Written by volunteer writer Alison Perch

Tech role models can be entrepreneurs, designers, philanthropists … even superheroes! TechGirlz volunteer Eric Vo says Marvel’s Iron Man helped inspire his career path in technology.

“Take away [Iron Man’s] superhero badge, and he becomes a technical teacher, IT project manager, innovator, developer, and tech enthusiast. He created internship opportunities for talents around the world as a way of giving back and innovation,” Eric explains.

Eric is a tech superhero himself. After graduating from Temple University in 2017, he accepted a two-year Associate rotational program with TD Bank, which involves coding, agile, and API projects. This program will help Eric better define his technology interests, with the goal of pursuing a permanent position at the bank.

“I work with technology to provide myself access to different opportunities: exploring, applying to jobs, learn[ing] to code, entertainment, and maybe start[ing] a business in the future,” Eric says.

Like Iron Man, Eric also gives back to his community. He first got involved with TechGirlz as a Temple student. As the community service officer for the university’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Eric helped lead the first-ever TechShop on Temple’s campus.

Eric is impressed by the students, volunteers, and employees he met through TechGirlz. He says his students delivered outstanding projects, even after just learning a few foundational concepts.

“I love to tell my students that technology is all about ‘learning how to learn,’ and making mistakes [is] okay because we [can] undo in the programming space… This raises their comfort level, allowing them to become more engaged in the TechShop,” Eric notes.

Eric says early exposure to technology is crucial, especially for bridging the gender divide in STEM.

“Innovation requires ideas from everyone of all genders,” Eric explains.

When Eric takes a break from his superhero duties, he enjoys exploring the city, dancing, and — as he puts it — “teaching my parents how to correctly use their iPhone.” He also wants to continue building his tech skills and explore Alexa (Amazon Echo) development.

Thanks to Eric, and all our other volunteers, for supporting the next generation of tech superheroes.

Want to be a superhero? Sign up as a TechGirlz volunteer today!