Physics student-athlete scores job with IBM
Jindu Chiazor landed impressive internships while juggling football and academics.
As a fullback for the Towson Tigers football team, Jindu Chiazor blocked and cleared the way to get the team’s halfback in scoring position.
Off the field, Chiazor scored major internships as he juggled football and academic requirements as the football team’s only STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) student. While his family pushed him toward engineering, Chiazor chose TU’s applied physics program.
“Applied physics allows you to learn software, electrical, hardware, and systems engineering,” says Chiazor. “It is pretty easy to apply what you learn in the classroom.”
Professor David Schaefer, chair of the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences, took Chiazor under his wing and connected him with internship and conference opportunities. “At the 2017 and 2018 National Society of Black Engineers Conference, I attended workshops and marketed myself to different companies,” says Chiazor. “These experiences opened doors and made my resume stand out even more.”
His first internship took him to G. A. Peak Excavating in Telford, Pennsylvania, where he worked side by side with foremen in a civil engineering capacity on construction sites reviewing blueprints and locating proper sites for excavation. At internships at Northrop Grumman in Linthicum, Maryland, he worked in hardware engineering, testing circuits and then coding for the modeling and simulation department.
“ Applied physics allows you to learn software, electrical, hardware, and systems engineering. ”
Chiazor also worked at The Boeing Company in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, as an electromagnetics engineering intern, ensuring the safety of electrical systems for the CH-47 (Chinook) Vertical Lift Aircraft.
Chiazor credits football for his tenacity. “Just when you think you have finished practice, there’s still more to do,” he explains. “My football coaches instilled in me to prevail through challenges and try for the best. That mentality in all aspects of my life has led to my success.”
Chiazor accepted a job offer from IBM to work as a business consultant in New York City after graduation.
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