Our organization is able to offer a virtual internship opportunity for 1 computer science student.

The primary focus for the student will be: (please include a few examples of technology projects you would like the student(s) to execute during the placement, as exemplified below. Where applicable, please indicate tools/platforms the student(s will be using to complete their work for you.)

• Website Development - Conducting a needs analysis to determine which platform is most suitable for our website; creating a design proposal including mock-ups, budget, and timeline. Our web-based product, Skynotes, is a flight training management system used by independent flight instructors to manage their private pilot students ground and flight training program as well as by students to monitor their progress through their flight program. We are currently using WordPress and are finding it may not be the most suitable to support the complexities or scalability required for a flight training management system. The admin interface for configuring the Skynotes web application is essentially shoehorned into the the WordPress admin interface. This makes administration of the web app cumbersome and not as intuitive as we would like it to be. A platform where a streamlined and tailored admin interface could be developed for the Skynotes web application is what is desired. This interface should allow for an intuitive user experience for the Skynotes admin to update content and programs. The scalability of data users will compile and save is another concern in using the WordPress platform and how the performance of the database will be impacted as it grows. Also, we are interested in offering a free option for users this could include advertisements (we currently offer a 30-Day free trial).
• Software Architecture Development - We would like analysis done on improving the architecture of an existing system (WordPress); If it is determined that a more suitable platform is recommended for Skynotes we would like analysis done on porting the architecture of Skynotes from WordPress to another recommended platform.

Our goal at the end of this experience is:

• Software Architecture Development - For the student to provide a solution to our architecture issue to ensure optimal performance and sustainability.
• Software Evaluation (e.g. new CRM) - For the student to help us choose the most ideal software to invest in based on our user and/or organizational needs.

Other duties the student may complete could include:

• Software vendor research and evaluation
• Assist with other process improvement projects
• Application research with the potential for development

We will plan to communicate with our virtual intern using these communication tools:

Phone, text, email, Skype

Student's primary contact: Amy Labus-Olson, President Flight Training Technologies

Secondary contact: R.L. Olson, IT Manager