She comes up with concepts to make use of new technology to construct higher storage and reminiscence programs. “I really love my job,” she stated. “It’s a job with a lot of freedom: I get to choose what problems I work on and define my own research agenda.”
Amazon software program engineer Nicolas Nguyen ’25 likes the truth that no day is similar. “There’s always a new problem to solve, something to improve, or a new industry standard to apply,” he stated.
The tech trade races ahead at lightning pace, but Denison laptop science majors are thriving in satisfying careers with the potential, as LeBlanc and Nguyen can attest.
Nguyen says that’s as a result of though new instruments and frameworks pop up yearly, the underlying ideas largely keep the identical.
“The CS program gave me a strong foundation in how to think through problems independently and break them down systematically,” he stated, including that he has “the fundamentals I rely on every day to make decisions when evaluating different software solutions and system performance.”
LeBlanc, who earned a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin, wholeheartedly agrees. In addition to the cornerstones, she additionally discovered “a ton of non-obvious skills that are extremely valuable,” similar to principled problem-solving, debugging and troubleshooting, and speaking difficult technical matters.
Being a lifelong learner is an important ingredient to success in the sector. “No matter how good you are, you’re going to run into completely unfamiliar things,” LeBlanc stated. “The ability to bootstrap yourself into a better understanding is extremely valuable.”
Activities outdoors laptop science school rooms additionally had a profound impression on their educational and profession paths.
Nguyen invested additional time to deepen his understanding of areas the place he noticed trade demand. “Build projects around your niche, experiment, and most importantly, learn by doing,” he stated. “These experiences will help you stand out and solidify the career path you want to pursue.”
LeBlanc took programs in philosophy and dance, “which seem completely unrelated to CS but in fact changed how I approach solving problems and how I communicate information to others — and they were fun,” she stated.
A foray on the fencing staff midway by way of her sophomore 12 months led to her senior 12 months as a co-captain, an gratifying expertise that additionally taught her new management abilities.
Denison helps CS majors launch their careers by way of myriad research alternatives, assist from professors, alumni who make investments time in college students, and the Knowlton Career Center.
In his sophomore 12 months, Nguyen leveraged the Denison alumni network to land his first internship. That allowed him to discover totally different areas of tech and helped him pinpoint what most him. Today, he’s engaged on providers that assist the Amazon’s funds to international tax authorities.
“We are a small team, and I enjoy high ownership over the projects I work on and the impact they have,” he stated. “What I like most about my job is that no day is the same as the previous one. There’s always a new problem to solve, something to improve, or a new industry standard to apply.”
LeBlanc spent a summer season on campus conducting analysis by way of the Summer Scholars program and one other in a analysis internship in Germany. While she didn’t focus her doctorate on any of these analysis tasks, she discovered far more about what piqued her curiosity.
“Those experiences showed me that I wanted a career in research, and gave me the opportunity to start to learn important skills, like how to write about and present my research well,” she stated.
At Denison, the mixture of stable fundamentals, various experiences, and confidence earned by tackling complicated challenges prepares college students and alums to make significant contributions to an trade that by no means stops shifting ahead.