Why Undergrad Engineer Chooses Computer Science Grad School - Ben Hallen

In Chapter 5 of 21 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, business school professor Ben Hallen answers "How Did Your Computer Science Masters Degree Build Upon Electrical Engineering Education?" As an electrical engineering major, Hallen starts taking undergraduate computer graphics classes at University of Virginia, doing a lot of programming and building processors. Hallen finds inspiration attending a computer graphics presentation and asks the speaker about potential research work, which leads to a project and, ultimately, graduate school. Hallen is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at University of Maryland. Hallen earned his PhD from Stanford University and its Stanford Technology Venture Program (STVP). He has been a startup CTO and graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science.

Transcription: 

Erik Michielsen:  How did your computer science masters degree build upon your electrical engineering education?

Ben Hallen:  So as an undergraduate I got involved studying computer graphics.  And yes I take a lot of programming courses.  Electrical engineering is very close.  I take a lot of courses in building processors.  But I remember going to this talk and it was just the coolest thing of – I mean this is sort of before, you know, you have these modern video game machines or even my iPhone can do such great graphics, but I went to a talk given by the Computer Science Department and they were showing off these computer graphics machines.  I mean these were several hundred-thousand-dollar machines at that time, and it just seemed to be the coolest thing that you could create this virtual world at a level that then was just unbelievable. 

And then I realized that the guy giving the talk, he’s this young professor; he’s really passionate, really excited; I realized just reading about his stuff that he had come up with a lot of the algorithms that had gone into influencing a lot of video games at that time, so a lot of the 3D games had built on some of the insides that he had come up with in graduate school.  And so I approached him, just about helping out, I had a research idea, and that sort of evolved from there.  And so I got interested in computer graphics and worked with him, and then ultimately decided to go to graduate school in it.

Stacie Bloom on How a College Class Inspires PhD Neuroscience Career

In Chapter 2 of 19 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Stacie Grossman Bloom answers "How Did One College Class Unexpectedly Springboard Your Science Career?" While studying psychology at the University of Delaware, she takes a graduate level course in a neuropsychology. She finds the small class forum and the neuroscience study of the brain align her studies to her interests. Grossman Bloom then thrives in the classroom, earning As and continuing to Georgetown for a PhD.

Stacie Grossman Bloom is the Executive Director at the NYU Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. Previously, she was VP and Scientific Director at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). She earned her PhD in Neurobiology and Cell Biology at Georgetown University and did a post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University in New York City. She earned her BA in Chemistry and Psychology from the University of Delaware.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How did one college class unexpectedly springboard your science career?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: So, I went to college at University of Delaware. I was an okay student. It was nothing great. I was taking a lot of chemistry and psychology and I was in these giant, giant lecture halls with hundreds of other people. And, decided one day when I was looking through the course book for what to sign up for there was this really interesting looking class in Neuropsychology and I thought I’ll sign up for it. And when I went to the class it turned out to be a graduate level class and it was totally different from what I was used to. It was just in a small classroom. There were maybe twelve or fifteen students, and a professor. And I had never been in an environment like that before, that was so interactive. And it changed my life to be in a small class like that. I did amazingly well. I got A’s from then on. I started taking more of those graduate level classes, not because the content was so much more challenging but simply because the forum was a better fit for me. And, really helped foster my education. It was also that I had discovered at that time that neuroscience was what I was really interested in. So I think it was those two factors combined -- the forum and the content.

Erik Michielsen: What did you find most appealing about neuroscience?

Stacie Grossman Bloom: I was always just really interested in the brain and how the brain works and how your thoughts are controlled and why you need sleep and how you get addicted to drugs and why the brain fails. It was just a natural fit, I think, for my inquisitiveness. And, at the time neuroscience was really becoming a blossoming field. At the time that I was applying to graduate school most schools didn’t even have a neuroscience yet. Which now it’s 2011 that’s impossible to fathom. When I was going to Georgetown I ended up getting into the cell biology department because that was the closest thing they had to neuroscience. Now of course they have a full neuroscience program.

How College Interdisciplinary Studies Shape Design Career - Jon Kolko

In Chapter 4 of 17 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, designer and educator Jon Kolko learns problem solving in a Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) interdisciplinary studies program. Studying Human Computer Interaction, or HCI, Kolko majors in computer science, cognitive psychology, and statistics. These problem solving skills prepare Kolko for his design career. Kolko is the executive director of design strategy at venture accelerator, Thinktiv (www.thinktiv.com). He is the founder and director of the Austin School for Design (www.ac4d.com). Previously, he worked at frog design and was a professor of Interactive and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He has authored multiple books on design. Kolko earned his Masters in Human Computer Interaction (MHI) and BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Transcription: 

Erik Michielsen:  How did your interdisciplinary studies at Carnegie Mellon impact your career trajectory?

Jon Kolko:  Directly.  I got a Masters in Human Computer Interaction or HCI which traditionally has been a convergence of cognizant psychology, computer science, design and statistics and that – so fundamentally that career is interdisciplinary, that career path and then if you combine that with sort of an under – underlying approach on just in design like with a big D or however you want to frame it. 

I’ve always approached problem solving with those different lenses on, albeit be not nearly as equally weighted.  I always tended toward the computer science design side of things and away from the cognitive psychology and statistics point of view.  It’s only recently that I’ve actually started embracing both of those two. 

Arguably, they are harder for my small little creative brain to understand because those are like real science elements as opposed to these design disciplines.  I say that completely tongue in cheek so – and so I learned an interdisciplinary approach but I don’t think it ever occurred to me that that’s was what it was because it just seems like how else would you approach solving a complex human problem and then – then from multiple perspectives.  That idea of empathy of being able to view it from a different – a different point of view, I think is pretty fundamental to solving any problem.

How Interdisciplinary Studies Develop Career Path - Hammans Stallings

In Chapter 4 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings shares how blending social science and arts studies at University of Virginia (UVA) shaped his career. Stallings first focuses on economics and, having the luxury of not having area requirements, then focuses on psychology. He channels his passion trying to understand people and their behavior. Over the years, Stallings works in business trying to understand personal decision making and then in creative roles understanding how market mechanisms work.

Hammans Stallings is currently a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in business strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Transcription: 

Erik Michielsen:  How did blending your studies of social sciences and the arts at the University of Virginia impact your career development?

Hammans Stallings:  I was pretty spoiled in that I was allowed to be in a program that at UVA where we didn’t have any area requirements and so I’d spent the first two years really knocking out the economics and that allowed me to really explore and move into a much more an interdisciplinary academic approach, more so than I think most people are able to do, we didn’t have any area requirements so I came in, was able to take graduate classes pretty quickly and work in labs, in psychology and – and for whatever reason, the – this contrast of economics and psychology really was this – this kind of an annoying bug.  They had so many assumptions about people and behavior and how things work that are in contrast that drove me nuts for years and so I kind of in a lot of ways, there’s this –that has actually kind of come through with me throughout all of my – all of my jobs since.  I spent time in – in business, thinking about how poorly understood people are. 

I spent time - a little bit now - in the creative world where there isn’t a really sharp understanding of how market mechanisms work and why businesses are sort of strange in a way that people are too.  Organizations are made of people and they have their own kind of strange psychology and so I think that early experience in academics really prepared me for studying in my later career across functional areas and so I’ve been much more of a generalist than I have been a specialist.  You know I’ve – maybe it taught me the value of it and as well it gave me something to always kind of be struggling with in terms of like reconciling things and it’s that letting your subconscious kind of reconcile things and being able to live and sleep with that – you know that –that stress that I think you’re able to come out with interesting solutions that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise if you just so deeply believed any one thing. 

So, I think that’s kind of, I love more than anything bringing kind of an interdisciplinary approach and seeing how all these different areas, different people, and different perspectives in their own contexts see this elephant differently and I think that’s kind of a neat future is you know reconciling all these things and see kind of at the intersection, what do you learn.

How Kellogg MBA Leads to Design Career - Hammans Stallings

In Chapter 11 of 13 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, innovation strategist Hammans Stallings shares why he left a strategy job at Dell to earn a Kellog MBA at Northwestern University. He chooses to study consumer marketing and build upon his psychology education. This focus leads Stallings to discover designers and their passion for psychology, including ethnographic research, heuristics, and schema. Stallings is currently a Senior Strategist at frog design. Previously he worked in business strategy at Dell and investment banking at Stephens. He earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Fabian Pfortmüller on What to Consider When Choosing a College Major

In Chapter 4 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares his approach to choosing a college major.  He advises others to consider non-practical approaches, focusing less on choosing based on career path and more on learning from a diverse array of subjects.  Over time, typically two years, the diverse experiences allow for a more personalized and fitting choice.  Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com).  He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion.  Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: What should college students consider when choosing a major?

Fabian Pfortmüller: I personally believe that they should not go for practical output for practical reasons such as ‘This is going to allow me to do X, Y and Z in my career’. I think having the courage and the guts to disconnect your studies and especially undergrad but I personally believe even grad studies, from a practical, applicable knowledge for your career is a great thing.

Because in the end, you know look at how people recruit, yes they like to recruit – like if you want to go into business, yes they like to recruit business people but at the same time this is not what going to really matter afterwards in the job. And so I can only recommend for people to try and try out as many things as possible, most diverse as possible in first one, two years, don’t settle too easily for something, be critical to yourself, try totally random stuff and then go for what you really feel most passionate about.

In my case, I had a class on music in the Middle East and India and I realized that’s cool, that’s interesting but it was music. I had a class on philosophy, I had a class on social inequality in China and from all those things in the end you have to kind of also start understand what is a good professor? What is a nice department? I mean obviously the major and the topic itself matters but I think there are also departments and departments. And I am at the department which is called Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures and people are just very relaxed and people are very open and I believe that makes a big difference.

Fabian Pfortmüller on Why to Learn Arabic and Study Middle Eastern Languages

In Chapter 3 of 19 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, community builder and entrepreneur Fabian Pfortmüller shares why he went with his gut feeling in choosing to major in Middle Eastern Language and Culture at Columbia University. After enjoying travels to the Middle East and experiencing the food and culture, Pfortmüller considers the short and long term benefits of learning Arabic language. Learning the language not only opens future doors to living and working abroad in the Middle East, but also provides short term benefit to understand Arabic language based current events and news. Pfortmüller is co-founder of Sandbox Network (www.sandbox-network.com). He also co-founded an innovation think tank, Incubaker (www.incubaker.com), and is part of the group's first spin-off, Holstee (www.holstee.com), an apparel brand for people who would like to wear their passion. Pfortmüller graduated from Columbia University and its School of General Studies.

Transcript:

Erik Michelsen: How has majoring in Middle Eastern languages built upon your fascination with global culture?

Fabian Pfortmüller: I traveled a few times in that area in the Middle East and you know as always I guess when I made a big decision in my life it was so random and it was more based on a gut feeling and a love for something than a rational process, same goes for me doing Middle Eastern languages and cultures. When I was traveling there I loved the people, I loved the food, food is a very important aspect of how I make decisions in my life, I loved the culture and I really felt that… cultures in general are very interesting but I won’t be able to understand them all, I have to start somewhere kind of digging deeper.

I can read the New York Times and the Economist and get kind of a general sense of what’s going on but going back to study is a great opportunity to dig deeper in one specific hole and hey, I had this passion for the Middle East, why not dig deeper there? Because that would also allow me, because now we’re studying Arabic, to actually live there at some point and while I can say now after my Arabic, which is very intense, I do two or three hours of homework everyday on just Arabic but – and it’s still on the level of, I don’t know, first grader I guess but it’s cool because I watch the news right now what’s going on the Middle East and we have all the protest in Egypt and so on and I understand kind of what’s going on and I can read little bit of the newspapers and I can watch Al Jazeera and kind of get the grasp of it and that’s really, that’s really cool.

How to Make Sense of the World Using Cultural Anthropology - Michael Margolis

In Chapter 3 of 13 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with Erik Michielsen, storyteller and entrepreneur Michael Margolis shares how he has applied his cultural anthropology education to understand how the world is changing. Margolis finds traditional cultural anthropology overly rooted in the past and takes initiative to apply its teachings to understand identify formation, culture creation, and consumer behavior. Margolis is the founder and president of Get Storied (http://www.getstoried.com), an education and publishing platform dedicated to teaching the world how to think in narrative. As a consultant, educator and writer he uses storytelling to create more effective branding, innovation and culture change. Margolis earned a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Tufts University.

How to Make Teaching an Aspirational Career - Louise Davis Langheier

In Chapter 6 of 9 in her 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, non-profit founder and executive Louise Davis Langheier notes the challenges which prevent top college students from pursuing teaching careers. She then offers ideas to overcome these challenges and better position teaching as an aspirational, holistic, and fulfilling career option. Langheier reviews incentive structures, career paths, and holistic learning as ways that would drive college graduate teaching interest above and beyond specific programs such as Teach for America. Langheier is founder and CEO of Peer Health Exchange (http://www.peerhealthexchange.com ), a non-profit that trains college students to teach health education in public high schools. She graduated Yale University with a B.A. in History and serves on the board of directors of Dwight Hall at Yale, the center for public service and social justice.

Why Study Computer Graphics at Syracuse University - Doug Jaeger

In Chapter 2 of 12 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, designer Doug Jaeger shares the decision inputs that informed his choice to study computer graphics at Syracuse University. He highlights influences across his friends, family, and personal interests. Ultimately Jaeger chooses Syracuse a strong balance between academics - science, history, English - and arts and design. Jaeger is a partner at design firm JaegerSloan - http://jaegersloan.com/ - and is also president of the Art Director's Club - http://www.adcglobal.org/ . Previously he founded thehappycorp and has served in creative director leadership roles at TBWA/Chiat/Day and JWT. Jaeger holds a BFA in Computer Graphics and Art Media Studies from Syracuse University.

Transcription: 

Erik Michielsen: When you were at Syracuse University, what propelled you to focus on computer graphics?

Doug Jaeger:  That's an interesting question. I went to Syracuse because I growing up had a friend, his name was Pete Berthold, and his father was an engineer at BellCorp. BellCorp was the company that defined all the business operating systems for the phone systems, and had the latest Macintosh computer at his house  all the time. In the basement, never being used. It was like the home computer that dad would use when we weren't around as kids, you know, we got home from school, dad wasn't there, we'd play with the computer. I learned about HyperCard and all these computer software way before schools had them, and uh, my friend Pete, my friend Sean, all these guys I was growing up with, were all playing with basic and basicA and all these crazy, geeky things.

Pete was one year older than me. And he was the year ahead of me doing research  he lived, you know, right down the block and he was doing research on what schools to go to, and he built this list of schools, and one was RISD, another one was, University of Arts in Philadelphia had a computer program, there was RIT, Syracuse was one of them - there were very few number of schools on the east coast I was limited because my parents didn't want me to go too far away. And, there was this idea Pete was just like, I'm going to Syracuse. 

And he came back during his break and told me all about you know the technology, and they had this really great SGI lab they were doing 3D modeling in, and he in a sense convinced me that this was a great place to go. Because Pete was a friend of mine, I trusted him.

We were doing a lot of the same things, we were both artists and we were making videos and we were using the computer and so he went there, and then as a result, I went there. And, I wanted to go to RISD because I thought it had greater, you know, creative output  in general it is a more creative school, but my parents felt really strongly, they wanted me to have a basis in academics. You know they wanted me to have science and history classes and English, they thought it was just really important. And so, although RISD has Brown as a sidepiece, they thought I would not do that. And so they felt that it's a school that could control me, put me in this little box where I would do all those things. And so, the city was not an option for me my parents grew up in the city, and they just didn't want me to go there and to learn there, they just thought it would be too corrupting and forced.

And so they wanted me to go somewhere protected, and so Syracuse was that place. And the program was computer graphics, which was half computer science and half art. And the art portion was photography, you know, studio photography, filmmaking, non-linear editing, 3D modeling and interaction design. And I also tried to take classes in conventional design  I had lots of peers that were in design courses as well. And so I was really able to kind of, you know, get experience very early on, on the full palate of what media is and its potential.

How Hewlett-Packard Engineer Becomes Cisco Marketer - Alan McNab

In Chapter 2 of 17 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, customer advocacy marketing executive Alan McNab shares how his technology marketing career developed after earning an electrical engineering degree and joining Hewlett-Packard (HP) as a network engineer. His engineering education provides him the credentials and assessment skills to get in the door with HP and, over time, transition to his client, Cisco. McNab holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara University and an MBA from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He has worked in various technology marketing roles at Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Motorola, and is now Vice President, Customer Advocacy at NCR based in Dublin.

How to Apply a Passion for Studying History in a Real Estate Career - Brett Goldman

In Chapter 2 of 10 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, real estate development acquisitions director Brett Goldman shares how his passion for history has informed his real estate development career. For his master's thesis, analyzes how a neighborhood's story over many generations can be told through a single piece of property. This provides Goldman a new perspective on real estate cycles that he later applies in his long-term real estate investment pursuits. Brett Goldman is a Real Estate Acquisitions Director at Triangle Equities - http://www.triangleequities.com/ - in New York City. Goldman holds a BA in General Studies from the University of Michigan - http://www.umich.edu/ - and a masters in real estate development from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation - http://www.arch.columbia.edu/ View more videos at http://www.captureyourflag.com

What is the Best Major for a Law Career - James McCormick

In Chapter 1 of 12 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, legal career advisor James McCormick shares what college students and recent college graduates should consider when preparing for and / or planning a law career. McCormick notes there is no preferred major when planning a law career. The only exception is if choosing a specialty field such as intellectual property law. McCormick points out key legal skills - reading, writing, communication, applying critical thought - can be developed across many majors and professions before law school. James McCormick is a Vice President at Empire Search Partners (http://www.empiresearchpartners.com) in New York City. Before transitioning into legal career advisory services, McCormick practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for both Proskauer Rose (http://www.proskauer.com) and Jones Day (http://www.jonesday.com). He holds a JD from Tulane University Law School (http://www.law.tulane.edu) and a BA in History from the University of Michigan (http://www.umich.edu). View more career learning and development knowledge videos at http://www.captureyourflag.com. Follow Capture Your Flag on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/captureyourflag. Follow Capture Your Flag on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/captureyourflag.

How Tax Class Helps Puzzle Solver Focus Law Career - James McCormick

In Chapter 2 of 12 in his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, legal career advisor James McCormick shares how a tax law class unexpectedly shaped his law career. He finds tax law's inherent puzzle solving nature engaging and seeks additional experience offering related challenges. James McCormick is a Vice President at Empire Search Partners (http://www.empiresearchpartners.com) in New York City. Before transitioning into legal career advisory services, McCormick practiced law as an employee benefits and executive compensation attorney for both Proskauer Rose (http://www.proskauer.com) and Jones Day (http://www.jonesday.com). He holds a JD from Tulane University Law School (http://www.law.tulane.edu) and a BA in History from the University of Michigan (http://www.umich.edu). View more career learning and development knowledge videos at http://www.captureyourflag.com. Follow Capture Your Flag on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/captureyourflag. Follow Capture Your Flag on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/captureyourflag.

How to Customize a Graduate School Program in Public Health - Gabrielle Lamourelle

In Chapter 12 of 21 in her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, global health consultant Gabrielle Lamourelle chooses an interdisciplinary program while pursuing her masters of public health (MPH) degree at Columbia University. With several years work experience, Lamourelle builds a multi-track approach including health promotion, social sciences, epidemiology, health policy, population and family health. Collectively this creates a rich fabric that customizes Lamourelle's academic experience. Lamourelle graduated with a BS in Sociology from University of California at Berkeley and a Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Sociomedical Sciences from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. View more career learning and development knowledge videos at http://www.captureyourflag.com. Follow Capture Your Flag on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/captureyourflag. Follow Capture Your Flag on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/captureyourflag.

How Pre-Med Culture Influences Choice of Science Major - Gabrielle Lamourelle

In Chapter 2 of 21 in her 2010 interview with Erik Michielsen, global health consultant Gabrielle Lamourelle details her transition from biology to sociology majors while studying at University of California at Berkeley. Lamourelle finds the biology track over-competitive for the wrong reasons, specifically medical school preparation instead of passion for biology. Lamourelle decides to shift focus to a major, sociology, with a more collaborative, teamwork driven culture. Lamourelle graduated with a BS in Sociology from University of California at Berkeley and a Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Sociomedical Sciences from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

Why to Major in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry - Clara Williams

In Chapter 3 of 10 in her 2010 interview with Capture Your Flag host Erik Michielsen, health economist and comparative effectiveness researcher Clara Soh Williams shares her motivation to study molecular biophysics and biochemistry while at Yale University. Learning about Mad Cow disease teaches Soh the interdependence of understanding molecular chemical structure - taught in biochemistry - and molecular shape - taught in biophysics. Williams holds an MPA in Public Health Finance from New York University and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.

How Scientists and Politicans Can Improve Health Policy Decisions - Clara Soh

In Chapter 2 of 10 in her 2010 interview with Capture Your Flag host Erik Michielsen, health economist and comparative effectiveness researcher Clara Soh Williams shares how the late Yale biology professor Alvin Novick impacted her career. Novick, who taught biology at Yale for 48 years, teaches Williams the political implications behind scientific research and policy making. In Novick's "AIDS in Society" class, Soh learns how science is anything but colorblind. By teaching scientists, politicians, and policy makers about each other's motivations and priorities, Soh learns how to increase epidemic response mobilization effectiveness. Soh holds an MPA in Public Health Finance from New York University and a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. Read more about Professor Novick's career here.