Inside Our Program / EventsGuest Lectures
Guest lectures are held several times per quarter for MSIT students on Saturday class days. Talks are presented over the lunch hour by experienced business and information technology professionals on varying topics focused centrally on technology and leadership.
January 4, 2020
Speaker: Alexandra Korol, Senior Director of Product Management for Duck Creek Technologies, LLC and MSIT 2010 alum
Topic: What is Product Management and How I Got Here
November 16, 2019
Speaker: Helen Oloroso - Assistant Dean and Director of Engineering Career Development (ECD), and Brett Boettcher - Associate Director of Professional Program Strategy & Management of the Northwestern Career Advancement Center (NCA)
Topic: IT Career Trends and Northwestern Career Resources for Students and Alumni
October 5, 2019
Speaker: Pramod Sadalage, Director at ThoughtWorks, and MSIT Student 2020
Topic: What Do You Stand For? Managing your professional life as a brand
APRIL 20, 2019
Speaker: David Pessis - currently with Google Cloud Platform, where he currently leads Enterprise Engineering for the Data Analytics organization, and previously with Amazon Web Services, MSIT Alum
Topic: Comparing high performing engineering cultures
February 23, 2019
Speaker: Jorgen Hesselberg - Co-Founder at Comparative Agility, Author of Unlocking Agility - An Insiders Guide to Agile Enterprise Transformation, MSIT Alum
Topic: Unlocking Enterprise Agility - 7 Signs You're On the Right Path
January 5, 2019
Speaker: Vernon Pearson - Technical Analyst, Exelon Corporate Strategy, Innovation, and Sustainability team
Topic: Docker, SQL, and Containerization: A Practical Introduction
December 1, 2018
Speaker: Ruthann Ostrowski - Director, NUIT Cyberinfrastructure Service Operation
Topic: Presentation and tour of the McCormick Data Center
November 10, 2018
Speaker: Helen Oloroso - Assistant Dean and Director of Engineering Career Development (ECD), and Brett Boettcher - Associate Director of Professional Program Strategy & Management of the Northwestern Career Advancement Center (NCA)
Topic: IT Career Trends and Northwestern Career Resources for Students and Alumni
April 21, 2018
Speaker: Rao Pathangi - Senior Systems Architect at Discover Financial Services
Topic: Agile Development and DevOps: A Journey
April 14, 2018
Speaker: Robert A. Musiala Jr. - President and CEO of PennyPay, Inc., Counsel in the blockchain and cryptocurrencies practice at Baker & Hostetler LLP
Topic: Introduction to Blockchain
February 24, 2018
Speaker: Lowell Lindstrom - Founder of Oobeya Group, Member of the MSIT Industry Advisory Board
Topic: The Age of Business Agility: Did You Miss the Fork in the Road?
February 17, 2018
Speaker: Xiaosheng Tan - Chief Security Officer at China's Qihoo 360
Topic: Finding Cyber Threats by Using Big Data Analytics and AI
November 4, 2017
Speaker: Brett Boettcher, Ed.D. - NCA Career Advisor for the McCormick School of Engineering
Topic: Overview of Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA)
May 6, 2017
Speaker: Sara Knizhnik - President of Open Door Communications, Inc.
Topic: Intercultural Communication: How to work effectively as part of a multicultural team
February 25, 2017
Speaker: Sally Martin - President and Owner of Palace Gate Corporation
Topic: How to "Speak to the Business" in Resumes and Interviews
January 28, 2017
Speaker: Tony Tang - MSIT 2006 Alumnus, Sr. Enterprise Systems Engineer at Apple
Topic: Apple and the Environment
October 29, 2016
Speaker: Helen Oloroso - Assistant Dean and Director of Engineering Career Development (ECD), and Brett Boettcher - Associate Director of Professional Program Strategy & Management of the Northwestern Career Advancement Center (NCA)
Topic: IT Career Trends and Northwestern Career Resources for Students and Alumni
October 15, 2016
Speaker: Bill Chafetz - Senior Performance Consultant, and Samir Desai - Executive Director of the Learning and Organization Development division of the Office of Human Resources
Topic: Leadership and Organizational Development
October 8, 2016
Speaker: Kunal Grover - Part-time MSIT Student, Class of 2017
Topic: Virtual Reality
March 26, 2016
Speaker: Melissa Crounse - Executive Director of The Garage at Northwestern
Topic: My Decade in Silicon Valley and Lessons Learned for Building The Garage and the Next Generation of Entrepreneurial Thinkers
January 30, 2016
Speaker: Kevin Glynn - Chair of the MSIT Industry Advisory Board (IAB)
Topic: The CIO Path and
January 9, 2016
Speaker: Helen Oloroso - Assistant Dean and Director of Engineering Career Development (ECD), and Larry Jackson - Assistant Director of the Career Management Center of Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA)
Topic: IT Career Trends and Northwestern Career Resources for Students and Alumni
October 10, 2015
Speaker: Tony Tang - MSIT 2006 Alumnus, Sr. Enterprise Systems Engineer at Apple
April 4, 2015
Speaker: Bob Gariano - MSIT 2006 Alumnus, President and CEO of Robert Gariano Associates
Topic: Chief Information Officers
