A Wealth of Opportunity
Prior to his graduation from Penn State University in 2009, Master of Information Management (MIM) student Phillip Lo faced a difficult decision. Lo, an information sciences and technology major at Penn State, had to decide between beginning his career immediately or pursuing further education.
The iSchool’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) first piqued Lo’s interest. “Once I heard about HCIL, I decided to look into the iSchool’s academic programs. The breadth of courses available in the MIM program, as well the university’s location near Washington, DC, drew me to Maryland,” he says. “I felt like this program had the mix of project management and technical education to help me advance in my career.”
Since beginning the MIM program in Fall 2009, Lo, a native of Portland, Oregon, has taken full advantage of all the opportunities the iSchool has to offer. During his first year, he was a graduate assistant for Assistant Professor Ping Wang and served as the president of the MIM Student Association. Last summer, he interned with Hershey, where he contributed to the development of business intelligence applications. He has also worked with the HCIL on a Google-funded research project analyzing internet search habits of adolescents.
All of these opportunities have paid nearly immediate dividends for Lo. After graduating from the iSchool in May, Lo will be starting a position as a systems specialist with Capital One. He credits the diversity in offerings of the MIM program as a significant factor in his success. “The strength of the MIM program is its diversity and unique balance of opportunities,” he says. “Learning with students from all sorts of backgrounds and from professors conducting innovative research has given me a wealth of knowledge that has made me very attractive to employers.”