Cameron University - Don Aguilar

Through the OCAST R&D Intern Partnerships program, students built a virtual campus for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. This campus provides training, information and collaborative capabilities to public safety and enforcement personnel. The interns also created training and development tools for DNA evidence gathering and testing.

Professor Don Aguilar, chair and associate professor, initiated the Cameron University multimedia design internship program that placed 28 students with Advanced Systems Technology Inc. The program also encouraged other department faculty to establish OCAST R&D Intern Partnerships with area companies including Eagle Systems and Services, Dynamic Research Corporation and Tec Masters.

Companies participating in the intern partnership program are required to match the OCAST award, giving students a stipend for their work. The R&D Intern Partnerships program allows students to receive first-rate, on-the-job training. Since inception, OCAST has funded 524 student interns. It is an important step in keeping Oklahoma’s best and brightest in the state and connecting them to high-paying, technically-challenging jobs.

Due in part to OCAST funding, Cameron University’s department of multimedia design established long-term partnerships with several companies in Lawton and Oklahoma City. The partnership with Advanced Systems Technologies helped secure a $160,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services to produce commercial-quality immigration training for local, state and tribal officers. This resulted in national recognition for their work and helped to establish an ongoing relationship with Fort Sill.

The OCAST grant took the department to new heights positioning them as a source for highly skilled instructional designers. Companies now seek Cameron University students and graduates to fill their open positions.

Students at Cameron University built a virtual campus.