Student Blogs
MS in Software Engineering, Development Management Track Blog
Wondering if a Carnegie Mellon degree is right for you? Read about our students' experiences through the MS in Software Engineering, Development Track program.
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Linda is a first year part-time student in Carnegie Mellon's MS Software Engineering, Development Management track. She is a Software Developer at Electronic Arts in Redwood Shores, CA. She likes to dance and sing and her favorite videogame is The Beatles RockBand. She enjoys Indian, Japanese, Thai, Italian and Mexican food. She comes from Mexico City, and has being living in CA for the past two years. |
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Pras Sarkar is a second-year part-time student in the MS Software Engineering Development Management track. He works in Yahoo! Labs. His responsibilities include materializing ideas and concepts into engaging prototypes and demos, some of which ultimately mature into products that Yahoo! visitors use everyday. He is interested in emerging web technologies, social interaction over digital mediums, and creative interfaces that push the boundaries of human computer interaction. |
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Vineet is a Lead Developer at Boeing and a second year grad student in the part-time MS Software Engineering, Development Management program. He loves reading, playing with his daughter and pursuing the religious aspect of his life. He is an active volunteer of Vedic Cultural Center, a Seattle-based organization dedicated to promote the Vedic (ancient Indian) arts, culture, music and dance. |
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Truc is a second year part-time student in Carnegie Mellon's MS Software Engineering, Development Management track. She is a Software Engineer at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, CA. She loves food and enjoys anything related to food: going to different restaurants, cooking, watching the Food Network, and of course, eating! |
Monday, October 13, 2008
Why I chose Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley
My name is Pras Sarkar and I work at Yahoo! in
I'm a passionate engineer and hacker, and I'm deeply interested in the mechanics of software engineering. That is what led me to the part-time Software Engineering program at Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley. I felt that the program held the right balance between theory and practice - an integral factor in my decision making process.
The program brings together part-time students from a variety of different backgrounds. In my first week alone, I met engineers from varied fields like semi-conductors, defense, manufacturing, etc. Being a web engineer working in a web company, I hardly ever get to interact with engineers from such diverse backgrounds. What I find fascinating are the conversations and collective knowledge gained from such meetings.
The format in most classes is a theoretical session followed by discussion. The theoretical sessions are always informative, but what I find most interesting are the discussions that follow. They usually revolve around past experiences on the topic of discussion - what worked for some, what didn't, pitfalls to watch out for, etc. It also emphasizes how the learnings can be applied in real-world situations where profits are the bottom line and products need to ship to real customers who pay for them. The practical knowledge sharing is what I find to be the most valuable aspect of this program.
My hunch is that these conversations will not only continue throughout the program, but will extend beyond as the students build professional and interpersonal relationships with each other. If you'd like to hear more about my experiences so far, or have any specific questions, feel free to comment or reach out to me through my personal blog at http://headphono.us. Otherwise, stay tuned for my next entry!
Cheers,
Pras
posted by Pras Sarkar @ 3:01 PM
- My name is Vineet and I work for the Boeing Compan...
- An Introduction to Truc
- Getting Pushed Out of My Comfort Zone
- The Gathering
- Metrics and the challenges of new teams
- Foundations of Software Engineering – Presentation...
- My Grad School Adventure Begins!
- Study groups, Reflections on the first half of the...
- Start of Year Two
- Year 1 Retrospection: What I Learned, What I Need ...
Is this program really worth the nearly 50K ? How will you regain the investment ?