🤔 How do Office Hours work?

• Members of the iii community may schedule a meeting with any alum.

• Review the alum profiles below. If listed, you can visit their LinkedIn to learn more. 

• When you find a good fit, click "Schedule A 1:1 Meeting"; you'll be redirected to that alum's Calendly page. 

• Check their availability and choose a meeting time.

• FYI: Calendly Meeting Topics align with those listed under "Let's chat about."

• Prepare for your meeting (i.e. why did you choose this alum, what questions do you have for them...?).

• And, of course, attend the meeting and have a great conversation!

✍️ Please Take Note:

• Meetings are for guidance and advice - NOT to ask for internships or jobs.
• "No Shows" are unacceptable and unprofessional. If you cannot make a meeting, cancel it. If you "no show" more than once, your ability to participate in Office Hours will be restricted.
• A "thank you" message is always appreciated. When applicable, share outcomes too! For example,  if an alum helped you prep for an internship interview, let them know how your interview went.
• "🤝 Formal Mentorship" - If this topic is listed on an alum's profile, they are open to mentoring you. Mentorship typically involves goal setting and regular meetings over an extended time period. This Google Doc can help with structure.
• Feedback is welcome; contact Mary Kilcoyne to share.

Mark Byrne (MIIPS 2017)
Sr. Product Designer
Quanata LLC
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Mark

A trained Industrial Designer with 9 years of experience in retail design and advertising, I pivoted to deepen my craft by attending MII-PS in 2016. After graduating I moved to San Francisco and jumped head first into UX Design. For the past 7 years, I’ve been a Senior Product Designer at Quanata LLC in San Francisco, designing in house for a car insurance product called HiRoad. We're in the game of data telematics, tracking customer's driving and creating behavior change features to create better drivers. I also ride bicycles and race cars–LOVE moving fast!

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career / Career Journey, Portfolio Review/Feedback, Building One's Network, and Transitioning to the US
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Josie Liu (MIIPS 2017)
Senior Staff Experience Designer
Motorola Solutions, Inc.
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Josie

I have 7 years of experience in human-centered design and product development. Through my previous undergraduate training in economics and marketing, I bring a strong understanding of the business environment and the role that design plays in creating successful, marketable products and solutions.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career / Career Journey, Resume Review/Feedback, and Portfolio Review/Feedback
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Raghvi Kabra (MIIPS 2022)
Lead Designer
Adobe Inc.
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Raghvi

A designer and detail nerd. Currently designing creative tools at Adobe and based out of San Francisco. I am constantly fascinated by how people interact and react to products and services around them. With a background in Industrial design and a deep-rooted interest in user experience research, I understand the importance of each decision that goes behind making an idea come to reality.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey, Portfolio Review/Feedback, Startup Life & Entrepreneurship, and Transitioning to the US
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Stephen Nomura (MIIPS 2016)
Senior Product Designer II - AR/VR Training
Axon
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Stephen

Designer with 15+ years of experience, but I mentor other disciplines as well. Currently focused on Axon’s moonshot: reducing gun-related deaths between police and the public 50% by 2030. My career spans industries from law enforcement and tech to high fashion and hospitality. Outside work I run, bike, swim, hike, camp, and play all kinds of video games.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career / Career Journey, Interview Prep & Practice, Resume Review/Feedback, Portfolio Review/Feedback, Building One's Network, Product Development, and Stakeholder Management
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

John Soh (MIIPS 2016)
Design Strategist
Capital One Financial Corporation
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ John

In the 5+ years of being in the design field, I have done everything from industrial design to architecture to service design and UX. In the last couple years in the digital product design space, I've been known to navigate complex financial industry and processes and systems that keeps them moving. I love to talk design, how to implement design, and what it means to design in the corporate settings that we find ourselves in.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Anni Yang (MIIPS 2018)
Senior UX Designer
Victoria's Secret Direct, LLC
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Anni

My first degree was in Architecture. I worked in Architecture design for 2 years and then pivoted to digital. Upon graduation at CMU, I worked as Digital Product Designer for 6 yrs. My current passion is Entrepreneurship and I believe there should be more designer founders in the world. I'm from China, lived in Hong Kong and Denmark, came to the US for CMU. I currently live in Columbus, Ohio with my husband and my 3 yrs old son.

Let’s chat about:

• Portfolio Review/Feedback, Startup Life & Entrepreneurship, Building One's Network, and Transitioning to the US

Rahul Iyengar (MSSM 2010)
Engineering
Calendly
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Rahul

I have worked in the valley for about 25 years and am currently at Calendly where I manage the core scheduling team including mobile, platform services and QA. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to build from the ground up, augment and lead globally spread out engineering organizations through rapid growth and innovation. I live in Union City with my family.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey and Resume Review/Feedback
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Xinyong Lyu (MSSM 2020)
Software Engineer
Oracle
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Xinyong

I have 4 years of software engineer experience till now. I grew up in Hangzhou, China and now live in the SF Bay Area.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Nilay Pal (MSSM 2020)
Vice President - Software Development Manager
LPL Investment Holdings Inc.
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Nilay

I have 20+ years of experience delivering innovative, customer-centric solutions powered by GenAI, cloud-native engineering, modern data platforms, and intelligent automation. I completed the MSSM program remotely and am based in North Carolina.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey, Interview Prep & Practice, Resume Review/Feedback, Portfolio Review/Feedback, Building One's Network, and Transitioning to the US 
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Alwal Putta (MSSM 2013)
Principal Technologist
Hitachi America, Ltd. R&D
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Alwal

I have around 30 years of experience spanning many facets of software engineering from developer, tech lead, architect, project and program manager, engineering manager covering various layers front end, middle layer, back end, devops and lately AI/ML across many domains such as sales, finance, legal, developer operations, release engineering, people technology.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey, Building One's Network, and Transitioning to the US NA
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Lakshmanan Suryanarayanan (MSSM 2010)
Director of Engineering
Pinterest
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Lakshmanan

I have worked at both large companies and startups in varying areas from Data Platforms, Cloud Platforms, Ad Platforms and user/enterprise products like Web Classification, Video Ads, and Google Drive. I graduated from the MSSM program at CMU-SV in 2010. I live in Southern California with my wife.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career / Career Journey and Resume Review/Feedback

Dhairyya Agarwal (MSSM 2020)
Product Manager II
Microsoft
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Dhairyya

I am a generalist product manager working at Microsoft on a new 0 to 1 product from scratch.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey, Resume Review/Feedback, and Transitioning to the US

Madiha Irfan (MIIPS 2023)
Technical Product Manager
Johnson & Johnson
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Madiha

I worked as a Product Designer for 7+ years before pivoting into Technical Product Management at Johnson & Johnson. I live in California but am an east coast girl at heart. I love coaching, supporting people around me, and creating effortless experiences for customers. Please feel free to setup time with me!

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career / Career Journey,cResume Review/Feedback, and Portfolio Review/Feedback

Kevin Killeen (MIIPS 2023)
Global Product Line Manager - Flame Detection
MSA Safety Inc.
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Kevin

I came from an engineering and sales background for 4 years before pivoting to product management. I worked in the process measurement industry before joining the MIIPS program and transferring my skills to the industrial safety industry. I'm a born and raised Pittsburgher, and when I'm not working I'm probably walking my dog Scratch

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey, Interview Prep & Practice, Resume Review/Feedback, Portfolio Review/Feedback, and Building One's Network

Andy Lee (MPD 2004)
Sr Product Manager- AI Platform
Indeed
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Andy

I’m a product leader who thrives in ambiguity—shaping strategy, uncovering customer needs, and rallying teams to take products from 0 to 1. My background spans startups, enterprises, and partnerships across industries, and I get the most energy from turning fresh ideas into real products. Currently, I’m building AI platform tools to power the next generation of AI agents.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey, Interview Prep & Practice, Resume Review/Feedback, and Startup Life & Entrepreneurship
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Ruben Rincon (MSSM 2015)
Group Product Manager, Developer Experience
Adobe
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Ruben

Most of my career has been circling around developer platforms and developer communities from the angles of advocacy, project and product management in companies such Adobe, Dropbox, HP, Microsoft, Nokia. I enjoy being a people manager and I'm committed to be better at it each day. I came to the US 12 years ago from Latin America and went through all the paperwork and VISA hoops that you can think of. I'm happy to help.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey, Resume Review/Feedback, Building One's Network, and Transitioning to the US

Mohamed Soliman (MIIPS 2018)
Product Delivery Manager
Geotab
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Mohamed

Started my career as a Mechanical Product Designer for 3 years. Pivoted into Product Management. Worked as a PM for HW and Automotive products for another 3 years. Currently shifting again into Software Management.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career/Career Journey
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship

Junqi Wang (MIIPS 2022)
Product Manager
Geisinger
LinkedIn

Schedule a 1:1 Meeting w/ Junqi

I'm based in Pittsburgh and currently a product manager at a health system. In addition to product management, I also previously worked in software engineer and UX design.

Let’s chat about:

• Navigating One's Career / Career Journey, Interview Prep & Practice, Resume Review/Feedback, Portfolio Review/Feedback, and Transitioning to the US
• 🤝 Formal Mentorship