What Comes Next? Computer Science and Engineering

Join a diverse panel of recent graduates from the School of Computer Science and Engineering as they share their insights into career options after graduation. This event is part of the What Comes Next? event series and is organised by the University of Westminster's Alumni Relations Office, Alan Vallavaraj, Lecturer, and Huseyin Dagdeviren, Senior Lecturer and School Director of Employability.

The panel will discuss a range of useful topics before you have the chance to ask your own questions, followed by a networking social with refreshments, where you can speak to the graduates directly.

As part of the event the following opportunities are available to you:

• Learn about the career journeys of recent graduates
• Get the chance to win a £20 Amazon voucher for filling out a post-event survey
• Make connections with successful recent graduates
• Gain 20 Westminster Award points (under 'You Tell Us' at all levels except PGT Gold)
• Earn work-based learning hours if you are a Level 4 or 5 student (at module leaders’ discretion)

This event is open to all students within the School of Computer Science and Engineering, including undergraduate and postgraduate students from all courses at all levels.

Please book if you plan to attend this event.

About the panel

Andrzej Baum, Core Software Engineer, ITV (Software Engineering BEng, 2023)

I graduated in 2023 with a First Class honours degree in Software Engineering and shortly after joined ITV as Junior Software Engineer working on microservices and modular monoliths written in Scala. At the time of study my main programming language was Java but I was always open to exploring new technologies and given similarities between Java and Scala I decided to dive into the Functional Programming paradigm. My first professional experience was Software Engineering Internship at Disney Streaming, where I had the opportunity to work in a team of experienced Scala developers as part of the Identity department responsible for user management, data storage and compliance. This gave me the opportunity to learn a new language and ways of working in a professional environment aiming at the highest standards.

This experience paved the way for my career and helped me secure a permanent role at ITV, where after a year of work I got promoted from Junior to Core developer. I also acquired a couple of AWS certifications related to cloud computing during that time and I am working towards learning more about cloud computing technologies and a secondment as Platform Engineer to become a well-rounded engineer with knowledge of both domains, fostering the culture of DevOps.

Alvaro Chavez Mixco, Graduate Developer, Feral Interactive (Computer Games Development BSc, 2024)

Alvaro graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Computer Games Development BSc in 2024 and is currently working as a Graduate Developer at Feral Interactive.

He began his journey with Feral Interactive through a year-long placement as a C/C++ programmer. Alvaro's strong performance on the placement earned him a part-time offer at the company during his final year of studies at the University of Westminster, alongside an offer for a full-time position upon his graduation.

At Feral Interactive, Alvaro has worked on adapting older AAA premium video games to modern mobile platforms. Developing multiplatform code in C++, the porting of these games requires both performance optimisations and user interface adjustments to make these desktop computer games successful with both phones and tablets.

Christine Latayan, Senior Client Solutions Manager, Microsoft AI (Business Information Systems BSc, 2014)

Christine graduated from the University of Westminster in 2014 with a First Class Honours in BSc Business Information Systems.

After graduating, Christine joined an independent digital media agency where she was a technical client strategist. She progressed to work for Amazon and now currently at Microsoft AI where she manages clients across the Automotive sector developing strategy plans across Microsoft’s advertising and AI technologies focusing on adoption and transformation.

Farid Hamid, Data Scientist, Medialab Group (Data Science and Analytics BSc, 2024)

Farid graduated in 2024 with a First Class Honours degree in Data Science & Analytics, and currently works as a Data Scientist at leading independent UK media agency Medialab Group, who specialise in data driven marketing.

He completed a year-long placement with Medialab as a Junior Data Scientist and returned full-time as a Data Scientist once completing his studies.

At Medialab, he's been specialising in building and deploying robust Econometric models (Market Mix Modelling) to pipelines to measure, predict and optimise media investments of Charity and Finance clientele. He also applies machine learning approaches to design granular regional testing experiments, changing the efficiency of the way we buy and measure media.

Samar Akhtar, Cyber Security Consultant, Wavestone Advisors (Computer Network Security BSc, 2022)

Samar graduated from the University of Westminster in 2022 with a First Class Honours in BSc Computer Network Security.

After graduating, she joined Wavestone Advisors as a Consulting Analyst, working across a range of industries, including the finance and insurance sector delivering high impact projects to support clients strengthen their security posture and meet industry standards.

Over the past few years, she has developed expertise in project management, stakeholder collaboration and various areas of cybersecurity.