WEX

In this episode, Angela interviews Ashley Drexler. Ashley is a Software Engineer II oat Fieldstack in Portland, ME. She shares her education and career pat as well as  advice for young people looking to get into the field. A former UMaine Orono grad and woman in tech, she also tells us what her favorite place in Maine is.

Note: Ashley also worked with me coordinating CS Connected programming during the pandemic. Learn more about CS Connected here: https://umaine.edu/csconnected/

Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashdrex/

Learn more about careers at Fieldstack on their website: https://www.fieldstack.com/careers

Meet CTO Trevor Gionet from Omnic.AI

Omnic.AI is a startup based in Brunswick, Maine focusing on developing a community of gamers who are gaining insights to their gameplay via the Forge platform and AI insights. Learn about Trevor's education and career paths that led him to where here is today. Trevor discusses the company, its culture and current opportunities. 

Check out their careers page: https://omnic.ai/careers.html

Connect with Trevor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjgionet/

In this episode, Reilly and Shelby chat with Ashley, Technology Compliance Analyst at Systems Engineering. Systems Engineering is based in Portland. Ashley shares how she got into this work and gives advice to people looking to get into the industry. Ashley is also featured on Project>Login's Circuts of Success.

Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn and learn more:

Systems Engineering is a 100% employee-owned IT strategy and managed services provider dedicated to enabling the exceptional in clients nationwide.

We are a reliable, accountable technology partner with a culture of positivity. In support of our mission, Systems Engineering undergoes a SOC 2 audit of our environment to ensure our organization meets the standards dictated by the Trust Service Principles (Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy). As a result of successfully completing yearly SOC 2 audits, we assure our clients that our policies and procedures are consistently followed. Our SOC 2 Report is available to clients upon request.

System Engineering’s team of 150+ network engineers, managed security professionals, project managers, data management experts, and account managers are available 24×7, 365 days per year, to meet the needs of our clients. From network design and installation to a full complement of managed IT, IT security, and cloud services, we have an IT solution that will allow your organization to reach its full potential – and enable the exceptional.

In this episode, Angela and Shelby chat with Anthony DeBery, the Chief Operating Officer at Garrand Moehlenkamp. Garrand is based in Portland. Anthony shares how he got into this work and advice for people looking to get into this work.

Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn and learn more:

Garrand Moehlenkamp (GM) is an independent brand-building agency in Portland, ME dedicated to Growing the World’s Most Craveable Brands. Our team of strategists, creatives, and makers partner with businesses to deepen connections between audiences and their brands – connections that turn strangers into customers and customers into irrational loyalists.

We are guided by our belief that everyone has core cravings that great brands can nourish. It's one of the important ways we activate consumer-centric brand strategies and deploy smart, empathetic creative ideas designed to solve unique business problems. Our team is agile and adaptable, helping our clients achieve growth — in the short term and for generations to come.

We are currently working with brands such as Shipley Do-Nuts, Inspire Brands, Louisiana Fish Fry, New England Coffee, American Family Care, Berlin City Auto Group, Summit Automotive Partners, Great Works Internet, Central Maine Power, MaidPro, and Threshold Brands.

Just over two weeks ago we hosted a Data Science Exploration Night where students and young professionals heard from three panelists in the field: Jacob Sagrans (Tumblehome, Inc), Rachel Carpenter (Wex), and Sean Turner (IDEXX).

This podcast was recorded live at the event and you will hear them provide advice to young people, educators, and anyone interested in data science. They also speak about their education and career paths into the field and what they do with data on a daily basis in their jobs.

Is Data Science right for you?

• Do you like using mathematics, statistics, modeling, business analysis, and technology to manipulate high volumes of complex data into advanced analytic solutions?
• Are you good at analyzing diverse and complex problems?

A huge thank you to IDEXX for hosting this informative networking event! Thanks to Shelby for moderating the panel, Nick for editing the audio for us and for Abby and team for helping make the event possible!

https://www.projectlogin.com/careers

Education programs in Maine:

https://www.uma.edu/academics/programs/data-science/

https://umaine.edu/graduate/program/data-science-and-engineering/

Meet Kymberli Bryant ("Kym") in this weeks special episode. Kym is a computer science teacher at Spruce Mountain High School and she is a facilitator for Educate Maine/Project Login, training other teachers to teach CS.

Kym  shares her education and career paths as well as her favorite place in Maine. Listen to learn about professional development and training options in Maine and recommendations from Kym  for ways to incorporate technology into teaching and learning.

Discover more about Kym and connect with her here: https://poplme.co/hash/yBjYU1Vx/1/share

Check out RSU73/Spruce Mountain Schools online here: https://rsu73.org/en-US/high-school

Learn about Girls Who Code by visiting the website.

If you want to apply for our next Code.org educator PLP apply now: https://code.org/educate/professional-learning/middle-high

Meet Shelby Bryant and Reilly Moncrief this week as you learn about their work on the Project Login team at Educate Maine; how they got here and learn about their education and training pathways. Discover their passions as well as their favorite places in Maine.

They tell you all about upcoming events and places where Project Login staff will be traveling and presenting.

Check out our events page: https://www.projectlogin.com/events

Learn about Girls Who Code here: https://www.projectlogin.com/girls-who-code

Educators apply for Code.org professional learning program now: https://code.org/educate/professional-learning/middle-high

Districts looking for CSforALL SCRIPT workshop PD: https://www.projectlogin.com/education/script-strategic-csforall-resource-implementation-planning-tool

Meet Abby Grindle! Abby is a Software Support Specialist at Tyler Technologies. She started out part-time while she was going to college and then accepted a full-time role. Her day-to-day consists of helping clients troubleshoot issues and providing solutions to common errors, concerns and problems. When Tyler Technologies' municipal government clients need help, support specialists like Abby are there to give excellent customer service and resolve tickets in a timely manner.

Everyday is different and that is what Abby likes best about her job. No two days are alike and she is always learning on the job! She utilizes a wide range of technical and essential professional skills like communication and time management. 

Abby shares what her favorite place in Maine is and you can learn about current internship opportunities at Tyler Technologies by visiting their website.

Connect with Abby on LinkedIn too!

This week, Angela interviews ReachMyTeach’s Co-Founders, Jeff Borland and Aidan Blum Levine, and COO Helen Bright-Cohen. ReachMyTeach was created to streamline communication between teachers and a student’s parent/guardian. The platform offers translation in over 130+ languages and has interpreters on-call for video chat, allowing parents to communicate in their preferred language. 

Aidan was the 2021 Maine App Challenge first-place winner for his app “Oops! I forgot!” and the 2019 Congressional App Challenge first-place winner for “Windition.” He is currently a sophomore at MIT, studying Computer Science and Engineering. At ReachMyTeach, Aidan is responsible for most of the front end design and coding.

Jeff is a math and science teacher with a passion for computer programming. Also a parent, he witnessed firsthand the gaps in communication from both sides and is responsible for the behind the scenes programming at ReachMyTeach.

Helen’s background is in Education and was one of the first beta tester’s of ReachMyTeach. She now works full-time as Chief Operations Officer of the company and teaches English acquisition classes in the evenings.

ReachMyTeach, developed by a student-teacher team in Maine, reduces accessibility barriers in school-home communications and supports reaching all families through email, text, WhatsApp and more, with seamless translation in over 130 languages. ReachMyTeach offers access to live on-demand interpreters through video calls and district-wide alerts in one convenient platform. To learn more about Reach My Teach: https://info.reachmyteach.com/

To connect with Aidan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidanblumlevine/

Aidan’s app challenges: https://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3204

https://www.projectlogin.com/news/post/2021-maine-app-challenge-winners-announced

https://www.pressherald.com/2021/07/06/cumberland-county-students-sweep-maine-app-challenge/?fbclid=IwAR38vrSr3tEbyMm91IFHu12-A-ibcHO8gu74TAz88NP5rbV-eDgQtxM34rE

Angela interviews Benny Boas in this week's episode. Benny is the CEO and founder of Upright Education. We learn about Benny's own education and training pathways and what led him to apprentice under a mentor and then start and launch  a training academy to upskill others.

Learn about how Upright Education partners with higher education to deliver high quality short term trainings to increase the skills and experience of learners to make them competitive in today's job market. 

Also, learn about Benny's unique Maine connection & ties and all his favorite places.

Connect with Benny on LinkedIn.

Discover online learning options happening right here in Maine: https://bootcamp.online.une.edu/

Learn more about Upright Education by visiting their website.