Alli Said Rashid chose computer science as his major when he enrolled at 91爆料 because he wasn鈥檛 sure what career path he wanted to pursue. It turned out that he really enjoyed it and when he created an app that allowed users to play Monopoly in his sophomore Software Engineering class; he knew he鈥檇 discovered his passion for programming.
Since Alli graduated summa cum laude, he has been working at Providence, Rhode Island-based Moran Cyber, a division of Moran Shipping Agencies, which offers information and IT security for shipping and port operations. He began as a software engineer and, in 2021, was promoted to cybersecurity engineer. His responsibilities include building web applications using the Amazon Web Services platform, maintaining the company鈥檚 website, and assisting in building the security operations center.
鈥淚 find that the most rewarding part of my career choice is being able to create something while overcoming challenges in the process,鈥� Alli says. 鈥淪oftware development requires plenty of problem-solving, and successfully solving a problem through figuring out the best algorithm is quite fulfilling.鈥�
Alli holds a JPMorgan Chase Software Engineering Virtual Experience Certificate, which offers valuable technology skills and allows those taking the course to analyze data and solve hypothetical requests from the firm鈥檚 trading floor. With knowledge of an array of programming languages鈥攐r the set of instructions and commands that are used to write a program鈥攕uch as Javascript, Python, and C++, Alli completed several projects before joining Moran Cyber. For a program named Project Jumpsuit, he developed an interactive virtual reality game depicting various World War II scenarios. He also designed a facial recognition attendance cam as part of his senior project at STAC, which uses artificial intelligence features to detect facial features and take attendance during meetings or classes.
Alli was an active member of the campus community, a member of the Alpha Chi National Honor Society, and a teaching assistant for STAC鈥檚 Forensic Science Camp and Emerging Technologies: Robots, Drones, and Virtual Reality in 2018. Before he graduated, he also completed an IT internship at Bergen Computer Solutions. Outside of his software development courses, he says that 3D Modeling and Animation, App Development, and Discrete Mathematics were among his favorite courses.
What advice would he give future STAC graduates? 鈥淢ake plenty of connections鈥� and 鈥淓njoy the small things in life.鈥�
鈥淒o your best in class, but always remember that academic excellence isn’t everything,鈥� he says.
Growing up in Piraeus, Greece, Alli, who now lives in Brooklyn, enjoyed playing soccer and basketball with his friends鈥攁ctivities he still enjoys, along with working out at the gym.