The Project Login Podcast

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.

We had a great conversation about Matt's role(s) at Tyler Technologies. He is a Software Engineering team Manager and the director of the Maine App Challenge. Educate Maine and Project>Login have partnered with Tyler on the Maine App Challenge since 2015. 

"Study hard, learn and prosper!" ~Matt Jones' Dad

https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-jones-cste-uxc-78793957/

http://maineappchallenge.com/

https://www.tylertech.com/careers

In this special episode we sit down with Dylan Bulmer at the Foster Center for Innovation at UMaine in Orono. Dylan is a student about to graduate from the University of Maine and is working on so many projects as a software engineer that Project>Login's director may have lost count. He is an advocate and champion for K-12 CS education as well and is helping Project>Login with expanding Girls Who Code clubs in the Auburn, Maine area--where he is from!

Listen and learn about the Innovate for Maine Fellows program, current research projects and how Dylan also works at TrustedRentr (and is part owner!)

Connect with Dylan via his website, Github and Linkedin :

• https://www.dylanbulmer.com/ (He's currently writing a blog post on privacy regulations, based on a lecture he gave, and hopes to have ready soon...)
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-bulmer/
   
• https://github.com/DylanBulmer

Erin Bond is a software engineer who works at Mentor Collective coding tools and products to help connect students in higher education with industry mentors. Erin has a background in education and then switched careers by taking a full-stack developer bootcamp through Ada Developers Academy. A six-month intensive training followed by a 6-month internship in industry.  This former educator now has over five years software engineering experience building and scaling curriculum & products in EdTech.

We also learn about Erin's favorite places in Maine.

Erin also worked at Code.org previously before joining Mentor Collective. Learn about the company culture and what it is like to work on a software team supporting students in their career paths.

Learn more about Mentor Collective here. And check out their careers page: https://www.mentorcollective.org/join-mc

Connect with Erin on LinkedIn.

Check out Ada Developers Academy too!

Jacob Bazinet sat down to talk with Project>Login Program Director Angela Oechslie about his role at CGI, his education and training pathways and transitioning from intern to full-time hire.

We talk about #esg, #fintech, #blockchain, #wallstreet, and #globalbanking

He also shares his favorite place in Maine. Take a listen to learn more about the skills Jacob uses daily and what the company culture is like at CGI.

Thomas College

CGI careers page

Jacob's LinkedIn

Excited to introduce listeners to Election Bridge co-founders in this episode. Ackeem Evans and Jermaine Hartsfield, MSOD chat with Project>Login Program Director Angela Oechslie. We met at The Roux Institute in Portland where their company is part of the 2022 Founder Residency Program. Originally from Georgia the two men developed the company and are digitizing civic engagement with their app.

Election Bridge is a conduit and activator for households to connect and share feedback with the different levels of U.S. government. The platform allows users to come together as a unified voice and utilize technology to generate data-led insights for better governance and improved hyperlocal development.

They talk about what a typical day looks like for a CEO and COO of a startup as well as internships and more!

Listen to find out about their education & career paths and where their favorite places in Maine are.

Connect with them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/election-bridge-310591204/

More info about he Founders Residency Program: https://roux.northeastern.edu/news-articles/announcing-the-2022-founder-residency-cohort/

Check out their website too!

Tyler Smith is about to graduate from Husson University. Tyler works at Sephone as a lead font-end developer. He is excited to launch his career by helping businesses with marketing and technology needs. Learn about his training and educational pathway. In this episode, he also tells us his favorite place in Maine!

Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn. 

Check out Sephone's website!

Learn more about Husson University's School of Technology and Innovation here.

Nick Havas is a Nick is an XR Artist, graphic designer and VR & Metaverse veteran specializing in 2D and 3D design, direction and management with a special focus in metaverses and online games. Nick works with a great group of people at Standard Magic creating cool stuff in the area of XR extended Reality. Learn where Nick's  favorite place in Maine is and his career path into this exciting career field!

Check out his website: https://www.nickhavas.com/

Learn more about Standard Magic here: https://www.standardmagic.com/

And connect with Nick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nhavas/

Kemal Turksonmez is a full-stack developer working on projects and coding solutions for HighByte. HighByte is a fairly new company in Maine. 

Connect with Kemal on LinkedIn and follow HighByte too!

Learn more about careers at HighByte: https://www.highbyte.com/careers.html

Alan Jamieson is new to Maine in the last 2 years. Here arrived from Maryland to The Roux Institute to be a teaching professor of computer science. 

On this episode we get Alan's advice for young people looking to pursue computer science pathways.

More information about The Roux Institute and programs of study by visiting the website: https://roux.northeastern.edu/

Connect with Alan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alancjamieson/

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/drripark

These are some Organizations/Resources that Caroline wanted to share with listeners:

• BlockBeam A free Blockchain education program for undergrads to help them launch into Blockchain and Fintech careers https://www.blockbeam.io/
• Darshan.io is a inclusive global talent community for gig and full time job seekers that incentivizes learning and sharing with crypto https://darshana.io/
• XRWOMEN https://www.xrwomen.com/
• VRARA https://www.thevrara.com/
• Boston OWASP a chapter that focuses on Information Application Security has  lots of programs, meetups https://owasp.org/www-chapter-boston/
• MAHacks – the Hackathon is postponed this year but it is for everyone, been running several years over a weekend https://mahacks.com/#how-it-works
• AI4ALL Summer Programs, https://ai-4-all.org/summer-programs/
• From the VRARA Student Committee 2020 Resource Guide for Parents and Students about 3D VR AR XR (it is quite extensive co-produced by Julie Smithson from my XRWomen team) LINK: https://lnkd.in/d9mXDjMC
• XRCollaboration.com Resource Guide (I contributed a small section on Privacy and Security in the Resource Guide), created with several XR experts https://xrcollaboration.com/
• Unity College is doing some amazing work in XR Education https://unity.edu/about/innovation-lab/extended-reality/
• Linux Foundation has lots of free resources, webinars and communities https://training.linuxfoundation.org/resources/
• The MIT Museum is moving but keep checking back it will be at Kendall Square https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/mit-museum-kendall

Careers/Learning:

• CS50 Not a new course but I suggest this for all of my students exploring a computing or technology career, regardless of whether they have completed a CS degree or just in high school, it simply cannot be beat: https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-computer-science-harvardx-cs50x
• On cyber security careers: https://flatironschool.com/blog/how-to-get-into-cyber-security/
• Fintech Careers https://www.fintechfutures.com/2020/10/fintech-futures-jobs-six-skills-that-can-get-you-hired-in-fintech/
• Digital Twins being used across many industries https://www.simulationinformation.com/news/how-digital-twins-are-transforming-manufacturing-medicine-and-more-by-andrew-r-chow/
• MassRobotics has an upcoming career fair on May 11th in Boston https://www.eventbrite.com/e/massrobotics-career-fair-at-the-robotics-summit-tickets-301596371867
• Into learning about Crypto and Startups? https://a16z.com/crypto-startup-school/