UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) welcomed college students, alumni and a former NFL participant to its annual Be You in Tech Summit to have fun range in the know-how business. The occasion, supported by a grant from the RSM US Foundation, was held on Jan. 21 at The Graduate by Hilton State College.
Be You in Tech is a collection of occasions and packages designed to assist college students in know-how careers perceive the position of range and inclusion in their private and skilled lives by way of knowledge-sharing and community-building. The annual summit welcomes audio system, IST alumni and others to mirror on the facility of authenticity and range in tech.
“The summit’s meaningful growth over the past five years speaks to how deeply students value a space that celebrates their authentic selves and empowers them to be exactly who they are,” stated Madhavi Kari, range, fairness, inclusion and belonging specialist, scholar success, in the College of IST. (*5*)
Jocelyn Bennett Garraway, IST’s affiliate dean for scholar success, gave the opening remarks. She launched keynote speaker Deon Butler, former NFL large receiver and Penn State soccer standout, who offered “Built Different: Engineering Authenticity — A Guide for Future Tech Leaders.”
A cybersecurity skilled, Butler has harnessed the aggressive expertise he honed as an athlete to transition into company America. As supervisor of community sustaining safety engineering at Cox Communications, he leverages teamwork and pressure-tested expertise to strengthen company safety, streamline processes and educate purchasers. Butler earned a bachelor’s diploma in criminalistics and felony science/forensics from Penn State in 2009 and a grasp of homeland safety, laptop and info methods safety/info assurance by way of Penn State World Campus in 2015.
Following the keynote tackle, Erica Fleming, IST’s school lead for educating and studying, led a self-reflection exercise. It was one of the best half of the day for Brea Austin, a first-year scholar pursuing a doctoral diploma in informatics in the College of IST.
“I appreciated how the reflection time addressed ways to challenge imposter syndrome,” she stated. “I felt solace seeing how people of all ages expressed feeling imposter syndrome, and I felt supported as I learned their various ways to challenge it.”
The matter was additionally significant to Laiya Mathew, a fourth-year scholar majoring in cybersecurity analytics and operations.
“Hearing others talk about how they also experience imposter syndrome — and giving us tips on how to relieve ourselves of this feeling — was really refreshing,” she stated. “As students in the tech field, we come from all different backgrounds, so hearing how to use our strength of being our true selves to tackle imposter syndrome was very impactful.”
Tyler Estright, scholar success supervisor in the College of IST, moderated a panel of alumni who are actually working in the tech industries:
- Noel Claudio, class of 2014, supervisor, Global Product Partnerships
- Sabrina DelViscio, class of 2018, senior supervisor, Workplace Solutions Consulting Group, Vanguard
- Stephen Obeng-Agyapong, class of 2013, senior safety engineer, Delta Air Lines
“The summit definitely gave me guidance and clarity with what I want to do in my career and how to empower myself within the workspace,” stated Matt Cleary, a third-year scholar majoring in cybersecurity analytics and operations. “The panelists’ responses to audience questions were inspirational and educational.”
The occasion wrapped up with closing remarks by Kari and a networking session.