Interview with Microsoft Student Partners Albert Ong and Michael Quandt

Ever wondered what it’s like to be a Microsoft Student Partner (MSP)? Recently I’ve had the great opportunity to discuss with both Albert Ong and Michael Quandt who are students of the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia) about their experiences with the program and a bit about themselves. Here’s a transcript of the discussion:

So let’s start by telling us about what you’re studying and why you chose to study it.

Michael: I am studying for a Bachelor of Engineering in ICT Software. I have always been interested in programming, and started well before Uni, so it was only natural to continue doing that. I guess one of the big reasons I chose this particular course was the addition of an internship component. We receive a Diploma as well for completing a one year internship.

Albert: I currently study the combined degree; Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Biotechnology, majoring in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Coming from a long family history in medicine, I believed that it was crucial to find ways to help save lives. However, contrary to my family’s opinion, I also believed that becoming a medical practitioner was neither the most efficient, nor the most elegant way of doing this – I may have been able to save lives in the short run, but was helpless about the long run. I chose to study this combined degree because of my deep passion in both robotics and medicine.

Originally, when I first enrolled in this degree, I majored in ICT (Software). It was only last year when I realized that where I was heading was not where I wanted to be.

At the time, I was also the first batch of students to undertake the newly developed ICT major. This meant that my degree was neither recognized by industry or Engineers Australia. This, and recommendations from PhD students and lecturers, resulted with my transfer to major in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, which I hope will get me to where I want and need to be.

How did you find out about the MSP program and how you joined in?

Albert: I found out about the MSP program through Michael Quandt, a high school friend who attended the same university.  He told me he was part of the Microsoft Student Partners program, and at the time I had no idea what he meant. He asked me to attend an event that he and Chris (who was an MSP at the time) were running.  That’s where I met Karo, who coordinates the program. I then decided to join the MSP program. I filled out an application form on the MSP website student-partners.com and sent it to Karo. He later gave me an over-the-phone interview, and I became accepted into the MSP program.

Michael: I attended an event run by the Academic DPE (Developer Platform Evangelism) team at UTS, called MIX on Campus. It was an event aimed at students, and designed to mimic the session/conference feel of TechEd or MIx, but on a smaller scale.

I actually attended that in my final year of High School, and when I started at UTS the next year, I applied for a MSP position at UTS. I guess one of the key reasons aside from the benefits would be to spread awareness of cool events like MIX on Campus, and the benefits students get, like DreamSpark.

How aware are students in your university of the MSP program and events and how do you try to increase it?

Albert: There are quite a few students, clubs and societies that are aware of the MSP program, but not yet as much as we would like there to be. However, we continuously strive to work as a team to help improve student awareness about all the benefits that Microsoft has on offer. We primarily hold talks at UTS about Microsoft offers, competitions and technologies. The big ones that we talk about are DreamSpark, the Imagine Cup competition, “It’s Not Cheating” and XNA.

We also organize joint events with other groups and organizations in the university such as AISEC, where we give out information to students about Microsoft internships. On top of that, we also give out tonnes of freebies and prizes to students who attend and participate at events, and help connect students who are interested in getting more information to people who can help them, including Microsoft staff.

Michael: That is a tough question to answer. The MSP program at UTS has had difficulties running events and to be honest I am not happy with the reach we currently have.

I would say a reasonable amount of students in their 3rd-4th years of Engineering at UTS know about us, however beyond that, and in other faculties, I am not sure. I know the Law and Business faculties have not been an area we have been able to get into, however I think with the help of AIESEC we have been able to start in those faculties. Combine the physical distance between Engineering/IT and Law/Business, with the fact that all of the MSPs at UTS are technical students who would give technical presentations, and you can see it is a challenge to target those students. Generally we only have certain products we can promote to them, however all of the MSPs have been working on ways to reach out to other faculties, so I hope we can start targeting not only Law/Business, but also everyone else.

We primarily try to increase our awareness by promoting the UTS MSP blog at events, and whatever other avenues of advertising we have. The start.it portal has been an excellent place to advertise events, however even that only targets IT students. Aside from that we also rely on word of mouth, posters, flyers, etc.

What are some of the skills you’ve learned from your time as an MSP?

Michael: I think one of the main skills I have picked up, is how to present to students, and how to market a product to them. We need to speak to many students at each event, generally far more than what you would normally do during an assignment presentation for a tutorial group at uni.

As a technical student, even the assignment presentations are about technical topics, and these are done differently than if you were to market a product or service to others. I think this has been a major area of improvement. When it comes to the marketing side of the MSP presentations, when we are promoting offerings like ItsNotCheating or DreamSpark, we need to be able to essentially sell these offers, without looking like a devoted fan.

Another lesser, but equally important skill I have improved is to be able to connect with Students, Faculty and Business (mostly Microsoft) and to be able to combine those connections to help any of those groups.

One thing that is crucial for getting ahead is networking, and if you can involve yourself in helping your contacts out, they will be grateful. As a MSP I have been able to connect with people at Microsoft, and staff at UTS, and those contacts can really help in the future.

Albert: During my time in the MSP program, I’ve been able to greatly improve my organization and coordination skills, especially in the avenue of running events. Being an MSP, I’ve also learnt about making and maintaining connections with professional bodies, and by efficiently communicating with these bodies, holding successful joint events. The MSP program has also reinforced my confidence and boosted my skills in presentations, public speaking and resource management.

What things do you enjoy most about being an MSP?

Albert: Besides the benefits I currently receive from Microsoft, I have a lot of fun being part of the MSP program.  The people I meet and work with are great, and being an MSP keeps me interested and up to date with the latest in gadgets and technology. Being an MSP also gives me the rare chance to meet some famous and highly influential people, both inside and Microsoft, such as Steve Ballmer.

Michael: I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy the benefits. Being able to attend expensive conferences like TechEd, or receiving full MSDN subscriptions are huge benefits that have helped me out with my own programming.

But monetary benefits aside, gaining the contacts I mentioned previously, and being invited to cool events like the Steve Ballmer “Power to Developers” event, or the Robbie Bach talk on the future of interaction. Getting to attend these VIP/Partner/Press events as a student is really cool, and helping other students attend is even better. Nothing beats giving away tickets, or even prizes from Microsoft.

What support and assistance does Microsoft provide you with for your activities?

Michael: Microsoft actually provides quite a lot of support. Each MSP has a budget they can use to spend on whatever they need to run an event, and alongside that Microsoft provides MVP experts to do the presentations, as well as plenty of prizes.

We can connect with experts at Microsoft, or partners of Microsoft to get the information we need, and the MVP (Microsoft Valued Professional) program has plenty of specialists who are happy to come and talk to students about a particular Microsoft product.

Albert: Microsoft gives each MSP an annual budget to work from to host events. Even though the budget is small in my opinion, it is reasonably sufficient to run events with during the year. Microsoft also helps out by supplying advertising material, freebies and prizes, as well as equipment for events.

What areas of IT are you most interested in and why?

Albert: I have always had a deep interest in robotics, though I’ve also recently been curious about augmented reality. Robotics and its potential applications in life have always inspired me to reach new heights, and has also been one of my life’s greatest passions. It was like “life without anything living”.  Robotics was also the driving force in making me choose my degree, and change my university major.  It was the major influence for me to undertake my ongoing research into the design of artificial organs.

Augmented reality was something that I’ve learned about recently, thanks to the recent MSP Summit.  It impact on my curiosity was almost like robotics, primarily because it made what seemed impossible, possible. The implications of augmented reality are boundless, and that’s what attracts my interest.

Michael: I am particularly interested in Computer Graphics, not only in the game space, but also film. I am really interested in the techniques used to make the ever improving graphics you see in modern games and film, and so I spend most of my hobby time learning about these techniques and trying to implement them myself.

I find it is an area of programming that ends up being very satisfying. I guess having an image as a final product, and knowing how just numbers can turn into a 3D image is really fascinating. Plus knowing how that cool new technique you see in a game works, and knowing you could implement it is really pleasing. (also knowing why that game is lagging, and what to tweak to fix it, can really help with some PC games)

Any ambitions after uni?

Michael: I would like to apply my passion and enter the Computer Graphics industry, whether it be games or film. I am not sure if I will go the indie route, but that will depend on what happens in the future.

Albert: I plan on diving into robotics research for a while after I graduate. After that, I hope I can move into developing medical robots, including viable artificial organs.

End of Interview

Thanks very much Albert and Michael for joining us and getting us to know about the MSP! Hope you both enjoy the rest of your time at university!

You can learn more about Microsoft Student Partners and its events at the University of Technology, Sydney at its official website. Michael (twitter link) also has a personal website where he shares his interests in XNA and other computer topics.

Update: added Michael Quandt’s responses