When asked if any specific experience at DCS sticks out in his mind, Shawn Konopinsky (0T5, Hons. BSc) doesn’t hesitate: “If I had to pick a highlight it would, without a doubt, be my experience working with Professor Greg Wilson. I took some courses that allowed me to work on projects, including developing DrProject, a system that supports academic groupwork.” He continues, “There is only so much that a student can learn from a textbook. I found that, for me, it was being in a great place with great people that contributed the most to my learning experience.” Shawn went to work for Microsoft in Redmond, WA, after his graduation from DCS. He was there for a couple of years, and recently started a job with Infusion Development, a consulting firm based in NYC. Shawn explains: “Our main client base consists of Wall Street financial firms. We are developing software and introducing methodologies to help these firms take greater advantage of their resources.” This successful graduate certainly made the right choice with his career: “My favourite thing about my job is that I get to do what I love every day – solve real-world problems through the creation of innovative, high quality software.”
“I’d like to tell current DCS students to take advantage of every opportunity they can,” Shawn comments. “Being surrounded by so many brilliant people that are as passionate about the same things you are is unique.” Now that he is able to split his time between both Toronto and NYC, Shawn has more than enough activities to do in his spare time, including snowboarding and enjoying the club scenes in both cities. As he also loves to travel, Shawn is planning trips to Europe and Asia over the next year.
It is amazing to think that, all those years ago, Shawn discovered that he could use his academic experience to build a career out of his passion for computing. DCS is proud to have offered him those opportunities that led to such professional accomplishment and personal satisfaction.
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