GrizzTech Talks

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 early in your career and how to build an attractive resume. Along the way, he also shares his thoughts on the role of hackathons and internships in an aspiring young professional's career. 

Connect with Tony on LinkedIn and learn more about Dynatrace on their website.

Music by Clockwork Passerine

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 Clockwork Passerine

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 constantly learning to never pigeon-holing one's self, Satish's advice will help students succeed far beyond their first job.

Connect with Sathish on Twitter or on LinkedIn.

Connect with Ally and learn about their opportunities on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Music by Clockwork Passerine

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 artist.

In this week's episode, Harpreet discusses her journey into software engineering, what to do in the face of failures, and how to become your best self. She'll provide inspiring insights and motivations to help you land your next role.

Connect with her on Linkedin, Instagram and Whyblendin.com

Music by Clockwork Passerine

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.

Music by Clockwork Passerine

This episode was recorded on May 4th, 2020.

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 with Emma on Linkedin at  linkedin.com/in/emma-atkinson-8bb344136.

Music by Clockwork Passerine

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 experiences as a student.

You can learn more about Dr. Oakley on her website - www.barbaraoakley.com

Music by Clockwork Passerine

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 workforce.

Music by Clockwork Passerine

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.

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 career. Along the way, he gives advice to students and recent grads today.