Ep. 06 - Student Stories - Noor André

WBS Podcast #6

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Welcome to the WPI Business School Podcast where we catch up with incredible students in the Business School and hear why they chose WPI, how they chose the program they are studying, how they are involved on campus, and what their WPI experience has been like.

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I am your host, Associate Professor Adrian Hall Phillips, and today I'm excited to welcome Noor Andre, a senior Information Systems and Technologies major.

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Noor, it is so great to have you with us today.

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Thank you so much.

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It's great to be here.

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So let's just get started and talk a little bit about your journey to WPI.

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So how did you end up here and why IST as a major?

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So I was a transfer so I came to WPI my second year of college.

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I'm from Miami, FL born and raised.

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When I was applying to school the goal was to go to Boston but I was also like a senior during COVID 2020.

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So for my first year I decided to stay at home.

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My parents thought it would be better I stay at home because we were in the beginning of COVID.

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So I did my first year at a school closest by to my house but I didn't want to stay there.

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Like I wanted to do computer science and I wanted to go to Boston.

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And then while I was at Berry, that's why I went for a year.

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I got an e-mail from WPI and I had applied when I was originally applying as a senior and they sent me something like, oh, transfer application, something like that.

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And I was like, Oh my gosh, I need to get out of here.

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And then it just kind of all worked out from there.

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And when I originally started, I started out as computer science.

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Like while I took the classes, I enjoyed it, but I didn't know if I saw myself coding or programming for the rest of my life.

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So my advisor told me, oh, you should talk to professor HP is in the Business School.

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She might be able to help you.

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And then I met with you and I told you, like, what I was thinking, like, yeah, I'm in CSI, like it, but I don't know long term how much I'm going to enjoy this.

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And then she told me about management Information systems, which is combining business and technology, and that sounded perfect for me.

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So that's how I got into MIS, which has just been changed to be called like IST very similar.

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So yeah.

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So I had a big influence on you, huh?

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OK, so talk a little bit more about maybe your favorite class here or a favorite professor, anything that kind of stands out in your mind.

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When I switch to Business School, I feel like I've taken so many different classes.

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There have been a couple that I enjoy and I've had good experiences with all the teachers.

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It's hard.

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Within the seven weeks, if you don't make an effort to get close to your professors, you won't.

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So it's on you.

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But I feel like I do that.

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So I've built nice relationships with a couple professors.

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My favorite class I really enjoyed.

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I don't remember the name.

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I'm really badly remembering the names, but the the one with Jim Ryan that we build the system.

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Oh, system design.

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System design.

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And Jim Ryan is also like a nice teacher.

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Yeah, he's cool.

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I liked your class.

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The marketing class is also interesting.

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I definitely did not pay her to say that.

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That is her own opinion.

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That was a good class.

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I don't know, like within the business schools, there's classes that are more interactive and I think just in general that makes the class better experience because you have more hands on.

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It's not just lecture.

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So there's a couple that have been fun.

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I can tell you something that I haven't liked though, just because I, I didn't think the topic itself.

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Yeah, but those are always personal.

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Like, you know, I think, I think there's a lot of classes that we do that students think, oh, I'm not going to like this when they read the title or they read the description, but once they get to the class, they realize, oh, this is pretty cool.

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I mean, I think some of that has to do with the fact that we do so many projects, Like each class has a project, right?

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And so you get that learning.

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A really interesting class too was Jemausby's class, the user user experience course user experience.

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I feel like any major, it's just like things you hear them and you know, but you don't realize that you know them.

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So when they tell you you're like, wow, I didn't think about this, but, you know, the like something that has to do with looking at websites or what?

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Like eye tracking.

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She focuses a lot on eye tracking.

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She does a lot of research on that so that when you get to her class, she makes you pay attention just how you retain information from looking at a page and the things that you do subconsciously.

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So that's cool.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, very cool.

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OK.

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So is there anything that happens in the Business School or even in WPI in general that's some type of tradition or something that a lot of students do?

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It's the thing to do anything like that you can think of that has happened during your college experience?

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The first thing that comes to mind is a Fintech MQP.

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A lot, a lot of business students do it.

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And I think honestly, I wish I did it.

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When I talk to people who did that MQP, people who want to go into like the business world, I think it's like a great opportunity.

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It's a good introduction to what you can do, you know, So the Fintech NQP Center, that is students who are interested in doing MQP all in one term, that's B term.

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And many of the students work with sponsors that are financial institutions.

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So like banks, some of them small startups and then there's other sponsors who are some industry company that has a very large financial part of their corporation.

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And so our students would be working with that particular branch of the company.

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OK.

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So is there anything that has happened during your time at OPI that is like the one thing you're going to remember, the one thing that you're like, that was such a great experience?

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Something in class, something out of class, something that's extracurricular, like a student club.

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I feel like I'll remember my IQP forever.

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Like I can't myself like forgetting that.

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So where'd you go?

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Where was your IQP?

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My IQP was in Washington, DC, We were working for ANSI, American National Standards Institute.

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We were researching in AI.

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But I think it's just the whole experience in general, having to talk to people who are above you.

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So you just practice everything you would in the workforce.

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So having to reach out, having to talk to them, meeting, taking notes, following up on deadlines.

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And you have advisors who keep you accountable.

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So as your first time, like it's really helpful that you have them.

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And then you learn the first time how to do stuff the right way.

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And then you're in a group.

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And I had a good group experience.

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So I think that's for sure one thing I'll never forget.

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So what do you mean about the first time, Like the first time you are doing a large project?

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Yeah.

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And also internships.

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I hadn't done an internship yet, so for me it was my first time.

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And it's like you're not just doing something for a grade or for a teacher.

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You actually have a task for a boss.

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So it was a good experience.

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And we had three people at NC who we would meet with regularly and they were all in different departments.

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So they all had different things that matter to them.

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So we were catering to different needs.

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And it was like very, I don't know what's the word?

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How do you say like, like you learned no classes, you learned a lot.

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Very informative.

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Well, that sounds amazing.

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I'm glad you had a really good time on your IQP.

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So those of you listening, the IQP is a project that all WPI students have to do their third year or so, whether here and most of our students do an IQP at one of our project centers like Washington, DC And we also have several, there's like 54 of them or more that are all over across the world.

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OK, so I've got one last question for you.

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Let's hear if you met a incoming student like this, could be a student who might be a junior or a senior who's like really, really, really interested in coming to WPI.

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What would you tell them about the Business School and why they should join the Business School as one of our majors?

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Well, I would definitely tell them to network both with classmates and professors because you do see a lot of the same faces.

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So when you start to talk to people, then you see them later on.

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It helps a lot when you know people when you're in a class and a lot of the classes you form groups.

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So it helps let you know people to form groups with and continue working with them.

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And also like you get as you learn people and work styles within the groups, you learn yourself too.

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So and the professors, I've had a couple professors several times.

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So taking the time just to talk to them that I think that helps a lot.

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And then you can build relationships for your MQP because then you can find a professor to work with when that time comes.

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Also just joining groups.

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And there's like a bunch of different opportunities here.

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You just kind of have to not really find them because they do send a lot of emails and stuff about stuff happening.

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So it's not hard to know what's happening.

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But just trying things like actually attending stuff, there's a bunch of stuff happening and there's people to meet.

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And the more things you go to and the more people you talk to, then I think the more you're exposed to and you have greater chances of finding stuff that you necessarily wouldn't on your own.

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So yeah, there's a lot to accomplish here.

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You just have to be willing to do it.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Great.

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So nor what are you going to do after graduation?

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I'm going to grad school in Northeastern.

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I would stay at WPI, but I'm from Miami and it's really cold.

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I'm going to go home for the sun, so I'm going to Northeastern.

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They have a Miami campus, so I'll be there.

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And also, my sister recently moved home, so for personal reasons, it just made more sense for me to go back home.

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I, of course, consider WPI, but yeah, too cold.

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Yeah.

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So you're going to be studying something close to what your undergraduate degree is in.

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Yeah.

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My degree is in information systems and technologies, like you said, and I'm getting my master's in information systems.

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So.

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Excellent.

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Yeah, well, you definitely have to keep in touch with us because I'm sure you're going to go on and do great things.

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And don't forget about where it all started.

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Never.

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Thank you.

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It was so nice to chat with you and to catch up.

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And I'm wishing you lots of luck for your graduate degree career.

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Thank you to our listeners.

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If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe and share it with someone who might be considering a WPI Business School program for the next step in their learning journey.

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Until next time, remember STEM plus business equals impact.