By Riley Rinehart
Central Tech, which celebrates its 54th birthday this year, has become well-known for its placement rate. It is the only technology center to be awarded the Gold Star School Award for excellence in technology education since its inception in 1990.
Unsurprisingly, a number of Central Tech students have gone on to start their own businesses or get great jobs working for companies with global recognition. One such case is that of Peter Sansing, who now works for Google.
Peter started at Central Tech in Business Information and Technology but quickly switched to Network Security and Administration. He did a lot of hands-on network and software work for three years and graduated in January of 2014.
Like a lot of students with degrees and certifications in Information Technology, Peter found the work he wanted readily available: He worked at American Heritage Bank as an intern for a year and a half, then worked contracts with Adecco and CrossCom for the next two years, which gave him the opportunity to travel while pursuing the work he enjoyed doing.
While working as a field service tech for Ricoh, Peter started work on a fun new development: the inventory robots for Walmart stores. As Peter controlled them with an Xbox 360 controller, the robots would move down each aisle, scanning and keeping records of inventory and stock.
During all of his contract gigs, Peter had applied to Google “once a year,” hoping to get a call from the internet giant once he put in some experience. Finally, in 2022, that call came while he was working for Bank of Oklahoma.
Peter passed his rounds of interviews and now works at Google in technical hardware, dealing with physical servers and troubleshooting problems. He says he’s grateful because his team at the Google data center in Pryor has provided him with “constructive criticism and a stronger understanding of teamwork.”
Working at Google’s second-largest data center in the fleet is no small matter, but Peter chalks up his accomplishments to the education he received at Central Tech, and more specifically his teacher Brian Babcock.
“Central Tech is the best opportunity I had in high school,” Peter said, adding that it helped to develop him professionally, take on more responsibility, and help him explain technical issues to others. He also credits Central Tech with providing him field training for IT projects, volunteer opportunities, and structured but flexible learning environments.
Brian Babcock, who was Peter’s instructor in the Network Security class, said that his commitment to network security and willingness to contribute to the field make him a “standout professional.”
“His dedication was evident during his time as a student, and he continued to showcase these qualities after graduation,” he said. Babcock says Peter has collaborated with him on several other projects since graduating.“(Peter) provided invaluable support to my company as lead operator,” he said.
Peter still lives near Glenpool and drives 55 minutes to work each day, but says the commute is worth it. “(They have) the best culture I’ve experienced in any of my employers,” Peter said.
Central Tech is holding its annual open house event on Sunday, February 18th from 1-4pm at each campus in Sapulpa and Drumright. Get more information at centraltech.edu
