Columbus State works to prepare students for Intel careers
Suraj Yonjan received an associate degree from Columbus State Community College in 2020, and is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Miami University. But new opportunities have him interested in a potential return to Columbus State.
Yonjan, 23, moved from Nepal to Columbus eight years ago and graduated from Columbus Downtown High School in 2018. About five months ago, he learned that Intel was coming to New Albany. He figured it would be a “great place to start a career.”
To increase his chances of landing a role with the company, Uonjan said he thinks he could benefit from some specialized training. So when he heard about the advanced manufacturing training program that his alma mater was working to create, he was intrigued.
Developing that training program is one of multiple steps Columbus State is taking to prepare current and prospective students for careers at Intel.
Intel’s coming to town
A year ago, Intel announced a $20 billion investment in building two chip-making plants in Licking County. About 7,000 construction workers are expected to work on the project and Intel expects to hire about 3,000 plant employees.
Speaking to a group of Ohio chief executive officers on May 12, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger expressed hopes of ultimately investing $100 billion into building eight to 10 factories in Licking County. He said the plan was contingent on whether Congress would pass the CHIPS Act, a bill that would give the semiconductor industry $52.7 billion in aid. The bill passed, and on Aug. 9, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS Act into law.
If Intel follows through with building up to 10 facilities in New Albany, it could hire 15,000 workers. Cindi Harper, Intel’s vice president of talent planning and acquisition, estimated in June that two-thirds of the employees
placed near each other alphabetically.
“We were always one or two away from each other every time we had an assembly and we just ended up having to sit by each other and had a ball all year,” Peters said.
The friends became pen pals after they graduated, but they eventually lost touch as life happens. Quelette married her husband,trey. Peters went on to marry his high school sweetheart, Amy, and had three sons. He served in the Army during the Gulf War and taught karate as a fourth-degree black belt.
Peters, of the West Side, friend requested Quelette on Facebook as the social media platform began to grow in popularity and the friends started chatting as if no time had passed.
“I was elated (to receive his friend request),” Quelette said. “We just started messaging and picked up right where we left off. … It feels like no time has passed.”
Kidney failure and dialysis
One day in July 2019, Peters woke up with a 104-degree fever and chills. He was delirious, so his wife, Amy, took him to the hospital. Doctors discovered he had sepsis because of a kidney infection. He was originally misdiagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, but it was later determined he has Type 1 diabetes, which can cause — and Peters’ case did lead to — kidney failure.
Peters started getting dialysis in January 2020, and he goes to Fresenius Dialysis Care in Grove City three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“My team at the dialysis center are my family,” he said. “They have been saving my life every other day. They are fantastic.”
Peters has been on the waiting list for a kidney transplant for over a year. More than 90,000 people in the United States are waiting for a kidney donation, according to Donate Life America. The average wait time for a new kidney is three to five years, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
In most cases, a living kidney donation is preferred over a deceased donor because it typically functions right away and lasts, on average, about 15
to 20 years, the National Kidney Foundation says.
Kidney donation
For Peters, waiting for a kidney has been emotionally taxing.
“Crying is acceptable,” he said. “Sobbing is acceptable. Puking is acceptable. Quitting is not. You just can’t. You got to keep moving forward.”
He almost received a kidney donation in October, but the kidney ended up not being viable. He made an initial
Facebook post announcing he would be getting a new kidney as they drove to the hospital, but then had to make another post the next day explaining the bad news.
Dozens of people commented, including Quelette, but what she wrote was a bit different from the rest: “Still happy to offer up mine.” To which Peters wrote back, “Can I call you? Or, maybe grab some coffee or, lunch? We can discuss things?”
The friends went to dinner and the ball started rolling. They knew they were both O-positive blood types, but didn’t know they were a match at the time.
In addition to having compatible blood types, a donor and recipient need to have the same tissue type and pass a series of blood tests, according to Fresenius Kidney Care. A living donor must also be in good physical and mental health.
After a series of tests, they got the call from the Ohio State University transplant team on Jan. 4 saying the surgery was a go.
Living with only one kidney won’t change her life very much, Quelette said. Her doctor told her she will need to keep an eye on her sodium intake and her weight, in addition to working out. And if she ever needs a kidney, she would be placed at the top of the list.
“He’s going to wake up feeling great and I’m going to wake up feeling lousy,” she joked of the transplant surgery.
“She is going to lose weight, I’m going to gain weight,” Peters chimed in.
Quelette said she’s not afraid to donate her kidney.
“The 10% of me that is concerned for my future is erased by the 90% of me that is excited about his future,” she said.
Receiving the new kidney will give Peters a new lease on life. “From what I understand, I’m going to feel like 100%,” he said.
Peters also is excited to travel to Las Vegas later this year for a wedding and not having to worry about coordinating trips to a local dialysis center during his time there.
Because of his kidney failure, Peters hasn’t had a beer in two years, so he is excited to be able to crack open a cold one once the doctors give the OK.
“I’m looking forward to a cold Blue Moon with an orange peel,” he said. mhenry@dispatch.com @megankhenry