Jim Pichler
MSSE Grad:
2004
Current job:
Senior Director
Digital River, Inc.
Jim’s Story:
“Ever since I got my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from
the University of Minnesota in 1992, I had always wanted to go back to school
at some point to get a Master’s degree in a related field. This goal
was always a little bit more of a personal goal that I was wanting to achieve
to help me feel like I was doing a good job towards continuing my education
and getting to the next level. I thought that getting my Master’s degree
would affect my career only slightly given that I had already moved up quite a
bit over the years within Digital River. But once I did get my graduate degree
in Software Engineering, I was very much pleased to find out that I had
achieved significant progress towards both my personal and career goals.
Personally, I felt gratification that I had set out to do something difficult
and had persevered through full time work plus full time school which can be
a challenge in terms of having limited time to do fun things. During the two
school years, I did sacrifice social activities but felt tremendously
satisfied knowing that studying time really meant something special towards
achieving my goals. Looking back it really wasn’t a big deal for those
two years to not go a few extra trips or a few extra events; it was really
worth it to focus on school and to learn the material that was presented to
me.
“But, the unexpected result of getting my Master’s degree on my
career was simply what I would state as ‘context’. I had been
doing software development and software lifecycle project management ever
since I got my undergraduate degree in 1992, which amounted to about nine
years worth of experience before I went back to school. Going through the
program helped me to be able to put a framework around the experiences that
I had, and to properly reflect on things that I had done and their place in
the world of software engineering. I understood now why it was so difficult
to bring about software process change, and also how important things that
I had done naturally really were in the whole picture of managing a software
project such as estimation and planning. As I went along in the program, the
educational material could be easily placed into personal experiences of
mine, hence really helping to complete my full circle of context with the
software engineering world.
“And now the added benefits as I move forward in my career are to have
a solid set of software engineering fundamentals, to be able to refer back
to the principles via real experience that I have gained, and to help me in
my current work to have a full picture of things in order to make the best
decisions I possibly can for the projects that I am working on for increased
benefit of my company. I think my ability to manage software projects and to
predict things that may go wrong is ten times better than it was
pre–Master’s degree, and I really feel completely prepared for
all the things that can go wrong on a project and to be able to turn things
around for the better to have a lot more successful projects that are
delivered on time and on budget. I take a more disciplined approach to my
every day tasks and I am always trying to quantify aspects of software
engineering project to align to the business goals within our organization,
which I feel I am completely more successful at doing with my Master’s
degree in software engineering from the U of MN Software Engineering
Center.”
Jason Nikolai
MSSE Grad:
2002
Current job:
Customer Environment Test Team Lead
IBM Corporation
Jason’s Story:
“I joined IBM Global Services in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in
Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. My
role when I started at IBM was a multidimensional database consultant. After
a couple of years, I changed roles and became an eCommerce consultant within
IBM Global Services. While working at IBM, in 2000, I started taking courses
in the MSSE program. During the final semester of the MSSE program, in 2002,
I changed careers within IBM and moved into the IBM software development lab
test organization. I have been in test and quality assurance since that time.
“The knowledge and experience gained from the MSSE program helped me
to make the change from consultant to tester. Since the job change in 2002,
I have taken on many different roles within the IBM test organization.
Currently, I am the team lead for the IBM Virtualization Engine Customer
Environment Test team. Our team utilizes IBM Virtualization Engine
technology in complex customer–like environments to ensure product
quality prior to the release of the product.
“Although the drive from Rochester to Minneapolis was painful at times
during the winter months, I made it to class every week. The MSSE program
offered excellent courses in difficult subjects and provided a forum for
social and business networking with other technology professionals. Ideas
generated from discussions with students with diverse backgrounds proved to
be beneficial for expanding my knowledge of software engineering.
Furthermore, course work and interaction with other students helped me solve
problems at work.
“The courses provided by MSSE offered a balance of technical and
process knowledge. Undergraduate programs are good at teaching computer
science theory and programming, but seldom focus on the difficult problems
of software quality and development process issues. The MSSE program
provided me with the knowledge to accelerate my career in quality assurance
and software development.”
Larry Zalesky
MSSE Grad:
2001
Senior Principal Engineer
Deltec (Deltec promoted Zalesky the same year that he completed his Master
of Science degree in software engineering.)
Larry’s Story:
Larry Zalesky decided to attend the program with his wife, Pam. The two
worked collaboratively on a Plan B project to explore the software issues
behind the use of palm pilots in drug delivery. The Plan B project was the
start of work that continues today. Larry said, “I wanted a degree
with a technical emphasis. I liked the software engineering classes in
design and was able to take ideas from class back to work.”
Megan Graham
Business Analyst
Target Corporation
Megan’s Story:
The master of science degree in software engineering supplemented
Megan’s job experiences, giving her a solid foundation to grow her
career. She said, “I learned about software engineering as a
discipline, and that has helped me to develop into a more well–rounded
software engineer.
“Each week, I brought something new back to work with me that I could
use immediately. There was a symbiotic relationship between my education and
my work experience that allowed me to enhance both simultaneously.
“There is an opportunity to gain from other students’ work
experiences, which enhances the learning environment. The format allows
students and professors to develop into a team, and as a team we are better
able to learn from each other.
“I would definitely recommend the program and have! It’s a great
opportunity to take your career to the next level, as well as to develop
relationships with software professionals.”
Tao He
Enterprise Software Architect
Vertex Inc.
Tao He’s Story:
With its emphasis on practical issues, its flexible schedule, and its
outstanding teaching staff, the software engineering program was just what
Tao He wanted in a master’s program.
“The education in software engineering has helped me move in my career
from a molecular biology scientist, to a programmer, to an Enterprise
Software Architect. The experiences I gained from the program can apply to
the job right away. The teamwork experiences in the classes are truly valuable.
“What I have learned from the outstanding teaching staff and
diversified classmates prepared me to solve the real problems in software
development process.
“I strongly recommend this program to all software professionals. It
will help you to establish a solid foundation of theoretical skills and
problem–solving ability in software development.”
Mike Calvo
Senior Software Engineer
Macromedia
Mike Calvo’s Story:
Mike Calvo enjoyed the program so much that he returned to teach a course on
graphical user interfaces. He emphasizes hands–on learning in helping
students gain a high–level understanding of what it really takes to
build a user interface.
He applied what he learned in the program immediately. The degree succeeds
in increasing the professional flexibility of its graduates, he said.
“Going through the program exposed me to different types of work and
the different types of skills that it takes to be a complete engineer. It
really added to my understanding of software development and the software
development process.”
