There’s a new opportunity for people interested in launching a career in computer science and artificial intelligence engineering thanks to a fellowship launching in Greenville and Columbia in September.
The Bletchley Fellowship is the brainchild of Peter Barth, CEO of the Flatiron School and founder of The Iron Yard, and will offer young adults recently graduated from high school an AI engineering apprenticeship that covers the cost of college.
The program
The program is free for participants. The base fellowship program is 3.5 years, which starts off with four months of immersive education at Clarke College, which offers an intensive, 100% remote learning experience.
During the next phase, fellows start working part-time (20 hours per week) in their AI engineering apprenticeship while also continuing their college studies (roughly 20 hours per week). Fellows will complete their degree in 3 years and then spend their last 4 months working full-time in the apprenticeship.
At that point, the fellow has the option to exit and start their own professional career or stay another 1.5 years in the apprenticeship while taking a master’s program in either computer science or AI from Georgia Tech or UT Austin (both online) and will earn a $2,000/month stipend during this additional phase.
Fellows will also be paired with a professional mentor and will get the chance to interact with their peer fellows through access to co-working/co-learning spaces — Switchyards in Greenville or SoCo in Columbia.
Although the education portion of the program is online, fellows will need to be in person in either Greenville or Columbia for the apprenticeship portion.
“Our goal for the fellowship is to create a pool of highly trained AI talent in South Carolina that can both help drive our current companies forward as well as seeing many new tech companies form (in the state),” Barth said. “We think this model is a win for both the student, the employer and the local economy.”
Applications are being accepted for the first cohort of 24 fellows in September. Additional cohorts will launch in January and June.
Barth said the number of slots is dependent on the number of apprenticeship opportunities the program can secure, but the goal is to secure 50 slots for each of the three annual cohorts and expand the program to other cities across the state.
For more information or to apply, visit bletchleyfellowship.org.
