Eric Garcia, MSI '10
Software Designer, Mobiata
Ann Arbor, Michigan

As a Student at SI

With three other SI students, Eric won a competitive internship sponsored by RPM Ventures and developed the startup company Phonagle, which specializes in games for mobile devices.

"My tailored specialization at SI allowed me to discover what I wanted to do and find the right niche," he says. "I acquired valuable skills that I use every day in my work as a designer and programmer."

The startup's first product, outWord, uses the outdoors as a game board and is available from the iTunes AppStore. He also worked as a translator for the University's Portal en Espanol. In February 2010, he began working part-time in Ann Arbor for Mobiata, a company that creates best-selling mobile travel applications. He had met the Mobiata team at TechArb, a basement-level co-working space for tech startups, during his RPM-10 internship.

Putting His Experience to Work

After graduation, Eric started working full-time for Mobiata as a software designer, as the start-up's sixth employee. "I was listening to [commencement speaker] Obama in the morning and programming that night." In November 2010, Mobiata was acquired by online travel giant Expedia.