Code Cadets Experience ‘Top Tech’ Treatment

In January, the Code Cadets embarked on their fifth trip to the United States, where 16 students and three teachers spent two weeks touring well-known and influential high-tech companies in Silicon Valley and Seattle.

The journey started with a surprise during the Sydney stop-over. A defining feature of Code Cadets’ tours is that there are often surprises along the way, which neither the students or parents know about. The first surprise was a visit to the Qantas Jet base in Sydney. Here, the group experienced the emergency procedures training for pilots and crew, which included assembling a life-raft along with a simulated cabin evacuation (complete with smoke). To top off the visit, students were given the opportunity to fly the $30 million Airbus A380 simulator, with each student completing a take-off and short flight around Sydney.

During the two weeks that followed, the Code Cadets visited and received rock-star treatment at a range of high-tech companies who generously hosted the group, including Intel, Apple, Facebook, This Week in Tech, Elastic, Palantir, ServiceNow, NetApp, Google, Unity, Glassdoor, VMware, and Stanford. The group also flew to Seattle for two days to visit Microsoft, where the students were provided with the opportunity to try and use HoloLens 2 and Amazon, including visits to the Amazon BFI4 Fulfilment Centre in Kent and the Amazon Spheres and Go Store in Downtown Seattle.

During these visits, the group was privileged to hear from senior executives and engineers about their roles in the companies, their stories and pathways to working in high-tech, and their views on the future direction and trends in the industry. Several companies also arranged hands-on activities, including some mini-hackathons and coding competitions, and tours of the amazing company campuses. Another surprise awaited the group on the first day of company visits, with a visit to Netflix in Los Gatos. After a tour of the campus, which included themed rooms such as a full mock-up of Will Byers’ living room from Stranger Things, the group conversed with engineers working on keeping the Netflix infrastructure running along with how non-linear content (such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) is produced. Netflix also generously gave the group lots of merchandise, including custom ‘Code Cadets @ Netflix’ t-shirts.

The third surprise was visiting Uber ATG (Advanced Technologies Group). Located in a high-security non-descript warehouse on San Francisco’s wharf, Uber ATG is responsible for all of Uber’s high-tech innovations including self-driving cars. Here, the Code Cadets heard from the Uber Air group currently developing flying transportation systems—which are being trialled in Melbourne this year with commercial operations projected to commence in 2023. During this visit, the group was also very fortunate to catch up with CGS Foundation Benefactor Mr Peter Hazlehurst (Class of 1990), who is the Head of Payments at Uber.

There were also several sightseeing opportunities such as visiting Alcatraz Island, riding segways through San Francisco, touring the Computer History Museum, an immersive VR experience at Sandbox VR, biking across the Golden Gate Bridge, and playing multi-story laser tag.

Being the Code Cadets’ fifth trip, this was undoubtedly the biggest. The trip continues to grow every year, with more companies and experiences for the students.