By David Fenigsohn
Bety Mehide (MS 2018) is fully engaged while reflecting on her current position at Google and time studying at the University of Washington’s Global Innovation Exchange (GIX). She speaks with poise and insight without appearing the least bit distracted. But she has politely explained that at any moment, she might have to leave abruptly. She’s on call. If there is an issue with Google’s cloud computing service, it’s her job to ensure customer impact is minimized.
“My team is responsible for outage communications for Google Cloud,” she says. “When an outage is detected, we map what customers are affected and provide them with the information they need to understand their impact.”
It’s a role that requires round-the-clock coverage and a wide range of skills, from managing stakeholder relationships to writing code. The broad spectrum of responsibilities is an ideal fit for the education Mehide received at GIX, where she earned a Master of Science in Technology Innovation. GIX is a joint initiative between the University of Washington’s College of Engineering and the Foster School of Business. It’s distinguished by an innovative curriculum that combines engineering, business, and design.
GIX offers flexibility, access, and collaboration
“GIX was the perfect place for me because I was able to focus on the areas in which I needed to expand my skills,” says Mehide, who earned her undergraduate degree in economics. “You have access to people in areas from user experience to software engineering and the opportunity to collaborate with them.”
As someone pivoting to a new industry, she found a holistic technology-based education ideal. “With an economics degree, a traditional computer science program wouldn’t have been right for me,” she notes. “I wanted to learn those skills, but in the context of a business environment. When I discovered GIX, it sounded like a program created just for me.”
As excited as she was about earning a Master of Science in Technology Innovation from the University of Washington, attending was a bold decision. She had never stepped foot in the Pacific Northwest until the day before her classes started. However, she did have experience as an international student. Mehide was born and raised in Estonia. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Nottingham in England, during which time she also studied in Ningbo, China.
“Being able to start fresh somewhere new is so valuable,” she says. “It taught me resilience and that I could build new relationships and life skills. It built my confidence.”
Mehide shared that she had a great experience at GIX. She forged lasting friendships and developed her skills to the point where she secured an internship and then a full-time position as a software engineer. After a few years in the industry, Google recruited her.
Applying lessons from the classroom to the cloud
Mehide’s ability to flourish academically and professionally in new environments made her an ideal candidate for a technology giant that hires engineers to work on every aspect of modern computing innovations, from advertising platforms to mobile operating systems. She was hired because she can deploy her talents where they were needed most and quickly master new areas of expertise.
Today, Mehide is flourishing in her role. She applies the skills she learned at GIX to advance into more strategic projects, including leveraging AI tools and adapting to evolving customer needs. It’s a fulfilling position with room for growth.
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