As a student intern, Dale’s work included information technology and Web projects.

For Steven Dale, his UAlbany education was “a great opportunity.” College, the 21-year-old computer science major points out, “is what you make of it. The opportunity is there, and you can make anything happen.”

Dale is making things happen. Last spring, the Software Company Awards named him Intern of the Year — an honor shared with fellow UAlbany senior Kevin Carey and SUNY Institute of Technology student Jeff Britton — for his work with the Albany-based firm known as ES11, LLC. At ES11, Dale was part of a team that developed a large-scale e-commerce application.

He has now transferred that experience to practical use. After graduation, Dale returned to Brooklyn, where his family has lived since immigrating from Israel 15 years ago, and accepted a position with Net@Work, a Manhattan consulting firm for which he secured an internship during the summer of 2001.

At Net@Work, where Dale’s work includes information technology (IT) and Web projects, the ES11 experience has been a great help. “The people at ES11 were open minded. I proved myself quickly, and they put responsibility on my shoulders. I got a lot accomplished, and I learned a lot, too,” remembers Dale, who held internships from his freshman year on at the University. “The sooner you start working, the better.”

He also advises undergraduates to take advantage of the resources available through UAlbany’s Career Development Center. In his estimation, students who didn’t “missed an opportunity that would have really helped them. Maybe freshman year is the time to start visiting the CDC, to keep open to any opportunities that come up, such as internships and part-time jobs.”

Networking is vital to the aspiring employee; “doing well in school” also contributes to post-graduate success, Dale found. For him, Software Engineering, taught by Professor Dan Rosenkrantz, was particularly useful. “I spent four years learning different languages and learning how to program, but theoretically, this is what it comes down to. Software Engineering focused on the planning and testing behind the basics.”

With classes, internships, and “composing and recording electronic music,” Dale’s UAlbany years were “hectic.” He managed to get by on four to five hours’ sleep a night — an amount he now maintains because “it’s the norm for me.” During his senior year, “I had three days of classes and two full workdays each week, and I’d often work Sundays, as well.” The music, composed “almost entirely on the computer,” is “something I can still do on the side. It could be used in television commercials and movie scores.”

Dale says: “I loved going to school at Albany. In college, a lot of people enjoy themselves, and a lot of them learn. I accomplished both to the fullest. It was very hectic, but the University was a rewarding experience.”

— Carol Olechowski