As the May 2016 graduates move into their careers, we are profiling a few and finding out their future plans and how they arrived at this point in their lives.
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Dustin Phillips, Clayton, Indiana
- Business intelligence developer for Flexware Innovation in Fishers, Indiana
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology and Information Systems Analyst-Mastery certification from ICCP.
Job duties
Flexware Innovation creates software for manufacturing companies. I’ll be helping create that software by implementing reports, dashboards, and data warehouses for customers. In other words, I’ll learn how to integrate data from multiple systems and display it appropriately. I’ll be working both on site in Fishers as well as traveling to customer locations to better understand how they want to use their data. (And while I’m at the Fishers location, I’ll spend a generous amount of time playing on their mini-golf course that travels throughout the office!)
Purdue classes that helped Dustin prepare for his job
Introduction to Systems Analysis and Design gave me the tools I needed to truly understand what customers want when they ask for a new computer system. To this day, I refer back to the things I learned there to help me with class projects and problem solving. My database courses — including Database Programming, Enterprise Data Management and Database Administration — have best prepared me for the exact work I’ll do at Flexware as a database developer. I’m sure I’ll use all the tools and techniques from those classes at some point. And finally, the two graduate-level classes I took this semester—Advanced Project Management and IT Economics—have prepared me for projects that I might manage on my own. They both gave me the opportunity to learn practices that I can directly apply to the IT industry in general.
Other ways the college and/or Purdue provided preparation and assistance
In all of my classes in the Purdue Polytechnic, I was able to benefit from a hands-on approach. I can get real-world experience in my classes and labs! Working directly with technologies I’ll use in the industry is so valuable, and I’ve learned so much through those classes. The student organizations within Purdue Polytechnic have helped me to develop my professional skills. Volunteering as a Polytechnic Student ambassador taught me how to share my passion for technology with other people. Serving as events coordinator for the Association of IT Professionals taught me how to work with all sorts of people and how to choose the career path I wanted to take. I’m very grateful for the time I’ve spent here — I’ve learned so much in only four years.
Thanks go to:
- Maurice Williams, Jr.: Maurice! You are one of the happiest, coolest, and most energetic people I know. Thank you for all the time you have invested in the Polytechnic Student Ambassador program. Without your enthusiasm for the Purdue Polytechnic, my job wouldn’t be nearly as fun as it is.
- Kevin Dittman: Thank you for allowing me to learn from you in your Advanced Project Management class. It was one of the most interesting and practical classes I’ve taken. Working with Walt Disney World over this past semester is an experience I will never forget.
- Vic Barlow: Thank you for all the time you invest in the freshman class of CNIT. I’ve enjoyed learning from you, both from classes and from the Peru Study Abroad trip in 2014. I still think back to the time that I foolishly tried to beat you in a pingpong match—that didn’t go so well for me!
- I’d also like to thank my friends I’ve made around campus, especially through Fairway Cooperative, the Association of IT Professionals, the Polytechnic Student Ambassadors, and through simply having the same class together. You all have made a significant impact on my experience at Purdue, and I’m very grateful to have spent my time as an undergraduate with you.