Oracle’s campus in Redwood Shores, CA, is also home to Design Tech High School (d.tech). The first of its kind, d.tech is a public charter school located on a tech campus. It specializes in teaching design thinking, a creative problem-solving strategy popularized by Stanford University’s d.school. And, for students who sense that tech may be their calling as early as high school, it offers opportunities for hands-on learning that many could benefit from in early education.
Oracle philanthropy and d.tech share a goal to develop young people who believe that the world can be a better place and that they can be a part of making it happen. To that end, Oracle is deeply involved in d.tech’s intersession program. The goal of intersession is to help students explore new disciplines, industries, and possible careers. This is achieved through classes offered by nonprofits, businesses, and subject matter experts in areas ranging from photography to entomology to environmental science or—in Oracle’s case—technology, such as neural networks, web applications, data science, and physical computing.
Staff of the Oracle Education Foundation—Oracle employees who are credentialed teachers, skilled in technology and design thinking—lead three classes per intersession. That’s a total of 180 instruction hours in two weeks, so it’s no small undertaking. Plus, they recruit and train Oracle employee volunteers to coach the students in class. Typically, the ratio is one adult volunteer for every four students in a class. It’s not only an amazing learning experience, but also a great networking opportunity for students.
At Oracle, we feel privileged to work in close partnership with d.tech. High school is when many of us grow thirstier for knowledge, challenges, and answers. It’s an exciting time, to say the least, and it can be a pivotal time. We’re grateful for the opportunity to make a positive impact during this important phase in young people’s lives.
“At Oracle, we feel privileged to work in close partnership with d.tech. High school is when many of us grow thirstier for knowledge, challenges, and answers. It’s an exciting time, to say the least, and it can be a pivotal time. We’re grateful for the opportunity to make a positive impact during this important phase in young people’s lives.”
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with a graduate of d.tech’s founding class of 2018, Alex Lederman, who is now a UX Designer at Oracle. After graduating from d.tech, Alex earned a bachelor’s degree in user experience design from Purdue University, while also completing internships at Microsoft, Stanford University, and Oracle. Not long ago, he became a full-time Oracle employee—the first d.tech alumnus to do so. To our delight, several more d.tech alumni have followed in his footsteps, but Alex will forever be the first.
Talking with him, I was reminded of something Elizabeth Gilbert said, “The definition of a creative life is any life where your decisions are routinely based more strongly on your curiosity than your fear.” Even when we first met Alex as a 14-year-old, he was curious and brave in his search for answers. Over the next four years, as his tech and design thinking skills grew stronger, so did his creative confidence. Today, I’d say Alex is living a truly creative life and it’s wonderful that he’s found a creative home at Oracle. In my mind, it’s apt, because curiosity is central to what we do here. If you’re going to “help people see data in new ways, discover insights, and unlock endless possibilities,” you need to start by being curious. It’s a philosophy brought to life and marvelously illustrated by the growing legacy of Oracle and d.tech.
Here are some highlights from my conversation with Alex, who shares how his education at d.tech prepared him for a career in technology, and his advice for others with similar aspirations.
As part of d.tech’s founding class, what was it like to help build the school’s culture, and how did your experiences impact your career trajectory?
Alex: Our class took a leap of faith by joining a completely new high school that, at the time, didn’t even have a permanent home—this was before Oracle built us a facility. I remember our first day of school. The furniture was in boxes. It was left unassembled intentionally, so as students we could come together and literally build our desks and classrooms together—to connect to one other and to the school itself.
From then on, the founding class felt united, and that feeling got stronger the more we worked together on projects and built our individual experiences over our four years at d.tech.
d.tech’s emphasis on design thinking, learning-by-doing, and interdisciplinary problem solving taught me to approach challenges with a very creative and user-centric mindset. Once you begin to think like that, it’s really hard to go back to any other approach to solving problems. And, why would you want to?
“d.tech’s emphasis on design thinking, learning-by-doing, and interdisciplinary problem solving taught me to approach challenges with a very creative and user-centric mindset. Once you begin to think like that, it’s really hard to go back to any other approach to solving problems. And, why would you want to?”
I feel like d.tech is an accelerator that gives young people opportunities to explore what they’re passionate or curious about. That’s what d.tech’s intersession program is all about.
What was one of the most memorable prototypes you designed or experiences you had in an intersession class?
Alex: That’s a hard one because I think I was proud of everything I worked on. Looking back though, one of the most impactful opportunities we had was when the Oracle Education Foundation teamed up with the National Geographic Society. Shah Selbe, a conservation technologist who was collaborating on the Okavango Wilderness Project at the time, helped Oracle Education Foundation lead a two-week class. We learned how National Geographic designs and builds breakthrough sensor systems and hardware to help Explorers like Steve Boyes gain critical insight, maximize their scientific research, and tell stories that inspire awe and drive conservation. We got hands-on experience building and coding a buoy loaded with sensors, and then deploying it in the Belmont Slough, which is the waterway that runs alongside d.tech. In the water, the buoy gathered data about temperature, tidal movements, and other information about the wetland’s ecosystem—and relayed that to us to analyze.
We also had a live video conversation that connected our classroom at the Oracle Conference Center in California with Steve Boyes and the expedition in Botswana. It was amazing, and we learned that some of the same challenges affecting the Okavango Delta also affect our local wetlands, and what we could do about it. It was inspiring to learn from and work with experts in the field, and ultimately see the positive impacts we can make on the world by creating and using technology.
How did you find your way to UX design?
Alex: When I first started at Purdue, I pursued a path in mechanical engineering. But what I ended up missing the most was having engaging conversations with people to solve problems. Purdue has an excellent UX design program and I found that they offered classes similar to Oracle Education Foundation and d.tech—project-based with the opportunity to learn from different companies and work on different projects to solve real-world problems.
It was a perfect fit for me, so I changed my major to UX design. In many ways, the experiences I had through Oracle Education Foundation and d.tech shaped my interests and preferred learning style.
What UX design projects are you working on now?
Alex: One of my favorite things about working at Oracle is that, inherently, the problems we’re solving are complex. I think, from a consumer perspective, it can be difficult to understand our work because a lot of it is hidden behind business functions. But once you’ve stepped into it and understand the complexity, it becomes incredibly interesting to find answers.
“One of my favorite things about working at Oracle is that, inherently, the problems we’re solving are complex. I think, from a consumer perspective, it can be difficult to understand our work because a lot of it is hidden behind business functions. But once you’ve stepped into it and understand the complexity, it becomes incredibly interesting to find answers.”
Right now, my team is developing a product line to help businesses better work together to solve longstanding problems. We’re looking at key business interactions and how creating greater collaboration can solve some of their most pressing challenges.
My colleagues and I are also working on generative AI projects that were recently presented at Oracle CloudWorld. We shared how generative AI can be applicable to the business world. The bottom line is: businesses need to be confident that what AI is generating is accurate and that it is keeping their data secure.
What advice would you give d.tech students, and all students, based on your experiences?
Alex: Jump in and get involved! It’s okay to not know exactly what you want to do–I certainly didn’t. I think it’s really important to find what you’re curious about and pursue those passions with all the opportunities you’re given. This is especially true at d.tech where we have these amazing partnerships with Oracle and other companies.
It’s also important to reach out to people. I think mentorship was one of the biggest benefits at d.tech because, more than being given opportunities, students can get guidance and direction to more fully understand what they’re interested in. My advice is to take those opportunities and learn as much as you can.
What are you interested in exploring next?
Alex: During my time in school, I realized I really enjoy teaching and working with others to solve problems. I know that, while UX design is my passion, I also love sharing my interests with other people. So, whatever form the opportunities take, I’ll be ready.
I also want to explore more leadership opportunities and give back to programs that have given me so much, like Oracle internship programs. Being able to inspire or help support someone else’s career trajectory is so cool.