Students Invited to Microsoft NYC Campus

What’s the best way to spend a weekend? You could take a fun trip, or buckle down and do something productive. This past March, several Rowan CS students volunteered to do both. The Microsoft Corporation invited CS students to their campus in New York City for a personalized tour. Students met with Rowan alumni now working at Microsoft to discuss exciting new technology from the company, and how a career in CS looks post graduation. 

Students departed from Rowan around 10am and made their way to New York City to meet up with the Microsoft employees. “They're pretty cool. They were sort of the same age as us, so that was pretty cool,” says Izhar Ali, a junior who volunteered for the trip. “gave us insight on what earlier career looks like as a computer scientist,” says Anthony Marinelli, junior. 

The Microsoft employees detailed several new pieces of technology the company was working on, such as a virtual reality headset. “I’m not good with [headsets, can't use them for more than five minutes. But Microsoft’s was pretty cool, just a strip on your head. I used it for 30 minutes,” says Ali. Another topic of interest includes synthetic and indoor plants, as well as sound-based virtual assistants. And of course, AI technology such as ChatGPT was a major talking point. Microsoft has plans to invest ten billion dollars in AI over several years, as the company moves to connect ChatGPt with the Bing search engine. “It writes things and gives you links for continued readings and research. It’s a more advanced browser search,” says Marinelli.

One of the key takeaways students reported from the event was learning about the CS job industry. The Microsoft  employees noted that job hopping was common in the industry, and reinforced that they didn’t just graduate and go straight to Microsoft– there were years of going around jobs and working their way up before they landed their current positions. “It was kind of cool, eye opening. They gave us a lot of insight on things I didn't realize,” says Marinelli. 

The Microsoft trip was a rewarding experience for the students involved, learning not only about new tech, but hearing career advice from working professionals. 

Written by Kiley Parker | Posted 5.5.23