SBVC students studying artificial intelligence.

"I got involved when I saw that there is this rare opportunity for our students as undergrads to participate in a paid research project," Chou said. "Working with students in this kind of internship is a gratifying mentorship, to see them exhibit their innovative creativity and work semi-independently for the research projects that interest them."

Chou thrives in this collaborative environment and said he "truly believes that teamwork is a must in achieving greater goals." He is "really thrilled to be working in a place like SBVC," and feels "blessed to be spending decades in the high tech industry and now in education. With the current AI boom, data volume is growing astronomically and there is more interesting work coming up in the tech area, which I would love to get our students into."

Jesse Chou