Taking off with interns under his leadership

James Yang, Staff Writer|March 8, 2023

          Every year, hundreds of students at Diamond Bar High School scramble to keep themselves occupied over summer break, so they apply to different summer programs, camps and jobs. While most of these ambitious learners seek new experience all over Los Angeles, senior Jeffrey Gong has taken to the sky, presiding over Boeing’s widely acclaimed internship program for aiding students in research.

           Gong was board president of Brahma Tech Academy, a program led by advisor Alina Gallardo. Focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the program gives students the opportunity to take higher level classes and build academic prowess. During the summer before their senior year, juniors in the program are required to intern at a STEM-based affiliation to gain experience and collect material for an upcoming internship fair. The event is hosted by Brahma Tech for the purpose of demonstrating their variety of activities and knowledge to their peers and underclassmen.

“Being on the Brahma Tech board was really helpful,” Gong said. “I was able to improve my public-speaking skills and better network with mentors in the program as well as other students.”

           Last summer, Gong was accepted as one of the few Boeing interns from DBHS, giving him the opportunity to work for one of the world’s top technological forerunners in the engineering field. He stayed at their California institution’s composite-materials lab—a workspace to combine two completely different substances to make a new one—for eight weeks to conduct research on carbon-fiber production systems. He was later chosen by Boeing’s internship program coordinator to lead his project group and integrated product team.

           “I think the ability to pass down information and help incoming seniors is really worthwhile,” Gong said. “I had an amazing time in the program last year, and I hope to provide that same experience to the incoming group of interns.”

           Additionally, the former Brahma Tech president is involved in several clubs such as Science Olympiad, UNICEF and Physics Club as part of their leadership boards. Gong often participates in academic competitions that the clubs participate in, like NASA TechRise and the SourceAmerica engineering challenge. In one of Science Olympiad’s most difficult competitions, he took home a first place medal in the BirdSO Invitational on Jan. 28.

           “Science Olympiad is a really beneficial organization to me and it provides a stronger engineering as well as academic background with a wide range of events [to compete in],” Gong said.

           Before the internship program starts again this upcoming summer, he intends on holding several planning meetings with the Boeing staff to discuss this year’s camp proceedings and what they plan to accomplish during the interns’ stays.

           “I want to make sure that everybody feels like they took something meaningful from the program,” Gong said. “I’d also like to forge personal connections with the employees and interns to maintain a smooth and enjoyable internship.”