Buckeye engineer spreads passion for computer science

On May 7, the College of Engineering will welcome more than 1,600 Buckeye engineers and architects into the alumni family. As we countdown to commencement, we'll introduce several members of the Class of 2017 who made the most of their Buckeye education both in and out of the classroom.  

When graduating senior Winnie Li first came to campus four years ago, she was unsure of where she wanted her career path to go. Now a successful leader of two student organizations with a series of rewarding internships under her belt, the computer science and engineering trailblazer is ready for the professional world.

Li began exploring the computer science field because of its applicability to other industries.

“My involvement in student organizations is what really drove me to stay in the major and made me realize that you can use technology to help a lot of people, and solve a lot of problems,” said Li.

For the past two years, Li has served as president of the Association of Computing Machinery Women’s Chapter (ACM-W), working to build a community of women in computer science and equip them with skills to achieve their goals in the classroom and beyond. This year, under her leadership, ACM-W earned the university’s Outstanding Student Organization Award, while Li received an Outstanding Senior Award.

“The idea is to empower, encourage and support women in computer science and other STEM fields, because the field is still so heavily dominated by males,” said Li. “It can be hard to see yourself succeeding and find motivation when you are one of two girls in a class.”

Giving confidence to young girls interested in computer science is one of the most rewarding aspects of ACM-W for Li. Each year, the group hosts Buck-I-Code, an outreach event that brings 30 middle school girls to campus and teaches them computer science basics.

“Young girls don’t really have a chance to explore computer science because often they don’t have the resources and there are a lot of stereotypes that can deter their interest,” said Li. “This is an opportunity for girls to experience computer science firsthand.”

Li also works to foster tech culture among her fellow students and the Columbus community through her role in OHI/O, Ohio State’s hackathon program. She works to builds relationships with local and national companies and encourages them to sponsor events and host workshops in order to connect with students.

“There is also an outreach component, figuring out how we can make technology more inclusive for everybody,” said Li. “A hackathon is not just for engineers or computer scientists, it’s for anyone who wants to learn a new skill and maximize their impact in their own field.”

Constantly working to make an impact in her field, Li has taken the knowledge she acquired in the classroom to several internships during her time at Ohio State. Her experience has ranged from teaching young students at tech camps to working as an application developer on JP Morgan Chase’s HR technology team to create a data visualization system and web application.

This past summer, Li worked at Microsoft’s New England Research Development Center in Boston as a product manager. There she oversaw a team working on an enterprise mobility product called Intune. It’s aimed at allowing employees to securely access corporate data from their personal devices.

“It was a role that allowed me to utilize my design, business and technical skills, which are three fields that I am really interested in,” said Li. “It helped me shape my career goals, now I know I want to be a product manager and work on products that can help people and use technology empower others.”

After graduation, Li will continue her work with Microsoft in San Francisco as a product manager in the development division, working within the iOS team on mobile products that will help engineers write code more efficiently.

Li credits her OHI/O advisor, Computer Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Arnab Nandi, with helping her refine and pursue her goals. She advises other students to enrich their time as undergraduates by discovering new interests and exploring ways to achieve their goals.

“Make sure you are investing in yourself in everything you do, because it is so easy to get sucked into a thousand things on campus,” said Li. “But at the end of the day it is important to focus on the things that mean a lot to you and are going to help you advance to where you want to go.”

by Emily Lehmkuhl, College of Engineering student communications assistant