Dan McCurdy is a Senior Director of Technical Program Management (in AR/VR) at Facebook. Dan graduated from Oakland University in 1991 with a degree in Finance, and shortly after joined Ameritech (which is now AT&T). Over the years he has held director positions in technical program management, spanning software and hardware engineering at both Motorola and Amazon, before joining Facebook in 2019 as a director. In this episode, Dan tell us about lessons from his career path, how to stand out...
Apr 09, 2021•26 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Jacklyn Biggin is a Senior Developer at the Royal Bank of Canada. Jacklyn studied Digital Media at the University of Leeds in the UK, and in March of 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic she founded and was the lead organizer of Hack Quarantine, a 3-week online hackathon with thousands of participants. Today, in addition to working at RBC she is everyone’s favorite hackathon coach and creates awesome content for Major League Hacking. Shownotes: Follow Jacklyn on Twitter (https://twitter.co...
Mar 26, 2021•23 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Tom Shea graduated from Oakland University in 1991 with degrees in Accounting and Finance, and he brought his business acumen with him as he transitioned into the world of software and technology. Tom’s work and the products he built pioneered a whole new space of Financial Data Quality. He sold his first company in 2006, and a few years later he founded OneStream Software which is a company based in Rochester, Michigan currently valued at over a billion dollars. Tom Shea is the founder and CEO ...
Mar 19, 2021•26 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Minn graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Economics and Psychology. She is a former New Yorker turned San Francisco-based investor at Bloomberg Beta, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in the future of work. At Bloomberg Beta, she focuses on automation, productivity tools for knowledge workers, and robots. In this episode, Minn tells us about working in venture capital, talks about Bloomberg Beta and the future of work, and gives her best career advice for students and...
Mar 12, 2021•27 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Amanda Fischer is an early career professional at Ford Motor Company. She graduated from Oakland University in 2016 with a degree in IT and entered the rotational program at Ford. During the rotational program, Amanda chose a variety of roles including project manager and software engineer on three separate products. Her current role as a Location Based Services Product Manager brings her close to some of the company's most coveted upcoming vehicles as she works with her team to deliver drive as...
Jan 15, 2021•25 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Andrea Koenigsknecht is a graduate of Oakland University and currently works as a cybersecurity analyst in the Michigan Healthcare Security Operations Center (MI|HSOC) at CyberForce|Q. Her team works to provide specialized cybersecurity operations for the healthcare sector. During her time at OU, Andrea maintained an impressive track and field record, as well as participating in cybersecurity research, all leading to the success she enjoys today. In today's episode, Andrea discusses how phishing...
Dec 18, 2020•21 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Cassidy is a Principal Developer Experience Engineer at Netlify. She's worked for several other places, including CodePen, Amazon, and Venmo, and she's had the honor of working with various non-profits, including cKeys and Hacker Fund as their Director of Outreach. She's active in the developer community, and one of Glamour Magazine's 35 Women Under 35 Changing the Tech Industry and LinkedIn's Top Professionals 35 & Under. As an avid speaker, Cassidy has participated in several events includ...
Nov 13, 2020•26 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Jarek Wojciechowsk is a Software Consultant & Developer at Atomic Object. Jarek studied computer science at Oakland University, and during his college years he founded the GrizzHacks hackathon with his classmates. Jarek also worked as a coach for Major League Hacking where he helped out at collegiate hackathons across North America. And shortly after graduating, he found himself at Atomic Object, where he works in small team of developers and designers to build custom software for a wide var...
Oct 30, 2020•23 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Joe Karlsson is a Software Engineer and Developer Advocate at MongoDB. Joe studied computer science in college and graduated in 2012. He worked in roles as a consultant, javascript instructor, and full-stack software engineer before becoming a technical lead at BestBuy.com, one of the top 10 e-commerce sites in North America. For more than a year now, Joe has been working at MongoDB as a software engineer and developer advocate. In this episode, listen to Joe talk about his journey as a software...
Oct 16, 2020•23 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Benjamin Maxim is the Assistant Vice President of Digital Strategy and Innovation at MSU Federal Credit Union. Ben graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Telecommunications at Michigan State University in 2007. Now, he has spent over 13 years working at the Credit Union working his way through many positions on his way there. In this week's episode, Ben talks about how banks are finding ways to connect with local communities in a digital age, new technology programs at MSUFCU, and how events like...
Sep 25, 2020•26 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Tony Hamama is the R&D People Operations Lead for the Detroit Lab at Dynatrace. He helps Dynatrace with building the best engineering teams and culture to drive innovation for the leader in software intelligence. He is an alum from Oakland University and has a passion for technology and helping others. In this week's episode, Tony discusses his path into technology, the effects of COVID-19 on the modern workforce, and his valuable industry insight as a recruiter for building the right skills...
Sep 18, 2020•27 min•Season 2Ep. 4
DJ Bridges is a graduate of Denison University, with a BA in Economics. DJ currently serves as a University Relations Manager at Rock Central. He has been with the company for over 6 years, and has participated in a variety of roles, including program manager. In this week's episode, DJ talks about what to do if you don’t have a lot of experience, important soft skills for developers to have, and dealing with imposter syndrome. Find careers with Quicken Loans at myrocketcareer.com Music by Clock...
Sep 11, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Sathish Muthukrishnan is a graduate of the University of Madras, and has worked in the technology industry for over 20 years. After starting his career as a hands-on mainframe assembly language programmer with Singapore Airlines, Sathish rose through his career to become the present-day Chief Information, Data, and Digital Officer at Ally. In this week's episode, Satish talks about how he approaches new roles, finds 10% goodness in all ideas, and how Ally is continually innovating. From constant...
Sep 04, 2020•24 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Harpreet Kaur is a first generation senior technical product manager at Microsoft. She has a proven track record of leading business and digital transformations, managing teams, and shipping high quality products. She is a well known speaker and thought leader across the industry on a variety of topics, including but not limited to: technology, personal and career branding, as well as diversity & Inclusion. When she is not doing her job, she can be found being a mother of 2 and an abstract a...
Aug 28, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Garlin Gilchrist studied computer engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan. After graduating with honors, he had a successful career as a software engineer at Microsoft. He then took a career shift into politics and public service, where he worked for the Barack Obama campaign and eventually became the Director of Innovation and Emerging Technology for the city of Detroit. In 2019, he was elected the 64th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan. In this interview, Lt. Governor Garl...
Jun 12, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Emma Atkinson is an Oakland University alumna with a degree in Electrical Engineering. She is studying to receive her master's degree in Systems/Mechatronics Engineering, while working at FCA as a Fuel Economy Development and Benchmarking Engineer. Emma has also previously worked at companies like BAE Systems and Valeo. In this week's episode, Emma discusses her undergraduate experience at OU, and gets into details on working professionally while pursuing her master's degree. You can connect wit...
Jun 05, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Barbara Oakley is a retired United States Army Captain, and holds degrees from both the University of Washington and Oakland University. After tackling Russian fishing trawlers and the South Pole, Dr. Oakley now spends her time as a professor of engineering at Oakland University, inspiring students in the classroom and online in one of the world’s largest massive open online courses. In this week's episode, Dr. Oakley discusses what individuals can do to learn more effectively, based on her own ...
May 29, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Rohit Timmagi graduated from Oakland University in 2018 and served as the president of the League of Engineers and Computer Scientists (LECS) during his time at OU. Currently, Rohit works as a GM Resident Engineer at Valeo, and has also worked in an associate R&D role in the past. In this week's episode, Rohit talks about his experience as the president of LECS, the unique traits of his role at Valeo, and gives advice on what students can do in order to best prepare themselves for the workfo...
May 22, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Adam McNeilly is a graduate from the Oakland University SECS Class of 2016 and is a GrizzHacks co-founder. Currently, he’s a senior software engineer for OkCupid. In this interview, he talks about his experiences as a student at Oakland, and as a software developer at his current and previous positions. He also gives his own perspective on what engineering and computer science students can do to help further themselves in the field. Show Notes: You can follow Adam @AdamMc331 on Twitter, and conn...
May 15, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Jonathan Gottfried is a co-founder of Major League Hacking, and he formerly worked at StartupBus and Twilio. Jonathan is listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 for his work with Major League Hacking, which is a company that supports student-run hackathons across the world. MLH is growing the hackathon community around the world and helping students learn valuable coding skills. In this episode, Jon talks about his career path and how hackathons helped him learn, build, and get to the next stage of his...
May 15, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Kelli works in Oakland University's School of Engineering and Computer Science Department, helping students secure internships and jobs in the fields that matter most to them. In this week's episode, Kelli talks with the team at GrizzHacks about what students can do in order to best prepare themselves for today and tomorrow's job market. Show Notes: LinkedIn Alumni Tool: https://www.linkedin.com/school/oakland-university/people/ Using Parker Dewey as a Student: https://www.parkerdewey.com/career...
May 15, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Tune in to the latest episode of GrizzTech Talks weekly! Premiering May 15th. Music by Clockwork Passerine
May 05, 2020•27 sec
