On cloud nine: Students learn networking and training opportunities through Microsoft Azure Tech Talks series

The next generation of UDC tech leaders is taking advantage of the Microsoft Azure Tech Talks series held monthly from February to May. Students in all class levels were given the unique opportunity to obtain hands-on experience, training and networking with Microsoft professionals. They also gained industry insight and information about Microsoft careers and internship opportunities.

Forty students from UDC’s School of Engineering & Applied Science (SEAS) gained first-hand knowledge about Microsoft’s Azure–its most adaptable Cloud Platform. The series was held virtually and included ice breakers and lunch coupons provided by Microsoft to create a communal environment. The final Tech Talks will be held at the Microsoft Corporation in Reston, Virginia on May 13.

Topics range from “Welcome to Azure,” “A Day in the Cloud,” “Microsoft Divisions” and a closing “Cohort Closeout and Connections.”

Students were provided information on the daily responsibilities of leading Cloud experts, including the education and career paths that led to their roles at Microsoft. Participants were also given information about Microsoft careers that support Azure Cloud, including design, maintenance and compliance with Microsoft and federal laws and regulations.

Students interacted with professionals and were given opportunities to build Cloud environments. They will end their final sessions with certificates of completion of the program.

Dr. Carl Moore, UDC associate vice president for learning & engagement, coordinated the Tech Talks, to offer students a jumpstart on exposure to the most up-to-date Cloud Platform.

“Digital literacy is the larger institutional strategy that leads to our Strategic Plan Equity Imperative. It is what we want to promote,” Moore said. “To do anything in our society, you need to have a certain level of familiarity with digital tools. The sessions with Microsoft allowed SEAS students to take advantage of opportunities to increase their digital literacy related to Azure products, which is very vast in terms of what you can do when you have knowledge and skills in that area.”

Moore emphasized the benefits of having students exposed to Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Computing Services due to its flexibility and extensive use as students prepare for the job market or entrepreneur endeavors. The Tech Talks were open to students throughout the University.

“Anything that you want to invent or do digitally, Microsoft Azure has a component or element that can help you accelerate it through the Cloud piece, through coding, or data visualizing,” Moore said. “The sky is the limit when put it in the hands of a student who has the imagination to solve problems via their disciplinary area.”

Students like John Irungu took full advantage of being trained by Microsoft. He is in his final year of the master’s program for computer science, after completing his undergraduate work at the University of Nairobi.

“Because Azure is a product many companies use, it gives us a competitive advantage as computer science majors,” Irungu said. “This program prepares us for more opportunities in the job market.”

According to Moore, learning how to learn about databases, technology and Cloud systems is a primary goal for the partnership with Microsoft on this initiative

“If I’ve learned the process to learn, then five or ten years down the road, you can give me any new thing and I will be equipped to understand and learn it,” Moore said. “We want to teach students how to be future-ready for whatever area they enter, especially technology. That’s the part that excites me. Students will be able to do some amazing things.”