Six UWindsor students have become global IBM Z Ambassadors. The leadership program is designed for personal and professional development and is offered to computer science students by IBM and Your Big Year.

Each student will spend the year organizing events and workshops, participating in “Tech for Social Good Initiatives,” networking with other students, and gaining leadership skills as well as IBM-certified credentials.

Vishakha Gautam is a master’s student in the School of Computer Science. She says she is most looking forward to making great connections, enhancing her public speaking skills, and hosting an event at the University of Windsor.

“We just started and already we have networked to learn about Z mainframe and enterprise computing as well as got introduced to Hour of Z app,” says Gautam.

“We have also met new people with weekly coaching sessions and shared our stories — it’s very exciting because we get to learn about so many different lives around the globe.”

Gautam says the team has held events to talk about sustainable development goals and to discuss what technology can be used to achieve them.

The UWindsor ambassadors also join students from around the world in each writing a blog for the IBM student hub.

Master’s of Applied Computing student Margaret Nesaraj says she is excited to join the program as it connects her with students across the globe on a virtual platform.

“Being a part of the IT industry over the years, I understand it's very important to transform the lives of people with the application of modern technology and science — IBM Z provides a platform to exercise the possible option to transform the lives of people through technology,” she says.

“I also believe that IBM Z will help to enhance my technical expertise through innovative challenges and digital transformation projects and with my previous experience as a quality assurance engineer, I am convinced that IBM Z would equip me better to take up the role of a technical business analyst in the future.”

Roisul Islam Rumi, Ragini Choudhary, Akshit Dhir, and Tixa Patel round out the 2021-22 cohort representing Windsor as IBM Z ambassadors.