CATLab Blog

How We Launched Our Team in Record Time with myTrailhead
May 25, 2021
One of the unique features of our program this summer is the way we’ve adopted myTrailhead, Salesforce’s customizable training platform. Through myTrailhead, we’ve been able to create a standard onboarding process that’s easy for new developers to follow. By the team’s fourth day of work, our new developers already felt like they’d been able to take the training wheels off and start pushing towards real progress.The CATLab Blazes New Trails for Summer 2021
May 20, 2021
The CATLab is back! After a year of hard work and quiet preparation, we’re thrilled to announce our big project, our new team, and the theme for the summer.
3 Things We Created and Learned in Summer 2020
August 19, 2020
After 15 weeks of coding and creating, blogging and bug-fixing, we’ve finally come to the end of the summer. Looking back at our successes, we’re struck by not only the concrete things we’ve accomplished but also the lessons we’ve learned. Through our work this summer, we’ve come to see the importance of knowing who our work is for, sharing our stories, and having a team mindset. In short, we do our best when we’re focused on helping others.
The Work of Authentic Inclusion: Reflections from Our Director
August 11, 2020
As we reflect on what we’ve learned and accomplished this summer, we asked our director, Zak, to share his thoughts on leading a team through this tumultuous time. In “both technical and thematic challenges,” in both coding and conversations, Zak sees himself as the facilitator rather than the focus, staying out of the spotlight and empowering others to take center stage.Sharing Inspiration: Meeting UCSB’s IT Interns
August 5, 2020
Here at the CATLab, one of our deep-rooted goals is to join and facilitate conversations on the intersection between technological innovation and higher education. Not only can we be inspired by others’ ideas and successes; sometimes we can, in turn, inspire others. Last week, we got to see the direct result of this inspiration as we met the students part of UCSB’s new set of IT internships—a new program modeled after our work at the CATLab.Moving Forward in the Midst of Uncertainty
July 29, 2020
As we near the end of the summer and as schools and cities weigh the pros and cons of reopening in the fall, we’re coming to realize that one of the hardest things about this pandemic is not the travel restrictions or the social distancing but the ongoing uncertainty in which we find ourselves. Even as we cope with unprecedented challenges, we realize that even our best-laid plans might have to change in a moment. So what do you do when you feel like the whole world is unsettled?