As a summer intern two years ago, Bess stopped by the LBLnet group area to ask a question. He got to talking with Al Early, a networking engineer who's committed to helping interns. Early then spoke with Harry Reed in the Lab's Work Force Diversity Office. With funding from the Work Force Diversity Office and the Networking and Telecommunications Department, Bess now has an opportunity to work as an intern for up to four years, half-time while attending school and full-time over the summers.

And Early has shown no reservation in having him work on key projects, such as helping create the infrastructure to support the new Computer Center in Bldg. 50B, where the Lab's email and calendar servers were recently moved. He has also helped troubleshoot and change out switching equipment.

Bess recently got a lesson in wireless security when he was assigned to install and test wireless equipment to make sure the signals couldn't be picked up beyond the Lab's perimeter. To do this, he participated in so-called "War Drives," during which technicians place wireless equipment in a car and drive around, pointing an antenna at various buildings to see if they can attach to a wireless network.

Driving through downtown Berkeley, the Lab team was able to connect to a number of wireless Access Points. However, none of Berkeley Lab's Access Points were accessible outside of the Lab or outside of their installed locations.

"It's a pretty cool environment to work in -- and I'm learning a lot," he said.

And recently, his group chose him as a "volunteer" for a special project. LBLnet had a new Cisco router and needed someone to install the IOS, the operating system software. Bess accepted the challenge. He admitted he hadn't done such an installation before, but would give it his best shot. Once he's done, he will give the group a presentation on his experience.

Such hands-on training is common in the group. When Bess first arrived for his internship, Early didn't provide him with a computer. Instead, he pointed him to the Internet and told him to order all the parts he needed -- so he could build his own PC. It's a back-to-basics approach Early has used with all his interns over the past 10 years.

"When you're teaching the basics in networking and computing, you're really building a foundation, whether it's new information or reinforcing something you already know," he said. "Whether installing basic Ethernet or building a PC, you're seeing how things work in their simplest form. Understanding that is important when trying to figure out why things don't work -- complex systems sometimes fail for simple reasons."