A conversation between youths and a tech giant

——Glory Christian Church youth group Qualcomm visit

 

An interesting conversation took place between a group of high school students and a local technological giant. On August 8th, 2019, high school students in our youth group had the unique opportunity to interact with employees at Qualcomm. This special visit left them with a sense of mystery, awe, curiosity, and had them wanting more.

Our youth ministry organizes outings for our youth fellowship group regularly. The most recent one was a visit to Qualcomm’s headquarters in San Diego. Our youth group arrived at one of the office buildings and were eager to begin the tour while waiting to receive their visitor badges. The company's public relations staff has been anticipating our visit. Sensing the youth’s enthusiasm, Matt, the facilitator of our visit, got excited and high spirited too.

 

 

Our first stop was Qualcomm museum. In the museum, there were many products, photos, and videos, all placed in exhibits in chronological order. A sense of awe overcame our youths as they saw the rapid pace of technology innovation and advancement over the years. Through the exhibits, they could also feel the engineers' courage and persistence in overcoming technical challenges. Qualcomm's CEO Steve Mollenkopf once said, "We're fascinated by technology and always working to push it forward. Our job is to be impatient. That's our role in the mobile industry, and our future”

 

 

 

The second stop was the new product demonstration area. When our youths saw a VR device on the table as they entered the room, they got quite excited. After everyone settled down, the facilitator began to introduce several cutting-edge technologies that Qualcomm has been developing and introducing to the market. Among the highlights were the research and development of 5G technology, the benefits of 5G technology, and various supporting equipment. Our youth listened attentively and raised many questions.

Next, the youths were introduced to Virtual Reality (VR) technology. The device that they saw as they entered the room was a virtual reality gaming headset that looked like a big pair of goggles worn by a welder. All the teenagers in the group got really excited when they were given the opportunity to try out the VR headset. As only one person could try the headset at a time, everyone waited patiently for their turns. As they waited, all they could see was the person wearing the VR headset waving his/her arms, shouting with excitement, and being totally immersed in the virtual reality environment. It was quite an interesting scene.  Although it was their first VR experience, our youths were polite and orderly, they also learned to use the VR headset very quickly. Some said that it felt like they were Jedis in Star Wars, holding lightsabers and being really powerful.

 

 

Qualcomm develops technology that goes into audio products as well. The host played a video of Jurassic Park, using a high-fidelity sound system produced by Bose, Yamaha and other partners with Qualcomm audio technology. Our youths got to experience and enjoy an immersive movie experience in the meeting room.

The last stop of our visit was the patent wall. The youths were taken to a huge wall in the building covered with patents awarded to Qualcomm engineers. The patents bear witness to the wisdom and relentless efforts of Qualcomm Engineers since its establishment. The youths were reminded that these patents were the fruits of knowledge and hard work, and today's learning is preparing for tomorrow's innovations which will change the world that we live in. Most patents were invented by several people, much like how the tech giant in front of us was created by thousands of scientists, engineers, and business strategists. Teamwork and collaboration are qualities that everyone should learn and practice from an early age.

 

 

The visit was over, yet the youths didn’t want to leave. Some wanted to know more about the company's cybersecurity management, some wanted to see the gym, and some commented that working here must be great. Our youths are still young and have a bright future ahead of them. We encourage them to study diligently, work hard, and strive to fulfill their dreams.

Written by Emily Hu; Photos by Youmin Yu