CIVS Alumni Share Real World Career Experience

CIVS former graduate research assistants Kiranchandru “KC” Lingeswaran (MSME ’25) and Qingyun Pu (MSCS ’25) returned to CIVS to speak with CIVS students and staff about their current positions at Amazon on May 8. This session focused on the transition from CIVS and academic research into professional industry roles. The strongest message was that technical ability matters, but long-term success depends heavily on ownership, communication, curiosity, preparation, and the ability to keep learning under pressure.

Qingyun is currently a Software Development Engineer for Amazon, AWS QuickSight. She offered insight to her experience starting off in her position including advice on the importance of communication, achieving goals, and investigating real-world problems independently.

KC is currently a Aviation Service Engineer for Amazon Prime Air. He offered insight on the importance of effective preparation for projects, developing strong skills to succeed in real-world situations, and to take full advantage of opportunities offered to you.

Their talk concluded with a productive Q&A session. Questions asked included topics related to AI, preparation for interviews, and how to stand out. Thank you to KC and Qingyun for sharing their expertise and inspiring current CIVS students!