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Ujwala Remekrishna
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Affiliation:
- Align Faculty and Advisors
When Ujwala Ramakrishna discovered the Align program’s mission to make computer science accessible for all, it prompted her to move away from the career she had been preparing for in environmental science. Now she helps students navigate their own career transitions.
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Sommer Harris
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Affiliation:
- Align Student
Location: Vancouver
Sommer Harris thought it was too late to pursue a career in tech. But as part of Khoury College’s Align program, she's found the supportive community of staff, faculty, and students helped her push through the challenges of entering a field she never thought she could access.
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Bruce Maxwell
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Affiliation:
- Teaching Faculty
Location: Seattle
When Bruce Maxwell’s sixth-grade teacher brought an Apple One into class, he had to know how it worked. That excitement for new technologies has guided him through his career, and now he finds joy in teaching students who will shape the field's future.
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Lino Coria Mendoza
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Affiliation:
- Teaching Faculty
Location: Vancouver
After 10 years of working in Vancouver’s tech industry, Lino Coria Mendoza realized his heart was set on academia. Now a professor at Khoury College’s Vancouver campus, he wants to make up for lost time by helping students reach their maximum potential.
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Akriti Chadda
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Affiliation:
- Align Alumni
Location: Seattle
While working in Seattle with software engineers, Akriti Chadda started to wonder if there was a place for her in the tech industry. Now an alumna of the Align program, she’s grateful for the community she found at Khoury College and her part in increasing representation in the field.
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Katie Lowen
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Affiliation:
- Align Student
Location: Vancouver
For a time, Katie Lowen was touring internationally as a contemporary dancer. But when the pandemic closed down theaters, she sought another avenue to develop herself. Now, earning her master’s in computer science through the Align program in Vancouver, Katie finds herself immersed in a career path she’d never imagined.
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Tiffany Lastimosa
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Affiliation:
- Align Student
Location: Seattle
After seven years as a paralegal, Tiffany Lastimosa became frustrated with her company’s inefficient system for processing data. Taking the initiative to improve it, she came across the Align program — and has come a long way since then.
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David Maunder
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Affiliation:
- Align Student
Location: Vancouver
After three years of working as a tax accountant, David Maunder was looking for a profession with more room for creativity. The Align program unlocked that freedom for him – since the start, he’s worked on projects ranging from hand gesture recognition to VR world design.
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Marina Moskowitz
Initially unsure of what she wanted to do at Northeastern, Maria Moskowitz declared a combined major in computer science and business that opened the doors for a bright future: “The success I have achieved is a direct result of my experiences at Khoury College, where I fell in love with learning.”
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Wayne Duso
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Affiliation:
- Industry Partner
Location: Boston
Wayne Duso’s path to tech wasn’t one he always saw coming. So when the former Amazon Web Services VP sought to bolster the company’s longterm innovation, he turned to a pipeline of similarly unconventional talent — Align master’s students from non-computing backgrounds.
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Julie Rakas
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Affiliation:
- Align Alumni
Location: Boston
For those aiming to switch to computing at the master’s level and secure jobs at large tech firms, impostor syndrome can be a struggle. But for Julie Rakas, who interned at AWS through the company’s partnership with Khoury College — and landed a full-time there afterward — the support she got made for a positive transition.
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Cathy Bilotta
Cathy Bilotta was among Northeastern's first CS students in the early 1980s, eventually building a distinguished 30-year career at Raytheon. After her son graduated from Khoury College in 2023, Bilotta deepened her commitment to Northeastern through the Parent Leadership Council and as an alumni mentor, with special focus on supporting women entering the field.
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Mani Sundaram
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Affiliation:
- Alumni
Location: Boston
When he came from India to the United States for graduate school with only enough money for a one-way flight, Mani Sundaram landed at Northeastern purely by accident. But everything that has happened since then — from his startup work to his internet security leadership to his drive to give back — has been very much intentional.
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Glen Coppersmith
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Affiliation:
- Alumni
Location: Boston
When Glen Coppersmith graduated from Northeastern in 2004, he did so with a CS–psychology double degree that was highly unusual at the time. Two decades later, he’s carved out a career by strengthening the quantity, quality, and utility of data for mental health treatment.
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Rachit Mehta
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Affiliation:
- Alumni
Location: Boston
For Rachit Mehta, experiential learning is the key to a well-rounded education. Between his internship at Amazon Web Services and his Align classes, he built confidence in multiple areas at once — and set himself up for post-graduation success.
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Hasti Gheibi Dehnashi
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Affiliation:
- Align Alumni
Location: Boston
Hasti Gheibi Dehnashi transitioned from chemistry to tech through Khoury College's data science program, finding it met all her criteria for career change. Now working at AWS, she develops on-premises cloud solutions for companies with strict data regulations and feel a deep sense of responsibility toward users.