The student perspective – Neelim Novo

I have been working as a student developer at the UBC Community Health and Wellbeing Cloud Innovation Centre since January 2021. While I may have started off with no experience in Cloud Computing, I was soon able to work on a project leveraging over 13 different Amazon Web Services (AWS) tools and see it be published due to the incredible support from my mentors. Nearly everyday at work, I am amazed by the potential Cloud Computing has for scaling technical infrastructure or High Performance Computing, mainly through its ability to manage services for its clients. As someone who is highly interested in cutting-edge technology, being able to work with such tools at the forefront of technological advancement is extremely fulfilling for me.

Further into my co-op work term, I was able to participate in demonstrating the technical Live Labs for student attendees in two workshops hosted by the UBC CIC. Hosting these Live Labs taught me a great deal about presentational skills, troubleshooting during an event and engaging with an online audience. It also provided a big boost to my confidence during professional meetings, which I was able to apply during the meetings we had with our challenge sponsors to discuss project updates and technical scopes.

Finally, being able to work on and witness all these innovation challenges is super fun. I get to witness people brainstorm different solutions for common problems, and receive a chance to develop prototypes to demonstrate the art-of-the-possible solution. I received a lot of autonomy over the software development process, being involved in the entire planning, technical scoping, development, testing and handover phases. Being able to witness a project grow from an idea into an entire functional, open-source prototype is incredibly satisfying. I am glad to be able to receive the opportunity to work in this place that clearly resonates with my career-oriented goals.