Tell us about your educational and/or career journey since you graduated from Brunel?
During my final year at Brunel, I already had the offer to kickstart my career at Siemens in their Graduate Scheme where I had a rotational program to experience life as a Solutions Architect, Research and Systems Engineer. During that position, I discovered my interest in research was stronger than to stay in the industry and especially on the emerging technologies, so I got in to UCL for MSc Nanotechnology. After graduating from my MSc, I completed 5 years at Cisco and then joined AWS to continue my passion for Technology.
What does a typical day at work involve for you?
In my current role as a TAM at AWS, I am advising enterprise clients from the FSI segment to accelerate their cloud adoption journey, help them save costs with cloud financial management and also guide them to innovation by leveraging Gen-AI solutions. My typical role involves having weekly/monthly cadence calls, business and architecture reviews and to complement it I am also a Senior Speaker and find excitement in delivering talks at Summits/Conferences.
What’s been the highlight of your career journey so far?
I have been fortunate enough to get experience in three major tech companies in various roles and capacity, and accumulated in-depth technical knowledge and practice experience of solutions that I feel confident in building, speaking about and advising others about the same. My highlights have been getting multiple Awards at AWS like AWEsome Builder, Amazon Ownership and Senior Speaker recently, that led me to deliver talks to 300 people at AWS re:Invent.
How would you say your Brunel experience has helped you to get where you are today?
Brunel University had been a very important stepping stone for me to launch my career, the learning I did about Engineering and working on multidisciplinary projects as well as meeting likeminded individuals empowered me to find opportunities to grow and excel in my career. It gave me a great example to showcase my skills in interviews, help back as a volunteer and support other graduates get good jobs too. It has always been a great talking point in all my interviews.
Why did you choose to study at Brunel and why would you recommend Brunel to others?
The primary reason initially was because I was living very close to the University and my friends had recommended the campus to be a really good one. When I came for Open Days, I enjoyed the feel and atmosphere of Brunel Uni and the convenience of living in close vicinity. Now since 2014, I have seen Brunel growing at a rapid pace with new Centres of Research opening so it is a very good place to study at Brunel University.
What is your best memory of studying here?
I made connections with classmates from Malaysia, it led me to have lifelong friendships. With the people I have met I have tried different cuisines, travelled to their home countries and explored London which I always cherish.
If you could give one piece of advice to current Brunel students, what would that be?
Try to network with your classmates, keep connected with your tutors, find industrial partnerships for your final year projects and have a fun time at Brunel.
What would be your top tip or key advice for new graduates as they begin their career journey after leaving Brunel?
Leverage the network you have built, placement year if possible and industrial partnerships to showcase your CV in the best way possible.
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