Category: FA2021

By: Ximena Castillo

I knew that I was going to learn a lot as part of the T&M Seminar class but I didn’t realize the amount and breadth of topics I would learn about. As a technology and management seminar, I was excited to see the type of presentations that companies would deliver and I can easily say that I was not disappointed. Some companies took this time to explain more about what they do, others dove into their sustainability efforts, and a few went into detail on niche products; I learned something new from every presentation. However, I was happily surprised when a presentation focused on diversity and inclusion. As a double-minority myself, a Hispanic woman in STEM, I really appreciated that this topic was considered important enough to be highlighted.

By: Feyza Baysal

Be The Representation You Desire to See

It was Quad Day and I was looking for an engineering club to join. I passed by “Eco-Illini Supermileage” and I was intrigued because it was the perfect blend of environmentalism and engineering that I was looking for(despite having no prior knowledge about cars). I stood in a long line to sign up, composed almost entirely of white or asian males. I remember standing there with confidence, but it was all a facade. Internally I felt intimidated and afraid. It’s hard not to when you’re a 5’0 ft tall female hijabi amongst a crowd of “car guys”. I remember going home and Googling the club to see if there were any females on the team. Amongst all the pictures I found one image with one female in it. As superficial as it seems that one image gave me hope. Hope that I will be accepted and treated equally.

By: Maya Acevedo

I have always been fascinated with the way things worked. The structures, processes, operations, and innovations of the modern-day world provided me with a curiosity that could not be quelled. Throughout my life, I have always loved finding the answers to my never-ending questions. Technology was no exception. I would watch the annual keynote presentation that Apple hosted, astonished by how they could constantly find more innovative ways to grow their products year after year. That feeling was what I experienced while sitting in the Alice Campbell Alumni Center for the Hallene Lecture, listening to Ron Marquardt who is the Vice President of Advanced Technologies & Innovation at T-Mobile. He spoke about a new technology that was slowly breaking into the market: 5G.

By: Darsh Gupta

Growing up as a child, I had a difficult time understanding what my father’s occupation was. When asked to explain what my father does for work, I would always respond with “He’s a businessman!” Not that the former is not true, however, this categorization for my father’s line of work was extremely broad. As I matured, I came to a better understanding of what my father’s background is and how that connected to his field today. In brief, he attended India’s Institute of Technology (IIT), pursuing a computer science degree, and later earned his MBA. And today, he works at Abbott within their IT department as a senior manager as a part of their BSS Operations Planning and License Management team.