All breakout sessions are 45 minutes.
First Job Ninja Resume and Internships
Speaker: Melissa Fontenentte-Mitchell, UR Program Manager, AMD
MC: Sylvia Karmanoff, Independent Consultant
This breakout session features a member of the AMD Human Resources team and session facilitator Sylvia Karmanoff. Everyone somewhere at some point will interview for a job. Though the process for both before and after the interview has changed over the years, the end goal remains the same: get the job offer!
Melissa and Sylvia are here to have a conversation with you about the skills needed today in securing that first interview, including:
- The value and importance of a resume, what is needed and not needed,
- How to use your network and the network of networks to get the interview
- How to make that lasting, positive impression
- What practices are falling out of favor in today’s world
Come to this breakout session ready to hear straight from the source the best practices today to get that job you want!
Mentoring in Today’s World
Speaker: Amy Guesner, Senior Director, Mediatek
Chris Hughes, Intel
MC: Piotr Weglick, AMD
Now that you have that great job, what’s next? In this breakout session Amy Guesner, a dynamic technology professional, along with session facilitator Piotr Weglick of AMD, will discuss what the first few years can be like as the pace of your advancement will have changed from your time in school — you won’t move from grade to grade every year, but your career should progress and grow continuously. We will discuss what you can expect in those early years of your career, how to build your future and with whom.
Finding and employing the right mentor early in your career may be valuable to your in the years to come. How to choose a great mentor and what can be expected, and when to seek a new mentor will be part if this talk. Amy has many years of experience leading technology teams and has been a mentor to many over the years. This session promises to be high energy so be ready to engage in the conversation that may change the way you managed your career.
Career Progression
Speaker: Sridhar Rajagopal, Senior Vice President, Mavenir
Sean Lion, Senior Solution Architect; Intel
MC: Pete Poorman: UT Dallas Director of Industry outreach
Today’s telecom network is changing fast and the skills of today will be tested as your career moves from start to finish. This breakout session brings Sridhar Rajagopal from one of the leading disruptor ISV’s in the industry today to talk about the changes and the rate of change going on today in the global CSP network. While NFV was only an idea 10 years ago it has led to a seismic change in the way networks are built and operated today. In this breakout session, Pete Poorman of UT Dallas, session facilitator and a long time tech expert, will be discussing with Sridhar the path technology has taken us today and where it is likely to take us tomorrow. What skills remain and what skills need to be continuously improved will be part if this interesting session.
Day in the life of an Engineer
MC: Larry Horner, Intel
Speaker: Adam Mendoza, Intel
Adam Mendoza of Intel will be talking about the nuts and bolds in the day of an engineer, with session facilitator Larry Horner. This breakout session will discuss new challenges on the job such as:
- Attending graduate school while working and maybe having a personal life
- What is a typical day and what is a normal day in the industry, working to meet quality and schedule commitments
- How the skills developed in undergrad and graduate school prepared us for the real and unreal world of a working engineer
Adam and Larry will bring a conversation to the attendees that promises to both enlighten and engage the audience as they share their experience as working engineers in the technology space, and how building and keeping a professional network has helped them in their career.
Veera Venigalla
Veera Venigalla is a Manager for Enterprise Technology Solutions at T-Mobile. She holds two degrees- structural engineering and computer engineering – plus a lifetime of various technical roles. She enjoys mentoring high-school and college students, as well as peers, on careers in technology. At previous companies, Veera was a co-creator and leader of internal and external diversity initiatives, including kickstarting a holistic, company-wide Mentoring Program and being awarded as a Diversity Champion. She is passionate about building high performance teams, coaching, and mentoring. She is involved in STEM outreach activities and internal & external diversity initiatives including serving as Chair for Frisco II D&I Access to Disability Network. When not engineering or advocating for her peers, Veera enjoys spending time with her spouse, two children, and their extended family located in the area. As she believes and learnt throughout her life that everyone is unique & play a key role as “Innovation requires team together openness and diversity of thought”!!!